Is this Linotype?

[outdoorfan]

I stopped at the local recycling place, and they had two half buckets of this stuff. All the pieces in the buckets were pretty much like this. I'm assuming this is lino, but could it be anything else? They let me bring these two pieces home to test. My Lee tester said that this lead is about a 19.

Lino?

[snaggdit]

I'm know expert, but with that hardness I would tend to think so. Some of the other variants are monotype or foundry type. Historically, monotype was single letters and linotype was whole words or full lines of type. Foundry type was the hardest and was used to make very durable sets of type for sustained use in typesetting. Lino/mono was often remelted and recast as it got worn from use. LASC has info on the alloy composition and hardnesses associated. Here is the link if you don't have it yet:
http://www.lasc.us/CastBulletNotes.htm

[Storydude]

Looks like Monotype to me.

[outdoorfan]

So, it looks like monotype, but it has the approx. hardness of linotype.

[sargenv]

I would say melt it down and pay attention to the temp it melts at. Mono needs a higher temp than Lino.. Something a friend noticed when he did not clue in to the extra temp he needed to melt mono one time, cast with it and then discovered that his bullets were cutting in two when they hit the feed ramp of his 38 Super open gun. Just a tad too brittle for boolits.

[outdoorfan]

I don't have a casting thermometer; only an digital infrared one. Anyhow, I don't think I can do that test and honestly be able to tell the difference in melt points between the two.

Seriously, though, my Lee tester read 19. Granted, I only tested it once, but I made sure I did the test very accurately per the Lee instructions. So, monotype would be WAY harder, I would think. I'm really assuming it's linotype, but why the single letters? That's what I'm hoping someone can explain to me.

I think I will be going back there tomorrow to pick up those two buckets. Probably close to 100 lbs between the two.

[cbrick]

No real way to tell just looking at it. snaggdit is probably right, lino is normaly in strips and mono or foundry type in single letters like you have. However any print shop could have cast any alloy they had into whatever they wanted/needed.

Regardless of which it is if the price is good I would buy it just to alloy it. Foundry type is 15% tin and 23% antimony. Mono type is 9% tin, 19% antimony and a little of either of these will go a long way towards turning soft lead into a WW alloy.

I would cast some up & test it, this would give a far better idea what you have.

How much do they want for it?

Buy a good lead thermometer, be the best $30.00 you ever spent.

Rick

[outdoorfan]

Thanks, Rick. They want .15/lb. Can't beat that price. I'll give them a call tomorrow to let them know I'll be coming back.

I should add that I picked up 260+ lbs of soft lead at the same .15/lb. They didn't know the difference between soft and the type-lead except that it was harder.

[qajaq59]

but why the single letters?

It is in single letters because the printers would assembled words with them in what we called a stick. In the 60's it was generally only for very large type used for headlines or ads in the newspaper. However in the old days every letter was set by hand with them. And if you were a journeyman you could do it very fast.
OK, so much for the history lesson.

[cbrick]

Thanks, Rick. They want .15/lb. Can't beat that price. I'll give them a call tomorrow to let them know I'll be coming back.

I should add that I picked up 260+ lbs of soft lead at the same .15/lb. They didn't know the difference between soft and the type-lead except that it was harder.

Don't tell'em. If he thinks its 19% tin he'll want the tin price for. Grab it and run.

After you cast some boolits using a known mould, one that you know what diameter the mould casts with your alloy check the diameter of this alloy. If it's a higher antimony alloy your as cast diameter will be larger. Use a good micrometer and not calipers for this, much more precise. Bear in mind that a higher antimony content will increase the cast diameter of 45 cal boolit MORE than say a 7mm boolit.

Rick

[outdoorfan]

Ok, so it's not all that strange to have linotype in single letter format.

[lylejb]

WELLLL, ya know this stuff sounds kinda strange....so you better just tell me where this stuff's at and what time they open in the morning....then don't worry about it anymore

At .15/ lb you got to go for it. Get it in your hands now, before someone else does, THEN figure out how much you need to mix in.

[outdoorfan]

WELLLL, ya know this stuff sounds kinda strange....so you better just tell me where this stuff's at and what time they open in the morning....then don't worry about it anymore

At .15/ lb you got to go for it. Get it in your hands now, before someone else does, THEN figure out how much you need to mix in.

Gotcha!!

That's the game plan first thing tomorrow morning. I'm guessing those two buckets must have been around 1/3 full. So, that's about 80 pounds, maybe. Ok, so I was very foolish for not just grabbing it right away!

[Matt_G]

Another way to tell if it is lino is to melt it and then watch how it solidifies in the pot.
True lino is a ternary eutectic which will freeze at a SINGLE temperature. (464 F)

Have you ever noticed how a pot full of molten wheel weights will start going solid as it cools, yet for a while there is still liquid in the pot as well?
It takes a while for it all to go solid, depending on how fast the heat loss is.
True lino should go from being liquid to completely solid very rapidly.

[outdoorfan]

Another way to tell if it is lino is to melt it and then watch how it solidifies in the pot.
True lino is a ternary eutectic which will freeze at a SINGLE temperature. (464 F)

Have you ever noticed how a pot full of molten wheel weights will start going solid as it cools, yet for a while there is still liquid in the pot as well?
It takes a while for it all to go solid, depending on how fast the heat loss is.
True lino should go from being liquid to completely solid very rapidly.

Yes, I noticed that the last time I did some casting with it. That was also the first time that I had ever casted with it. It hardens in a split second, and then the sprue is harder to break open, as well.

[hammerhead357]

I am going to say it is foundry type but it would depend on the size. Most of the print shops I was familiar with didn't have the means to recast type letters of that size. They could and did recast their lino back into ingots or as they called them pigs. But none that I ever knew of had the means to cast the individual letters like those in your pictures. They bought new stuff whenever the print became dull. That stuff was hard as heck and would last a long time.
But whatever it is for 15 cents per pound you better jump on it and then worry about how to alloy it with other metal to make your casting alloy.....Wes

[jkingrph]

I thought linotype was used to cast full page layouts for rapid printing, thus it was melted and generally recast daily.

[Lead Fred]

Ill give yo a buck a pound for it

[454PB]

That looks just like the monotype I have.

Did you test several pieces?

Mine hardness tests all over, but none below about 25 BHN.....some up to 30 BHN.

[Hardcast416taylor]

Mono-type definately. I`ve got a 5 gal. pail of the same stuff from a hospital in house printing shop they closed down. Don`t get excited when you smelt some of it if a gray foam forms on the top of your pot. Give it a few minutes and stir it back in, then flux as usual. Watch what you ingot the alloy into, there is such a high tin content it may bond to what you are using as an ingot form. By all means grab all they have of this stuff and all the other lead they have for sale at .15 a lb.Robert