Alloying

[750k2]

I have a bunch of semi sorted batches from over the years.
From pure Lino to some WW that I'm sure I have zinc in.
As far as I can remember:veryconfu
Pure lino
70/30 WW/lino
WW
WW/zinc??
Range scrap
Stick-ons
Pure lead
I plan on keeping the Lino and pure lead.
But for the rest I'm thinking about just doing a blend that works - at least it'll
be the same.
I shoot psitol cals. 38/44spcl class to 44mag/warm 45LC
I'd have enough for many years - at least!

Which and why
Alloy anal - exact recipe so duplication is possible and does it make that big of deal?
Doit - as long as the mould fills out and they fly straight who cares??

[JJC]

I would keep them all seperate, you never know how your taste may change. You always have them to blend in small batches if and when. I alloyed 20 pounds for hunting from notes taken here. Great for deer but I think to soft for elk. I think 20 was a bit much for testing. John

[RobS]

keep separate, make small batches, take notes and duplicate when needed

[sqlbullet]

I also like simple formulas. Generally I have three kinds of lead on hand anymore. My general rule is to add 6lbs at a time to my pot, two ingots of each type.

Two are isotope lead. One has a slightly lower melting point that leads me to beleive it has some extra tin. The other is harder and I think is higher in antimony. The third has been tested and is 95/2.5/2.5.

I am gonna guess that I end up with about 95/4/2 if I had it tested. Be nice to get a little more antimony, but this formula is easy.

If I ever want it harder or softer, I can switch since I don't mix until casting time.

[bumpo628]

I have a bunch of semi sorted batches from over the years.
Pure lino
70/30 WW/lino
WW
WW/zinc??
Range scrap
Stick-ons
Pure lead


How much of each do you have?

[750k2]

250 lino
500 70/30
WW about a ton
WW/zinc 400ish - first smelt to learn 20yrs ago - still shoots good in the mag though.
Range 200ish
Stick on 200ish
200 pure

I figure just over 3000lbs if I batch it - should keep me going til planting time.
The best is I bought most of this for .25/lb ish.
Keeping the pure for my flinter.
Lino because it's hard to get now and you never know if I get a rifle/fast shooter??

[bumpo628]

Personally, I would leave them all separate.

If you mixed it, you would have a 3300 pound batch of 0.6% tin, 3.1% antimony alloy (approx) that would be similar to wheel weights. However, the zinc might be a problem. It would also be difficult to de-zincify such a large batch if it proved to be an issue. Fuel cost may be another concern. Do the sulfur trick to remove the zinc beforehand if you go this way.

If you want to mix a large batch, maybe the best way to do it would be to leave the WW lead out of the equation and mix the other stuff. Then you'll have 900 lbs of an alloy with about 0.9% tin and 3.4% antimony.

Here are the numbers I used for the above calculations:
70/30 WW/lino has 1.5% tin and 5.7% antimony
WW has 0.5% tin, 3% antimony
Stick on WW has 0.25% tin
Range lead has @ 0.17% tin, 1% antimony (guessed by mixing pure & WW 2:1)

Here's my alloy calculator in excel:
http://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?t=105952

[Defcon-One]

Alloy anal - exact recipe so duplication is possible!

Things change, so keep your options open. Loose the Zinc stuff or use it for cheap bullets or fishing weights. Don't mix it with good quality lead alloys.

[sljacob]

Alloy anal - exact recipe so duplication is possible!

Things change, so keep your options open. Loose the Zinc stuff or use it for cheap bullets or fishing weights. Don't mix it with good quality lead alloys.

I agree.

[Sonnypie]

If I had 3000 pounds of metal here my house would zink...

http://dontmesswithtaxes.typepad.com/photos/uncategorized/2007/07/28/sinking_house_2.jpg

I should be so lucky! [smilie=l:

[para45lda]

I'm with Bumpo on this one ( or "C" in the poll choices above).

Keeping it separate means unlimited alloy options.

My 2¢

Wes

[Ole]

Mix your range lead 1:1 with your WW's for all your pistol bullets. Do this when you load your casting pot, and not before.

That way 10lbs of WW becomes 20lbs of alloy. Range lead is one of the things you can replace fairly easily if you put work into it.

[btroj]

My guns don't seem to care so why should I?

I mix and match as I go. Never been bale to find a reason to do oversize. I am reaching an age where a major change in casting style just isn't going to happen.

