Mystery Metal?

[Matt J]

Hello all, new guy here with a question maybe some of you can answer. A few years ago I came across what I believed to be lead wire while working one day. I picked it up with the intention of using it for casting. Just now I have got around to melting it down, but it doesn't want to melt! I had cut it into 6" strips and left it in my pot for plenty of time(ww were easily melted). A 1" section of this material floated in the alloy left in my pot.

The wire is elliptical in cross section, about 1/2" wide, and has a steel? wire core. It is mallable, but seems harder and tougher that lead. Also, since it seems to float in a pot of ww alloy it is lighter than that, but still pretty heavy.

Anyone ever come across this stuff or have an idea what it is?

[imashooter2]

On the face of it, it sounds like Zinc.

[454PB]

I agree, sound like zinc covering, also sounds like the old style heat tapes we used 30 years ago, which WERE lead covered.

[Pystis]

I'm not sure if it's the case, but I smelted salvaged boolits and a bucket of ww last weekend. There were few Remington 12GA slugs also.
It took surprisingly long time to melt down, alot longer than wheel weights. It also floated on the surface.

I know that pure lead has higher melting point than ww alloy, but shouldn´t straight Pb be also heavier than ww alloy.

It is not the case... Matt can you take chips out of it with a knive?

[Matt J]

I guess it could be zinc, but I thought zinc was much lighter than lead.

Matt can you take chips out of it with a knive?

I can, but it is harder than even straight linotype

I had my Lee pot on the halfway setting, and don't know the temperature I heated them to. I guess I could have melted it if I cranked it up, but I figured I better know what I'm dealing with first.

[Pystis]

Yeah, better safe than sorry.
I would have skimmed it off if I didn´t knew it was lead.

[Buckshot]

............Check it out, out of the pot with a propane torch to see how it melts. If it does melt and look like lead doing it, try a bit in a half pot. Only a tiny amount of zinc is needed to ruin the castability of lead, hense testing in a small amount of lead. That is, if you have enough of the questionable stuff to be really useable.

Oxidized lead can take a looooooooong time to melt. I guess that oxide layer is a real whizz of an insulator. If you notice melting a big hunk of lead how the lead will melt out from underneath the oxide skin and leave it hanging there? I dumped old range pickup cast slugs that were who knows how old and they do spend quite a bit of time just floating around on top of the melt.

...............Buckshot