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Thread: Lead soldering rods?

  1. #1
    In Remembrance


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    Lead soldering rods?

    Today I came into a pail full of lead rods, 3/8" D X 12" long and only marked Hewitt Detroit. No other numbers are on it. Anybody have an idea of what these bendable lead rods make up could be? My guess is some sort of automated soldering machine set up.Robert

  2. #2
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    Good chance they are body solder. Used to fill dings and do body work on autos before bondo. But there were several grades of solder produced by them.
    https://i.ebayimg.com/00/s/MTIwMFgxN..._id=880000500F

    https://cdn.eastwood.com/media/catal...3/p31127_3.jpg

    There is one type used to "tin" the metal surface by rubbing it with the solder as you applied heat and another alloy used to fill it in and shape using a paddle with bees wax on it. It runs from 40/60 to 5% Sn. And it was as far as one could get from automated it was a skilled trade performed by a craftsman. The fill solder had to be kept at exactly the right temperature to remain putty like so it could be shaped and too much heat on the tinned metal would cause that thin coating that was bonded to come off. It was like painting with solder and a torch.

    Still used on classic cars and motorcycles. Won't crack or chip and done right won't ever shake loose. Very important on old Harleys and Triumph motorcycles which tend to vibrate a bit.

    Look for any serial or other notations, it may be identifiable from that. Or send a pea sized piece along with a pound of lead to the member BNE here who will run it under an xrf gun to get a definite answer to what tin alloy it is. Here is link to BNE profile page so you can send him a private message if you want.
    http://castboolits.gunloads.com/member.php?29218-BNE

    Really good score by the way. Lot of that stuff is around 10% tin but some is as high as 60% tin.
    Scrap.... because all the really pithy and emphatic four letter words were taken and we had to describe this source of casting material somehow so we added an "S" to what non casters and wives call what we collect.

    Kind of hard to claim to love America while one is hating half the Americans that disagree with you. One nation indivisible requires work.

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  3. #3
    Boolit Master Boolit_Head's Avatar
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    As a side note they were a inspiration for the name "Lead Sled".
    On every question of construction let us carry ourselves back to the time when the Constitution was adopted, recollect the spirit manifested in the debates, and instead of trying what meaning may be squeezed out of the text or invented against it, conform to the probable one in which it was passed.

    Thomas Jefferson, letter to William Johnson, June 12, 1823

  4. #4
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    Quote Originally Posted by Boolit_Head View Post
    As a side note they were a inspiration for the name "Lead Sled".
    As in heavily re-worked body?
    Scrap.... because all the really pithy and emphatic four letter words were taken and we had to describe this source of casting material somehow so we added an "S" to what non casters and wives call what we collect.

    Kind of hard to claim to love America while one is hating half the Americans that disagree with you. One nation indivisible requires work.

    Feedback page http://castboolits.gunloads.com/show...light=RogerDat

  5. #5
    Boolit Master Boolit_Head's Avatar
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    No even new ones had lead smoothing the seams.
    On every question of construction let us carry ourselves back to the time when the Constitution was adopted, recollect the spirit manifested in the debates, and instead of trying what meaning may be squeezed out of the text or invented against it, conform to the probable one in which it was passed.

    Thomas Jefferson, letter to William Johnson, June 12, 1823

  6. #6
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    Quote Originally Posted by Boolit_Head View Post
    No even new ones had lead smoothing the seams.
    I have some solder ingots stamped Chrysler Scrap, stamping is a one piece stamp, I would imagine it was to keep the stuff from leaving in lunch pails as beer money. Also some body lead stamped GM. I'm guessing this then must have been used on the line.

    I had a fellow show me how to do lead body work when I restored a Triumph motorcycle, and used it a few times after. I'm ok as long as the work is laid flat or mostly flat, but the real craftsman could work on a vertical surface faster and better than I do a piece sitting flat on on a table.
    Scrap.... because all the really pithy and emphatic four letter words were taken and we had to describe this source of casting material somehow so we added an "S" to what non casters and wives call what we collect.

    Kind of hard to claim to love America while one is hating half the Americans that disagree with you. One nation indivisible requires work.

    Feedback page http://castboolits.gunloads.com/show...light=RogerDat

  7. #7
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    I emptied out the pail today by tipping it over seeing that I could barely pick the thing up. In the bottom of the pail under all the rods I came across something that when I was a plumber I had used, there were 3 ingots of pure plumbers lead at 10 lb. apiece. I`ll try the scrap yard near me and see if they`ll `shoot` a sample of the rods for it`s make up. I checked all the rods and none have any numerical make up markings. There also was about 8 or 10 lbs. of old lead wheel weights in a paper bag. Total weight was in the 70 lb. +/- range.Robert

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Abbreviations used in Reloading

BP Bronze Point IMR Improved Military Rifle PTD Pointed
BR Bench Rest M Magnum RN Round Nose
BT Boat Tail PL Power-Lokt SP Soft Point
C Compressed Charge PR Primer SPCL Soft Point "Core-Lokt"
HP Hollow Point PSPCL Pointed Soft Point "Core Lokt" C.O.L. Cartridge Overall Length
PSP Pointed Soft Point Spz Spitzer Point SBT Spitzer Boat Tail
LRN Lead Round Nose LWC Lead Wad Cutter LSWC Lead Semi Wad Cutter
GC Gas Check