Linotype

[tinhorn97062]

How do I tell if what I have is pure Linotype? I believe it to be from a Lino-pig. I came across somebody a couple years ago that was making fishing weights from it. I quickly snagged it from him, once I saw what it was.

The melted end is from adding a bit to a pot of soft lead, which caused it all to look “frosty” and rock hard, when water dropped from the mold. I have a few ingots saved from that batch, that I use for higher velocity rifle boolits.

[Beau Cassidy]

You are gonna get a bunch of answers on this one... most folks will say judge by the melting temp but everybody doesn't have a thermometer nor would I get one just to check the temp of a single piece of lead. The end looks like what a linotype pig does. It should have a nice "ting" to it if you drop it on concrete compared to a dull thud of WW or lead.

[tinhorn97062]

You are gonna get a bunch of answers on this one... most folks will say judge by the melting temp but everybody doesn't have a thermometer nor would I get one just to check the temp of a single piece of lead. The end looks like what a linotype pig does. It should have a nice "ting" to it if you drop it on concrete compared to a dull thud of WW or lead.

It definitely has that “ting” to it, when I drop it on concrete.

[Lloyd Smale]

that is not a typical linotype pig. they have two fingers on both ends that hook to an apparatus that lowers them slowly into the pot. Now that said it still sure could be linotype that was reclaimed by a print shop. You can get a good idea like others said by melt temp and by using a hardness tester.

[lightman]

That looks like the end of a linotype pig, opposite of the fingers that Lloyd mentions. The only way to tell for sure is to have it tested. You can make a good guess by testing for harness, watching the melting temperature and by the sound it makes when dropped or struck. If you have a lot of it I would get a sample tested. If the picture is all you have I would just treat is as linotype and use it.

[OS OK]

Not all 'little piggies' are created equal...

[mold maker]

Looks like lino to me. As others have suggested, the ring it produces when struck, melting temp, and hardness, are our normal means to determin it's contents.
Even those can vary if it is reclaimed from many uses which delete the tin content to a certain extent.
At any rate, don't waste it till you determine for sure what you have. It's becoming a thing of the past since teconology has surpassed it's use.

[Hardcast416taylor]

Not all 'little piggies' are created equal...

Now that actually hurts me to look at those piles of `piggies`! The ones I`ve gotten in the past are of the split end ring variety.Robert

[bangerjim]

If you don't own a CabineTree style hardness tester, use the seat-o-the-pants artist pencil scratc test very documented on this site.

Hardness will tell you the answer, not melt temp. But that generally appears to be a tiny piece of a lino pig. It will make you a few harder boolits.

[lwknight]

The linotype that I melted and cast into large ingots had a smooth as glass and wavy surface. Also beware that the surface can appear hard and still have very hot liquid in the middle.

[Lloyd Smale]

cut about a 1/4 way through a bar with a sawsall. then put it in your vise and smack one end with a 3lb sledge hammer if it snaps off clean at the cut its probably linotype. or at least a very hard alloy.

[Lloyd Smale]

Now that actually hurts me to look at those piles of `piggies`! The ones I`ve gotten in the past are of the split end ring variety.Robert

different printers and lead suppliers must have different molds. every linotype pig ive ever had had the two finger hooks on both ends.

[marek313]

Looks like lino pig end to me. Some have ears on both ends as Lloyd pointed out but most come with ears on one end only. Most are about 18-22BHN and you can def tell its lino by feel, look, sound etc. Good stuff to have. I only have less then 2 left. I could use one of those pallets

[facetious]

Melt it . If it is lino or some kind of type metal it will go from a soid to a liquid all a once and when it cools it will get solid all at once. There should be no slushy faze.

[lwknight]

Melt it . If it is lino or some kind of type metal it will go from a soid to a liquid all a once and when it cools it will get solid all at once. There should be no slushy faze.

Actually the surface will harden being a fairly poor conductor of heat thus causing a very liquid middle. I suggest extreme caution in dumping ingots till they are thoroughly cooled. They will break open and dump liquid , hot metal. True that there is no slush phase but just beware that a solid surface does not mean a solid ingot.

[truckerdave397]

Take it to a scrap metal yard and have it annualized.

[dondiego]

Take it to a scrap metal yard and have it annualized.

Every year?

[Airman Basic]

Every year?

Every ten years have it decimated.

[RogerDat]

Use as lino, worse case it will make bullets different than exactly what you expected by you already know that it is A. Hard, B. melts shiny. Point is do the bullets work so you use it where you desire more hardness, bullets are harder then it's a win. Bullets get good fill out (from the tin content) it's a win. Bullets run a bit lighter due to the alloy being less dense than plain lead... ok that would be expected. If you are planning to drive 800 miles to take part in a competitive shooting event not knowing exactly what it is would be more important. If you're just going to ring some steel in a longer range bolt gun probably not worth worrying about.

Nice to find and I'm sure it will make you some nice bullets.

[wildcatter]

That is Linotype, nobody works that hard to make it look like lyno, then gives it away. Every bar I ever bought from our local print shop,, years ago,, looks just like that with only a single eye on the end you don't have. Every bar weighted 25# whole,,, and I still have about 100 pounds!