Alloying: Weight vs. Volume

[Quality NUt]

Just wanted to check with my more learned colleagues on this issue....
I know when I was with the aluminum mill, our chemical certifications for aluminum alloys was based on volume and not weight.
Are lead alloys based the same? If so, Sn weighs 57% what lead does.
(according to a website periodic table). That is a sizeable difference.
This may be moot, but I was curious.
Myself, I typically add Sn if mold is not filling out to suit me.

[felix]

I have NEVER figured that out, QN! I operate in the "in situ" mode like you. If you really want to do it correctly, you must use molecule counts. That's too heavy duty chemistry for almost all "mechanical" product purposes. ... felix

[floodgate]

Quality nut:

This came up several years back on "Shooters", and I decided to check with Kesters - the solder people. They said that tin:lead solders are compounded by weight, not volume. Dennis Marshall's article "The Metallurgy of Molten Lead Alloys" in the Lyman 3rd Edition "Cast Bullet Handbook" uses weight percentages in all of his charts. And, if I remember aright, Bill Ferguson chimed in with confirmation too.

floodgate

[Quality NUt]

"Very Interesting" "Fascinating". Really!
When alloying the aluminum, we had to use "adjusted weights" for specific elements based on their atomic weights.
Lb per Lb for lead alloys is MUCH easier. So glad I spoke up.
This IS THE place to have your questions answered.
Thanks Guys