Fake Lino ingots

[Johnch]

I sometimes get lead from a guy I fish with
As he works for a scrap yard , he pass's it on to me at his cost .......this batch was $ 0.10 a lb for all types
So I take what he offers , with few questions

I got a call Sat evening to pick up the lead Sunday evening at his house

There was some sheet lead , Lino in type form and 4 Lino bars

But 2 of the Lino bars were soft ( wrong color and a thud when hit)
So I did a quick test when I got the ingots home

The 2 hard Lino ingots tested out as lino
The 2 off color ingots tested to be softer than WW , my guess range lead cast into a old Lino ingot mould

I just figured I would give a heads up
As some rat maybe trying to pass range lead off as lino

John

[bangerjim]

Unless the lino is in the REAL ORIGINAL "lines-o-type" or in the ORIGINAL factory stamped "pigs", do not trust anyone selling ingots of carp as linotype. There is no way of knowing without an x-ray shoot. The best way to buy AND store lino is in the lines of type. Do NOT melt it down into ingots!!!!!! Just like sheet lead, leave it that way. Stores easily and you will always knwo what it is.

banger

[Beagle333]

Bummer that it was a fraud..... but at a dime a pound, I'll mix it all together and then have it tested and be grinning the whole time!!!

[lightman]

Thanks for the heads-up. At 10 cents, you are still golden! You see those molds for sale occasionally, so its anyones guess if it was faked or just the way someone stores their lead.

[Sekatoa]

It may not have been intended as fraud. It may be "depleted" Linotype from a print shop that recast it into slugs. I've heard of this, as well as the enrichment alloy sold by imperial, "LinoPlus". I have a three ingot pig of this, and two three ingot bars of straight new imperial
Linotype. I've tested both with my me tester, and we're in he range of is expected.
I'll get around to ball bearing test later to verify.
I'd love if I knew anywhere around hear with gun to check this stuff, but nothing I know of, and scrap yards are mostly wrecking yards with unfriendly employees.
I have a three

[country gent]

May not actually be fraud as when newspapers and print shops got away from the set print and linotype became less poular and not used as much. Alot of that equipment was scrapped the big pots, moulds, ingot moulds, alloies and the other equipment/tools. Some was pirchased by employees or from the scrap yards to be used in other endevors. I could see a caster buying the ingot moulds instead of making the moulds himself. I would imagine they had several sizes of ingots and pots on hand depending on the size of the job.

[GLL]

Did the seller indicate the bars were linotype alloy or did you assume they were because of the shape?
At 10 cents/pound I would not consider it a fraud anyway !
At that price I would take 2000 pounds and have a big smile on my face as I drove away !

Jerry

[KohlerK91]

There have been linotype ingot moulds on ebay. Anyone could buy them and use them as they please.

[bangerjim]

There have been linotype ingot moulds on ebay. Anyone could buy them and use them as they please.

I would say that only a shyster would want them......to trick people into buying non-lino to turn a quick buck.

That is my opinion of evilbay these days.

[runfiverun]

yeah,,,, there's no way anybody would want to lower a 25 pound ingot into their 40 or 90 pound alloy pot so they could just keep on casting.

[country gent]

Or take the time to make a 40-90 lb ingot mould when one is available cheap.

[GoodOlBoy]

10 cents a lb..... if it's lead, ANY type of lead.... 10 CENTS a pound!

GoodOlBoy

[bhn22]

Have you melted any of the "fake" lino, recasted it into any form, and tested it for hardness? Lino softens over time, and the crystalline structure "relaxes" with age. Melted down, and recast, the crystalline structure reforms to it's original density. It could still be lino, but extremely old lino that could be refreshed. I have five bars like that, mine are probably over 20 years old now, and cut samples test around 13 bhn or so. Remelted and cast into ingots, they test at 22 bhn.

[Johnch]

Have you melted any of the "fake" lino, recasted it into any form, and tested it for hardness? Lino softens over time, and the crystalline structure "relaxes" with age. Melted down, and recast, the crystalline structure reforms to it's original density. It could still be lino, but extremely old lino that could be refreshed. I have five bars like that, mine are probably over 20 years old now, and cut samples test around 13 bhn or so. Remelted and cast into ingots, they test at 22 bhn.

No
So far , the most I have done with any of this batch of lead
Is take it in the shed

I have a decent amount of all the alloys I normaly use .......well maybe a few years worth

So the last 3-4 times I have gotten lead , I have just been stock pile ing it

John