VERY hard lead

[JASON50CAL]

I have 2 coffe cans of lead that my grandfather melted down at a steel mill where he worked. I tried to melt it with a propane torch to make ingots but it wont melt with a propane torch. He melted it with a large torch at the mill. Iremember him saying that they were from a train car. If i can melt these would they be ok to use for bullets or not. I can mix them with pure lead if i can melt it. What would be a good way to melt it.

[lwknight]

How big of torch and how long did you heat one spot?
Lead is hard to melt when its a large chunk with a torch. It takes a lot of time.
If its babbit the melting point should be realitive low. It might not even be lead based.

I melt large pieces with a weed burner torch and let the drippings fall into a 5 quart cast iron pot on the turkey fryer burner. It still takes a little bit to get the melt started.

[JASON50CAL]

I just use a small propane tank like you would use on a lantern with a torch head on it. I may need to heat it longer.

[bfuller14]

Jason,
I have what I thought was lead left from my Dad. It sounds like the stuff you have. I had to melt it into my cast iron pot with my big torch. I had ask many questions here about it. The advice that I was given was to pour a few bullets while I was pouring my ingots. Then test the bullets to see what I have. Mine was 24-26 BHN right out of the melting pot.
I mixed this stuff with WW's ( 3 parts WW, 1 part this hard stuff) and it was 22 BHN. I just now got through pouring some ( 3 parts pure lead, 1 part this hard stuff) I will see what it is going to do.
Mine also had a light gold tint to it when I poured my ingots. With all the information that I could find it seems like mine is monotype or stereo type lead. I have never run across this before so it is all new to me. I am trying to get mine to about the same consistency as Wheel Weights.
Please let me know how yours is going.
Good luck, this is fun...
Barry

[runfiverun]

i fairly certain what you got is babbit.
they used babbit on the wheel bearings back in the day's

[JASON50CAL]

If i shave small pieces of then it melts in just a few seconds with a propane torch. I even used a MAP gas torch and cant get it to melt the big part. What kind of torch should i use?

[Cap'n Morgan]

Barry, you mention the alloy has a light gold tint to it. That sounds like a tin based babbit alloy. Since it was used for railways cars this make good sense.

The tin-based babbit alloys may vary, but it is probably something like 80% tin 10% antimony and maybe 5% copper and 5% lead. If you cut it with anywhere from six to sixteen parts pure lead to one part babbit you should have a great boolit alloy. I have tried four parts lead to one part babbit. It produces some very nice, hard and shiny light boolits, but it is a terrible waste of precious tin.

[jhrosier]

Nickle babbit has the light gold tint.
It is used for turbine bearings for generators.

I got some from Lumpie, who hasn't posted here for a long time.
A pound of it in ten pounds of lead made a good hard magnum alloy.

Jack

[songdog53]

Nickle babbit will melt fairly easy if in small pieces but get a big lump left in lead pot takes longer, i use it as my Father-in-law used to pour his own bearings at saw mill back in the day. I find little goes long way and can make some super hard boolits with it. Added to wheel weight mix and they are good hard bullets but some are way too hard and won't mushroom at all.

[bfuller14]

Thank you Cap'n Morgan and jhrosier !

Jason,
I used a cutting torch with a #2 welding tip. Just about any cutting torch should melt it. If you use oxyacetylene (oxygen and acetylene) the flame temperature is around 6330 deg. (F)

[lwknight]

The tin based alloy transfers heat very well so you need a lot of torch power to actually mely off from the chunk because the heat you are putting on to it is being dissipated fast as you can eat it.

Cast iron pot on a turkey fryer burner works great.

[lwknight]

Thank you Cap'n Morgan and jhrosier !

Jason,
I used a cutting torch with a #2 welding tip. Just about any cutting torch should melt it. If you use oxyacetylene (oxygen and acetylene) the flame temperature is around 6330 deg. (F)

Using the Oxy-Ace torch is just fine as long as you heat in such a way that what melts can run off instead of puddling. You cannot overheat it when it runs off as soon as its hot enough to melt. If it puddled you could accidently super heat it.

Also using the soft feathered part of the flame is both more efficient and the temperature is only 2800-3000 degrees . Keep a light feather in the orafice flame to reduce oxidation . You might get a little carbon but it won't hurt anything. It will just float out when you flux the alloy later.