Sorting ingots?

[MikeACP]

I have a few different types of ingots from a couple of different places. My WW i've smelted, ingots I've bought and I'm going to be doing some range lead. Do you guys seperate and catalog these some way? Should I just chuck all in a bin together?

[Philngruvy]

I have a few different types of ingots from a couple of different places. My WW i've smelted, ingots I've bought and I'm going to be doing some range lead. Do you guys seperate and catalog these some way? Should I just chuck all in a bin together?

I keep mine separated. Stickon WW are different harness than clipon WW. Dental lead is very soft and range lead can be variable. Depending on what you are casting for could require different harness lead, therefore separating the lead by source is very important.

[xr650]

I sort different leads and store them in seperate boxes. Easier to mix later than unmix.
I just sorted some mono. Big letters seperated from small letters. I know I didn't need to do this. Just couldn't help myself. [smilie=l:

[MikeACP]

Cool, so I will keep the WW stuff seperate from the range stuff. I havn't added any stick on yet. I have a few I will throw in my next WW batch.

[birdadly]

I'm a novice, but I think others will say to melt the stick ons separately. From my understanding they're a more pure lead than clip ons and can be used for different loads (muzzle loading) or if you don't want them, trade them for clip ons. I hope I'm right as I'm still learning myself!! -Brad

PS. I hope I understood you correctly, that you would melt the stick ons and clip ons together.. if not, sorry!!

[2wheelDuke]

I mark mine so I know what ingot is what composition, or at least where it came from.

A set of transfer punches is about $5 at Harbor Freight. A tap of the hammer marks a lead ingot very easily.

[MikeACP]

Yep, that,s the way I understand it.

[MikeACP]

Thats interesting. What do you stamp? Date?

[shooterg]

I use magic marker ! W for wheelweight, R for Range lead, Pb on dead soft stuff. Stored separately so likes are together in case I mss one !

[Harter66]

+1 for markers and stacks. I pencil check mine also and date them as well as source. WW, S seals 1-20, DS for flashing,RC for j-cores, RCH/RCS for thumb nail hard/comercial or probably WW cast. Humpff more time than money I guess.

[MikeACP]

I read the thread about pencil checking for hardness. I must be doing something wrong. All I end up doing is breaking my pencil lead,or making a pencil mark on the ingot.

[Jailer]

I use magic marker ! W for wheelweight, R for Range lead, Pb on dead soft stuff. Stored separately so likes are together in case I mss one !

Same here. Easy to identify with a quick glance and only takes a second to mark each ingot.

[Lizard333]

I only use melt WW's now so I keep the Clip on's and Stick on's seperate. You can easily see the difference between the two as the stick on's are way more shinny. I make them into ingots and keep them in seperate 55 gallon drums cut in half.

[evan price]

While the ingots are still soft I use an old junk lockback knife to mark the top- R for range scrap, W for wheel weights, S for soft lead, X for babbitt, L for linotype. I mark the weight to the nearest 1/4 lb with a Sharpie. Then each type goes into its own bucket. My ingots are cast in small tart pans (like big muffins) and wind up being about 4# nominal weight. They just barely fit into my RCBS Promelt furnace.

[Philngruvy]

I only use melt WW's now so I keep the Clip on's and Stick on's seperate. You can easily see the difference between the two as the stick on's are way more shinny. I make them into ingots and keep them in seperate 55 gallon drums cut in half.

You can easily hear the difference also. When dropped on the concrete floor, the stickon WW give a thud while the clipon WW have a ring to them.

[imashooter2]

My ingots get stored in the buckets the raw ore came out of and what they are is written on the lid in magic marker.

[kooldecker]

Im on the sharpie plan as well. just a letter for ID, but then a number......keep a page in my loading journal and the number tells me where i got it, when i smelt it etc. Then its into sepeate crates.

[Gtek]

Sharpie and seperated. Mine WW = clip on, SL = tape weights, DL = dentist wall lead, PL = plumber lead, RL = roof flashing, UNK = unknown till checked out, then dated. I also keep log, not happy with stash yet- still hoarding. Will not be happy until I have altered earths orbit with my pile! Gtek

[mold maker]

I once stored ingots in plastic buckets. After a couple years the sun, through the window, rotted the buckets, and I had a mixed up mess.
Now I use different (size, brand, shape) ingot molds for each type lead, and stack them in milk crates with perminate labels. If in doubt of a ingot alloy, all I have to do is match the ingot to its like shape or mold ID.
Harbor Freight has cheap (on sale now) 4 wheel dollies, that will make, up to 2 milk crates (1500lb)of ingots, movable. You do however have to load them (dollies) with only part crates at a time. A full crate is well over 700#.

[44fanatic]

Store mine in seperate milk crates, all are marked with either WW, SO, or RS. As I use the same muffin pans for all ingots, I keep my WW ingots close to 1-1.5lbs, they are about 2"x2" x .5" in size. RS and SO are about 3.5lbs appiece and are about 2"x2"x1.5", this keeps me from inadvertently grabbing the wrong ingots as I mostly cast w/ WW.

[cajun shooter]

After my ingots have had a few weeks to reach that ready stage I test them with my Cabin Tree Tester. I find that marking them with the BHN is much better than just knowing that it is a WW INGOT. I also have them in sorted bins before smelting. I for the most part shoot a 20-1 alloy and I don't need any Linotype mixed in.

[Defcon-One]

I make my own alloys. To that end I need to identify the metal that I have as closely as possible and then keep it sorted by type. I use a steel letter punch set. Here is what I do:

Clip-On wheel weights = CW

Stick-On wheel weights = SW

Range Lead = RL

Pure lead = PB

Linotype, I typically leave in raw form so it is easily identified, if it is in ingots = L

Solder, I also leave this in raw form so it is easily identified. I only buy the marked bars = 50/50, etc.

My alloys are poured into 5 pound ingots and marked PB on top and a number code on the bottom. The first number is Tin content, the second is Antimony content. (23 = 2% Tin, 3% Antimony; 55 = Lyman #2 Alloy, 5% Tin, %5 Antimony; etc.)

Works for me!

[Defcon-One]

].....still hoarding. Will not be happy until I have altered earths orbit with my pile! Gtek[/B]

I gotta say this one really made me laugh. Funny stuff Gtek!

I know a few guys who share your plan. I hope they don't counter balance your pile, like giant wheel weights on the global wheel.

DC-1

[Echo]

I use magic marker ! W for wheelweight, R for Range lead, Pb on dead soft stuff. Stored separately so likes are together in case I mss one !

Similar. When alloying, I use a MM to indicate mixture - example: 7-1+ means 7 parts WW, 1 part monotype, plus 1% Sn. 7R-1+ is the same except range scrap replacing WW. 7P-1+ is the same, except pure Pb replacing WW. The date is also placed on the ingots, ingots being formed by flooding regular 4-gang molds to hold 5 lbs. And I keep the batch together. If I do 2, or more batches one day, I identify with suffixes (-1, -2, -3).
My WW+2%Sn don't get any mark. They are always cast in angle-iron molds, and they are the only alloys cast in those molds, so further ID is unnecessary.
And my pure Pb is cast up into soda cans. A can will hold about 9 lbs, and is easily peeled for using for further alloying.
First smelt WW's and range scrap go into muffin molds and are marked W or R w/MM.