Melting linotype bars?

[SteveM54]

Newbie question please.
I need to figure a safe way to make these smaller.

[chsparkman]

If you have access to a band saw or a sawzall, that should get them small enough to fit in your pot.

[Winger Ed.]

A propane torch or hatchet works too.

[JimB..]

If you’re nearby I can help you get them into ingots, but otherwise just put one under another where you want it to break and give it a good whack with a hammer, it’ll break off pretty clean.

[Stewbaby]

Fish cooker stand w/ propane and aim and flame, cast iron skillet (dedicated to lead there after), ladle, muffin pan, corn bread pan or other ‘mold’.

Heat, melt, pour, cool, dump, repeat

[G W Wade]

Memories. Years ago I met another caster. He had a small pulley mounted in the ceiling over his lead pot. Suspended the ingot with a rope so he could lower it into the pot when needing more lead. The heat off the furnace warmed the lynotype a little. Never tried it myself figuring to dangerous / easy to bump if got a little clumsy. I usually just score a line where I want it ti break and whack on another ingot GW

[imashooter2]

Notch them with a hatchet, then break them with a hammer.

[SteveM54]

Thank you all for the ideas. I have a Sawzall with a lot of different types of blades so that's the one I'll try first.
Or, score with hatchet - break with hammer.
I'm just a little nervous about a visit from the "tensile fairy"

[RogerDat]

Those pigs are hard enough to easily snap. That is the best way to reduce the size. If you nick the corners on the flat side with a chisel or hack saw or even I would think a file then place it so it has something under it just behind those nicks you can snap it with a hammer whack. It will generally snap over the thing placed under it and at the weak point you created with your nick.

Good to keep the bars stored as pieces of a lino pig rather than melting them all down. As a pig there is much less question as to what alloy it is. melted into ingots in your own mold it could be anything. Selling or swapping lead it is always and advantage for the form to prove the alloy. My Cast Boolit or Lee ingots could be anything. Letters or pigs are clearly printing lead.

Those bars can be a pain to store but worth it in the long run. Maybe melt some pieces to have on hand for making your own alloy but keep major portion in "raw" form. Besides sort of cool to be able to explain what they are and were used for when someone asks "what are those big skinny bars?"

[RogerDat]

Thank you all for the ideas. I have a Sawzall with a lot of different types of blades so that's the one I'll try first.
Or, score with hatchet - break with hammer.
I'm just a little nervous about a visit from the "tensile fairy"

Don't need to cut with saw, no point to spreading lead sawdust around or losing some of that nice alloy as sawdust. Worth noting when cutting lead a really course blade is needed to keep it from clogging. Big pieces of lead like ships ballast people use chain saws over a tarp to collect the chips.

Tinsel fairy is due to moisture in or on the lead going below the surface of molten lead. Start with a cold pot full of lead and the lead dries before it melts as it warms up. Or pre-heat any lead well before adding to a pot. Put an end in and let it start to melt before lowering the ingot in. Avoid dropping solid lead into molten lead! Cold lead can actually get slight condensation on coming close to the heat of the molten lead. Never done that one with lead but had a cast iron ladle "kick back" with some authority once because I took a cold ladle and stuck it into a pot of lead. Know to pre-heat all tools now. Rest spoons and ladles on molten lead to pre-heat. If you sweat where a head band, I once almost poured 2# of molten lead into a mold with a drop of sweat in it. Saw that just in time.

Yes I look like a mad magazine version of over the hill senior citizen Rambo with that strip of rag around my head, so what. As long as I don't have to clean lead off the ceiling in the garage and my pretty face it's all good.

[imashooter2]

Don't need to cut with saw, no point to spreading lead sawdust around or losing some of that nice alloy as sawdust. Worth noting when cutting lead a really course blade is needed to keep it from clogging. Big pieces of lead like ships ballast people use chain saws over a tarp to collect the chips.

Tinsel fairy is due to moisture in or on the lead going below the surface of molten lead. Start with a cold pot full of lead and the lead dries before it melts as it warms up. Or pre-heat any lead well before adding to a pot. Put an end in and let it start to melt before lowering the ingot in. Avoid dropping solid lead into molten lead! Cold lead can actually get slight condensation on coming close to the heat of the molten lead. Never done that one with lead but had a cast iron ladle "kick back" with some authority once because I took a cold ladle and stuck it into a pot of lead. Know to pre-heat all tools now. Rest spoons and ladles on molten lead to pre-heat. If you sweat where a head band, I once almost poured 2# of molten lead into a mold with a drop of sweat in it. Saw that just in time.

Yes I look like a mad magazine version of over the hill senior citizen Rambo with that strip of rag around my head, so what. As long as I don't have to clean lead off the ceiling in the garage and my pretty face it's all good.

The only steam explosion I have experienced was a rain drop fell into an ingot mold at the same moment I was tipping the ladle to fill the cavity. I was lucky the explosion happened before much alloy was in the mold and that the rain drop was to me, so threw the lead away. It was an interesting experience. I hope to never see it again.

[kevin c]

I broke mine with a small maul after scoring with a file. Small ingots are definitely easier to cast with.

[bangerjim]

Notch and break. No need to re-melt or saw. A saw will generate lots of unneeded lead dust and you will not be ab le to recover it all and it goes right into the ground. Your joints and fillings will thank you for NOT using a saw!!!!!!!!!!

[243winxb]

Melt into a pot. Cast ingots. I use 2" of Rotometals linotype, by melting it into my Lee 10 pound pot.

[Hodagtrapper]

I cut them with my 28 ton log splitter. Worked okay but I will try a different method next time as the lead is very hard and almost felt like it was going to shatter!

Chris

[cwlongshot]

They break pretty easy they're actually quite brittle. I put mine on the concrete floor on a block of 2 x 4 and smacked him with a 3 pound sledge. One or two max and they break into nice 10 inch chunks that melted easily in my smelting pot.

https://youtube.com/shorts/RQkQZ9XePFs?feature=share

[lightman]

Like everyone has said, they break pretty clean if you score them. But Roger has a good point about leaving them in their original form. I have resisted the temptation of melting all of mine down and casting into ingots. From your picture I see you have several smaller pieces. I would start with them.

[JeffinTD]

I recently acquired some large linotype bars that wouldn't break easily with a maul...

Turns out Linotype is brittle enough that a shop press easily breaks them. They break suddenly, without warning or bending first, so keep your feet clear.

[country gent]

a little wax or light oil on the cut area helps a lot to keep the blade from loading up with lead. just rub a line pf wax around the bar so the blade pick it up as it goes thru. A light coat of vegetable oil applied with a small acid brush also works well. The other is black board chalk it will keep the blade from loading and let the chips clear.

[Geezer in NH]

I just lay one end of them on a piece of firewood, other on the ground and hit them with the blade side of a splitting maul. They break apart with 1 hit.