Monotype?

[cohutt]

I got a call out of the blue yesterday and a couple hours later i had 160lbs of free type metal in my truck.

It wasn't what i was expecting. Is this monotype?

[madcaster]

Don't know,but you definitely need to remember that person who gave it to you on their Birthday,CHRISTmas and any other day you can!

[HeavyMetal]

This could be Foundry type, monotype or linotype.

Because I am limited in my equipment I would melt a pound of this on my kitchen stove in a small cast iron pot flux and cast a few full wadcutters, (32,38,or 44 it don't matter) and then run them into my Lee hardness tester to see what BHN they came out at.

The bullet making annuals, by Wolfe publishing, had several articles on alloy type and one of them listed BHN for several type metals.

If it helps Monotype is 76% lead, 17% antimony.7% tin. BHN is 28 Linotype is: 84% lead, 12% antimony, 4% tin, BHN is 21.5

So anything softer is not type, anything harder is monotype, sterotype or foundry type.

Some will say I'm quoting absolute's here, and I am, if only to make the "idea" of blending an alloy simpler for me to understand!

Once you figure out the "hardness" you can call the type metal by the closest BHN number and then blend it with WW metal to use in the pressure levels you'll be shooting.

If all you ever shoot is bullseye with the 38 and 45 then this stuff will last you for a long long time!

By the way what a nice deal! This person needs to be on the A list asap!

[mikeyd499]

I was a printer for many years at a print shop from the old days, that is definately monotype. I put much of that stuff in printing chases in my day. When the owner of the shop went out of business, he sold about 2 tons of monotype and linotype for a nickle a pound. If I'd only known then what I know now!

[454PB]

Yup, I had over 2000 pounds of it at one time. I used, sold, and gave away all but about 500 pounds I still have.

[cohutt]

Thanks for the confirmation.

I have so much pure lead that these type finds are huge for me-

[snaggdit]

I just spoke with a guy that has about 20 pounds of 60 font type. He wants $10. In talking he told me I might be interested in about 80# of 120 font foundry type he has. I see from the above post what Mono and Lino is, what is the composition of Foundry type? Is it even harder? Is $.50 a pound a decent deal? I would like something to alloy with WW for my rifle rounds. Would Foundry type work as well as Lino or Mono?

[garandsrus]

Snaggdit,

Foundry type has more antimony and tin than the other type metals. Here is a link to what are commonly accepted conventions for type metal.

If you search the site, you will find a couple different "alloy calculators" that can help you make whatever alloy you want.

John

[guninhand]

Is it safe to say that the silvery stuff is linotype and the dark stuff is monotype? I have a bunch of printer's metal still wrapped in brown paper and every package has mostly the silver with some pieces dark.

[snaggdit]

Thanks Garandsrus. Great page for alloy info. I am trying to turn it into a Word file to store on my computer.

[454PB]

Are you mistaking ink or oxidation for "dark" pieces. Linotype and monotype have the same silvery appearance.

Monotype means "one type letter or symbol", linotype means "line of type" as in a series of words or symbols in one piece.

Some of the out of focus items in cohutt's picture appear to be spacers. The spacers are made of copper or wood, in his picture, it looks like wood.

My collection of monotype and linotype came with a lot of small strips of copper that were originally used as spacers.

[hammerhead357]

guninhand, if what you have wrapped in brown paper is long bars that have wavey lines on them and no letters or numbers on it then you have Elrod bars or strips and as far as I know they are just linotype. Now mikeyd499 would know better than I do. I only bought metal from the old hot type shops, never did work in one.....Wes

[cohutt]

Are you mistaking ink or oxidation for "dark" pieces. Linotype and monotype have the same silvery appearance.

Monotype means "one type letter or symbol", linotype means "line of type" as in a series of words or symbols in one piece.

Some of the out of focus items in cohutt's picture appear to be spacers. The spacers are made of copper or wood, in his picture, it looks like wood.

My collection of monotype and linotype came with a lot of small strips of copper that were originally used as spacers.

No wood or copper, all the same. Some are dirtier and a little more oxidized though.

[kamikaze1a]

I have my hardness tester attached to my right hand at all times...I can get a rough estimate of the hardness by pressing the metal in question with my thumbnail. If I can cause a indentaton pretty easily, it's probably pure lead. If it's a small dent, lino. Mono or foundry leaves hardly any mark at all... Not scientific, just a rough estimate and it works for me...

[mikeyd499]

guninhand, the printers metal wrapped in paper is probably spacer material. What we had was about 24 inches long and very thin. These were cut to the to the size needed and used between slugs of cast type. These also seemed a little softer but I think it was because they were thinner and therefore more flexible.

[guninhand]

Mikeyd and Hamerhead,

I scrapped one of the "dark" pieces and it was nice and shiny underneath. I would guess it's ink that makes them dark, though I was supposing that the stuff wrapped in paper had come from a supplier and hadn't had the chance to get ink on it as it would once put in use by the printer.