[10 ga]

Keep seperate! Why put effort into something that isn't needed, ie mixing, be a waste of time and propane or electrons. Besides after you start living on the other side of the grass and I might buy some of your cache, I don't want no belnded alloy of really random makeup. $.02, 10 ga

[runfiverun]

like bumpo showed above.
keep the lino and pure out.
mix the rest and add in small amounts of the zinc mixed stuff at the casting pot.
zinc will alloy in at about 1.5% without causing any issues but will add hardness.
if you really wanted to you could add in small amounts of the zinced stuff and stir in a spoonfull of sulpher throughout the alloy.
this will help in many ways.
once you find out that the mix is really a good alloy you can waterdrop/heattreat/or air cool and use for most everything you'll like, want more.

[MikeS]

I depends on just how much zinc is in the WW/Zinc batch. I mix up an alloy that's pretty close to Lyman #2, and I got a chance to have some of it analyzed, and got 2 surprises. The first one was a good one, I was actually much closer to Lyman #2 than I thought, and the second one was that there's zinc in the alloy. It contains 0.244% zinc, yet it casts perfectly, and I didn't even know it was there till I got the alloy analyzed! So, depending on how much zinc is in the batch now, if you blend them together the amount of zinc in the blended batch should be low enough to not matter. Now if the original WW/Zinc mix is something like 50/50 then I would say to get rid of it. I don't remember when I read it, but I recall reading something that very small amounts of zinc (small enough to not be a problem) could actually toughen the alloy. I believe (and I might be way off with this) that in very small amounts zinc acts like a grain refiner sort of like arsenic & copper do as well.

And just in case anyone is interested, my alloy is made with a 26lb brick of pure lead, 20lb of stereotype, and 2lb of 99.3% tin / .7% copper solder. When I had it tested the results are:

Lead 89.970% Tin 4.220% Antimony 3.850% Iron 0.696% Zinc 0.244% Copper 0.197%

This alloy has a BHN of 15 after it's aged a couple of weeks, and that's about as close to Lyman #2 as I need to get!

[fredj338]

Keeping alloys separate is pretty easily done & allows more flexible alloy mixing down the road. Diff ingot molds for diff alloys or break out the Sharpie.

[Ole]

If you're worried about mixing up alloys/losing track of what you have, here's a tip.

I use one of these (http://www.harborfreight.com/36-piece-1-8-eighth-inch-steel-letter-number-stamping-set-800.html?utm_campaign=SEO&utm_medium=Inbound_links&utm_source=linking), to mark all my ingots. Often times HF will toss this item on sale for around $6.

[glicerin]

I used to leave slips of paper in each separate pail of alloy, then I had a basement flood. Now I scratch an alloy code with a knife or nail on several ingots in each pail.

[billyb]

If the you are concerned about having zink in WW that were aquired 20 years ago I am pretty certain they do not contain zink. One drop of muratic acid will tell for sure. I would keep your stock pile of metals seperate. It could become a cash item some time in the future.

Bill

[onesonek]

I also like simple formulas. Generally I have three kinds of lead on hand anymore. My general rule is to add 6lbs at a time to my pot, two ingots of each type.

Two are isotope lead. One has a slightly lower melting point that leads me to beleive it has some extra tin. The other is harder and I think is higher in antimony. The third has been tested and is 95/2.5/2.5.

I am gonna guess that I end up with about 95/4/2 if I had it tested. Be nice to get a little more antimony, but this formula is easy.

If I ever want it harder or softer, I can switch since I don't mix until casting time.

I pretty much do the same.
But now comming into some lead pipe (supposedly pure) I carry 4 alloy's.
I find the 94-4-2 useful too, and easy to adjust. Hardest I run with what I have, is a 92-6-2. I really like the Iso by itself in some applications also. Now with the relatively pure pipe lead, I want to cut the Iso 50/50 with it and see how it works in some .45 Colt loads.
Also been running 50/50 COWW-ISO with 1 oz. Roto's Grade 3 Babbit. I'm quite amazed what that does in the .375 JDJ/444.

So in answer to the OP, I keep all seperate and blend at the time of need or want. Just easier to make adjustments in needed in my mind. But then if blending all you have together and shoots well enough for your wants/needs, that's all that matters. My thooughts are however, with the cartridges mentioned, pressures are different enough,,,,one alloy for all might not be the best of situations.