I have some mystery lead.

[ScottJ]

Have some mystery ingots. The small ones between the muffin ingots here. I think the shiny ones on the right are foundry type or something like that. Not sure about the others guess I'll have to invest in a hardness tester or just mix them 50/50 with something hard.


Then from the back I have these 4 block strips that appear to come from a commercial supplier. There're quite soft as I'm able to dent them significantly beating them on the concrete floor. I'm thinking they're pure lead.



Here's a couple other pics from today's big melt and organize. I got a small supply of lead pipe. The misc are a mix of fishing sinkers and range scrap:


Here's the whole stash:

[Randy C]

I wish I had that problem.

[Johnch]

Nice batch of ingots

Just watch how much you stack in there
Lead is not light

I put to much on a shelf in the basement
It now is laying on the floor where the shelf was

John

[Frank46]

The square ones are most likely plumbers lead. Pretty close to being almost pure. I've seen them as round hockey pucks attached to one another with 5 altogether. Also seen them as large ingot shapes as well. Frank

[max range]

Yep, plumbing lead is my guess for the square ones with the raised lettering. It seems to me that my pure lead ingots turn dark grey much quicker than alloy ingots.

[dieguy59]

Just a guess, but 'LP' may stand for lead pipe.

[el34]

Having a hardness tester is a real blessing for solving mysteries like this. The Lee tester works great for me but currently none are in stock anywhere. I use it to BHN test wheelweight and range lead ingots, then calculate the amount of high-antimony lead (Superhard or type metal) to add to get a desired hardness. I set my casting alloy at 12.5BHN and 2% tin.

[ScottJ]

Just a guess, but 'LP' may stand for lead pipe.

The ones written on I know the alloy because I melted from raw material myself. I just threw that pic in because they were shiny

What I'm thinking of doing now is snagging some linotype off eBay and mixing it 3:1 with the unknown. Chances are high all of it is plumber's lead since it's all donated from the same source.

[evan price]

Those Hewitt ingots are most likely soft. Drop them on concrete, if they thump they are pure. Harder ingots will clank instead of thump- try it with some alloy you know is harder to see what I mean.

[mikeym1a]

Having a hardness tester is a real blessing for solving mysteries like this. The Lee tester works great for me but currently none are in stock anywhere. I use it to BHN test wheelweight and range lead ingots, then calculate the amount of high-antimony lead (Superhard or type metal) to add to get a desired hardness. I set my casting alloy at 12.5BHN and 2% tin.

Just ordered a Lee tester from Midway. Out-of-stock, but ordered it anyway. The final screen said it was expected in stock on or about 5-8 June. Nice stack of lead. Mine is growing, but, still not there. Cheers!

[spfd1903]

Definetly check the tonal quality of the "Hewitt" chunk. They produced journal bearing material and Babbitt. If you tap pure Lead with a ball pein hammer, it makes a muffled, dead sound. Solder alloys have a little more ring when struck. Babbitt has a definite metal ring. If so, you have an ingot with 10%+ Antimony, or higher, and the same percentage of Tin. Hard to say without having it analyzed.

[mikeym1a]

Just ordered a Lee tester from Midway. Out-of-stock, but ordered it anyway. The final screen said it was expected in stock on or about 5-8 June. Nice stack of lead. Mine is growing, but, still not there. Cheers!

I just checked Midway to see if it was in stock, yet, and NO! the site said expected to be in stock on June 25ish. BIG disappointment!

[bangerjim]

I have had that Lee tester on order from Midway for 4+ months and still not here. I have read Lee is behind 16 weeks on most of their stuff. Was able to snag a spare 4-20 pot the other day from Graf...5 hours later they were out of stock! Nobody has anything by Lee.

Gave up and ordered a CabineTree and it shipped the next day. Yea, it's double or more the price, but from what I have seen and read it is the new standard for hardness testing in the low ranges we deal in. Will be here Friday! I will use it to double check the Lee.....if it ever arrives. I have two casting shops so....two hardness testers!

[mikeym1a]

I have had that Lee tester on order from Midway for 4+ months and still not here. I have read Lee is behind 16 weeks on most of their stuff. Was able to snag a spare 4-20 pot the other day from Graf...5 hours later they were out of stock! Nobody has anything by Lee.

Gave up and ordered a CabineTree and it shipped the next day. Yea, it's double or more the price, but from what I have seen and read it is the new standard for hardness testing in the low ranges we deal in. Will be here Friday! I will use it to double check the Lee.....if it ever arrives. I have two casting shops so....two hardness testers!

Thanks. Glad it's not just me. I hate being lonely.........