CerroBend

[joken]

I just aquired maybe 100lbs of this stuff and as best I can tell it's 50% bismuth, 10% cadium 27% lead and 13% tin.
I'm new to casting and had a small amount of this stuff before. I mixed it 50-50 with pure lead and got "B" pencil hardness. I cast some .45acp boolits and they did not lead my barrel. This stuff melts at around 160F or so I have read. Does anyone see why I cannot continue to use the CerroBend to harden my lead? BTW, I did find out that the Cadium fumes are poisonous and cause cancer. Ken

[Bill*]

I just aquired maybe 100lbs of this stuff and as best I can tell it's 50% bismuth, 10% cadium 27% lead and 13% tin.
I'm new to casting and had a small amount of this stuff before. I mixed it 50-50 with pure lead and got "B" pencil hardness. I cast some .45acp boolits and they did not lead my barrel. This stuff melts at around 160F or so I have read. Does anyone see why I cannot continue to use the CerroBend to harden my lead? BTW, I did find out that the Cadium fumes are poisonous and cause cancer. Ken

Hmmmm.....That would be a reason to me

[Moonman]

I'll SECOND the Poison & Cancer as a reason TO QUIT DOING IT.:dung_hits_fan:

[bumpo628]

How bad could the fumes be if the product is designed to be melted?
I guess you would have to figure out what temperature cadmium gets dangerous.

Aside from that, it looks like you're using too much cerrobend. 50/50 sounds like a waste to me.
1 lb of cerrobend to 12 lbs of pure lead would give you 1% tin, 0.77% cadmium, 3.85% bismuth, 94.4% lead.
2 lb of cerrobend to 11 lbs of pure lead would give you 2% tin, 1.54% cadmium, 7.69% bismuth, 88.8% lead.

I don't know if you should use it, so you'll have to do your homework on that.

[Pavogrande]

Seems like a waste of a decent material for chamber casts --
If used as intended it poses no hazard -- It is primarily used to fill tubing so that the tube can be bent without kinking.
I have used it in the past for chamber casts -- yes, I know it is not exactly the same as cerrosafe but it is good enough for most jobs. Especially when free -
Care to sell some?

[joken]

Bumpo, Thanks for doing the math for me!
Well, I have read some since my post. I found a thread here with some good facts and opinions. Cerrosafe shrinks a tad when cooled and cerrobend expands. It's reported that chamber casting is not a good idea with this stuff. Cerrosafe is cerrobend with more lead, but it's not advised to try to DIY. The good news is that it's about $26 lb retail. There is some on Ebay for $10 lb. I have 145lbs and guess I'll sell some and buy tin.
Thanks, Ken

[bumpo628]

Bumpo, Thanks for doing the math for me!
Well, I have read some since my post. I found a thread here with some good facts and opinions. Cerrosafe shrinks a tad when cooled and cerrobend expands. It's reported that chamber casting is not a good idea with this stuff. Cerrosafe is cerrobend with more lead, but it's not advised to try to DIY. The good news is that it's about $26 lb retail. There is some on Ebay for $10 lb. I have 145lbs and guess I'll sell some and buy tin.
Thanks, Ken

No problem.

Sell it and buy tin? Sure take the easy way out...
Now, why didn't I think of that.:groner:

[fatelk]

There is some on Ebay for $10 lb. I have 145lbs and guess I'll sell some and buy tin.

Been there, done that, made a bunch. I bought about 75 pounds of what I thought was scrap lead a couple years ago, thought I was going crazy when I tried to melt it and it melted like ice. I hung a small piece in a pot of heating water and monitored the temp with a digital thermometer. It melted right at 158 degrees, IIRC. I carefully melted it into 1 lb ingots and sold it all on ebay for something like $8/lb. It went quick and everyone was happy with it.:)

If you don't want to mess with it; what part of Oregon are you in? I'll trade you straight across for some linotype:)

[badbob454]

seconds on the linotype swap i would like 5 lbs for 10 pounds of lino if you were interested in 1 lbs ingots , or in type form