Blending some scrap...

[mac1911]

I think I will end up with Wheel Weight/ lead shot type alloy.
Sent off some samples to get tested.

Pencil hardness test a few hours later came in around 12 bhn.

I think my split Blending was good enough to equal out the alloy for my needs. If the 2 samples come back way off I might just have to split the blend again.

just to add Walmart has the Blue Rhino tank exchange for $14.82 So I rounded up a few expired tanks and filled up. figured it cost me about .04 cents/lb to blend- 100lbs
so all this time off I been able to catch up on all my smelting and alloy sorting. think Im done for a good while

[Cosmic_Charlie]

I think I will end up with Wheel Weight/ lead shot type alloy.
Sent off some samples to get tested.

Pencil hardness test a few hours later came in around 12 bhn.

I think my split Blending was good enough to equal out the alloy for my needs. If the 2 samples come back way off I might just have to split the blend again.

just to add Walmart has the Blue Rhino tank exchange for $14.82 So I rounded up a few expired tanks and filled up. figured it cost me about .04 cents/lb to blend- 100lbs
so all this time off I been able to catch up on all my smelting and alloy sorting. think Im done for a good while

Nice.

[lightman]

When I have an unknown quantity of lead I melt it together and send a sample off for test. If its a really small quantity I just put it in with the next 400# batch of wheel weights that I melt. If I do add it to my wheel weights I test each piece for zinc.

This includes battery cable ends, odd fishing sinkers, Duck Decoy weights, ingots taken in trade, ect ect.

[RogerDat]

When I have an unknown quantity of lead I melt it together and send a sample off for test. If its a really small quantity I just put it in with the next 400# batch of wheel weights that I melt. If I do add it to my wheel weights I test each piece for zinc.

This includes battery cable ends, odd fishing sinkers, Duck Decoy weights, ingots taken in trade, ect ect.

I do pretty much the same. but I melt the small quantity of misc. lead into one batch. By melting something I'm pretty sure is plain soft lead and dipping other items into the melt with a thermometer in it. Toss aside anything that doesn't easily melt. Get happy over the stuff that melts super fast (tin causes easier melting) I pour this into bread loaf pans to make inch. inch and a half slaps. I drill a sample from those, melt the shavings in a spoon to make the pea sized sample that BNE wants.

That way I send in a sample to be tested from a larger batch of assorted lead and lead alloys. I try to do misc. lead when I get to around 50 pounds or so. Then I can plug the alloy results into Bumpo's lead alloy calculator for mixing.

I will sometimes sort the misc. lead too. Like when I have 30# of this, and 25# of that, and some assorted soft lead like pipe or sheet. That means I have three samples to send (at cost of 3# of lead) but I can mix those items in with greater confidence when making "finished" alloys.

The tested bread loaf slab ingots accumulate until eventually I do some big batches with them that I pour into the cast boolet ingot molds or pucks or whatever mold seems appropriate. I can do about 135# at a time as a big batch. A bit more if the ingots melted were already fluxed.

I'm pretty caught up. Only have one batch left to make into a "finished" alloy.
Last one for awhile will be one batch of misc. that is a touch over 100# of mostly dental foil tested as 2/4/94 and 27# of 4/4/92 I accumulated from something. Both tested. By throwing in a few pounds of some solder and 5# of printers lead.... I should get a nice batch of 3/3/92 that will totally fill my pot to the top.

[mac1911]

Results are in. Came back Sb2% Pb98%
So looks like its moslty old magnum shot. Which IIRC is what the bulk of the scrap was suposed to be

[Green Frog]

Cool! Add a pinch of tin to make it flow better and get to casting! Sounds like you have the basis of some good alloy.

Froggie

[Demoman]

Very nice