A Fresh Haul of Isotope Cores, + Unk Bar Stock?

[Danderdude]

I picked up 540lbs from the local scrapyard yesterday.

Originally I was just picking the best roof flashing and vent pipe covers, since the WW were mostly steel and zinc. I filled up the cart with 150lbs of the flashing before doing a preliminary weigh-out. Then after asking the No Habla Ingles employee for a ladder so I could climb up into the bin, he said, "Clean lead? Want clean lead? [points] Clean lead!"

Hidden under a pallet that was on top of a neighboring bin, was a load of isotope cores and shipping containers. I got all 7 big ones @31lbs each they had, plus half a bucket of smaller vials. The balance of the load was a 100 lb forklift ballast block.

One thing I grabbed were some very clean bars that had all been bent(first pic, far right), about 5/16" diameter, with no markings. I suspect they are pure lead but does anybody know of any solder that comes this way?


Larger image

[GlocksareGood]

Looks link bar solder to me. Very common form for it to be in. Any wtitting on it?

[Danderdude]

There's no writing at all, and the Lee hardness tester puts it at dead soft unfortunately, as I just found out.

[Beagle333]

Where's the "Green with envy" icon?
Good haul!

[dikman]

Look like solder bars to me.
"...dead soft unfortunately" - you get a haul like that and you're worried that some of it might be too soft?

[merlin101]

There's no writing at all, and the Lee hardness tester puts it at dead soft unfortunately, as I just found out.

That's ok,you did REAL GOOD! Mix it with some COWW you've got stashed or pick up some super hard from Roto metals. I wish the yards around here would sell to the public, I see stuff like that but can't buy it!

[Hardcast416taylor]

I got ahold of a small pail of that same type "bar solder". It was marked 70/30. Not the greatest stuff for tin, but still has some content more than pure lead would have. Besides I paid .80 a lb. for anything the yard man called "clean" lead and these fell under that title.Robert

[el34]

I got ahold of a small pail of that same type "bar solder". It was marked 70/30. Not the greatest stuff for tin, but still has some content more than pure lead would have.

Man I'd call that really good for tin! 70% tin and at 80c/lb- fantastic.

[MaryB]

Yards here won't sell less than rail car load, no sales to the public so I am jealous.

[alamogunr]

Man I'd call that really good for tin! 70% tin and at 80c/lb- fantastic.

Seems that the industry standard of marking solder with the tin percentage first won't sink in here. Good Call!

[fastfire]

I picked up 540lbs from the local scrapyard yesterday.

Originally I was just picking the best roof flashing and vent pipe covers, since the WW were mostly steel and zinc. I filled up the cart with 150lbs of the flashing before doing a preliminary weigh-out. Then after asking the No Habla Ingles employee for a ladder so I could climb up into the bin, he said, "Clean lead? Want clean lead? [points] Clean lead!"

Hidden under a pallet that was on top of a neighboring bin, was a load of isotope cores and shipping containers. I got all 7 big ones @31lbs each they had, plus half a bucket of smaller vials. The balance of the load was a 100 lb forklift ballast block.

One thing I grabbed were some very clean bars that had all been bent(first pic, far right), about 5/16" diameter, with no markings. I suspect they are pure lead but does anybody know of any solder that comes this way?


Larger image

I've seen the (isotope cores) at the scrap yard before, what are they?
I suspect they are lead but what were they used for in there previous life?

[Danderdude]

I've seen the (isotope cores) at the scrap yard before, what are they?
I suspect they are lead but what were they used for in there previous life?

I may be remembering incorrectly, but in my research I believe I found that those are made for shipping single injections of Molybdenum 99, which decays to Technetium 99 with a very short, and very predictable, halflife and decay emission. These kinds of things are used for "scintigraphy", which is injecting a radioactive isotope into a person and using radiation-reactive paper or a screen to make a picture.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nuclear_medicine

[Defcon-One]

Large cores will be 1% Tin, 3% Antimony, 96% Lead.

The small bars that are bent look like Solder to me. I'd do a melt test. Under 500 Degrees F, probably Solder. Over 650 Degrees F, probably Pure lead.

[runfiverun]

isotope cores are equivalent to ww alloy with 1% tin added in my world.

those little round "bars" are how body lead used to come, they come from pure lead up through about 40% tin and the tin content was picked out based on how vertical the surface to be worked on was.
you wanted to keep the lead in a flowy soft state longer on a flatter surface so it would settle out flatter and not have to be worked as much.
but on the more vertical surfaces you wanted a slushy state you could build up and push around so it wouldn't just run off and onto the floor.