Scrap yard

[Mjdd23]

I went to the scrap yard on Saturday and in the barrel with the usual soft lead pipe and roof flashing I found what looks to me like some sort of crank shaft bearing. It has lubrication channels cut into it. I tested it with my pencil set and it comes up as 2h harness. I have yet to put a drop of acid on it to test for zinc. I bought 8 pieces like this totaling about 12 lbs. Maybe i got lucky.

[Dusty Bannister]

Maybe you got lucky and have bearing babbit? It would be nice to have a hardness tester to match for hardness and then a drip sample to have XRF scanned. Good luck finding out what you have.

[Mjdd23]

Thanks. I know it's pretty hard. I don't know if it would be worth it for this small amount. I have a few other ingots I need tested so maybe I will.

[reddog81]

If it's babbit it'll have a high concentration of tin. Tin is worth closer to $10 per pound rather than $1 per pound for lead. Tin has a density of 7.287 grams per cubic centimeter. If you can figure out how much water it displaces and how much it weighs you might be able to get a good estimate of what it is.

[Mjdd23]

I remember reading a post on that method of determining the composition of an alloy. I have to see if I can find it again. Whenever I find lead at the scrap yard that is not obvious of its composition, I put it to the side until I can figure out what it is. That pile is growing slowly but surely.