Large piece of "I do not know for sure".

[HeadLead]

I have a flat and large piece of alloy at work that was used in a Fume Hood as a counter weight. It is quite heavy and seems to contain a good quantity of lead, however it is not just lead. The piece weighs approximately 25# and is still shiny in color after being inside the hood assembly for some time.

I would have expected the color to have been greyerish than it is. I can scratch the surface with my fingernail. When I smack the stuff with a piece of steel it has an unfamiliar ring to it. It is not the typical sound of pure lead (thuddy sounding). I dropped it from a good distance off the floor so it contacted the floor flatly and it did not shatter, so it is not brittle.

I will post a picture of it tomorrow when I return to work.

Any possible ideas on what this may contain?

Thanks for any help or suggestions.

Salute! :drinks:

[tward]

A lot of range hoods a zinc or galvanized metal, just a thought. Tim

[I'll Make Mine]

If it scratches with a fingernail, it's softer than zinc, lots softer than galvanized steel; alloys of either tin or lead are the only reasonably common metals that will scratch this easily. If you calculate the volume (length x width x height) and divide the weight by the volume, you'll get a figure for density; pure lead is 11.34 g/cm^3, or 0.41 lb/in^3. Tin and zinc are both just under two thirds that figure, antimony is between tin and lead, and alloys of tin, lead, and antimony will all fall between tin and lead as well.

Of course, if you get a figure between, say, 8 g/cm^3 and 11 g/cm^3, all you really know is that you have an alloy, probably some combination of lead, tin, and antimony. Melting point will tell you some more about it; knowing both density and melting point will tell you exactly what you have -- if you're sure it's just lead/tin/antimony (and it probably is; arsenic and bismuth are less commonly used for alloying)

[sqlbullet]

If you, like me, did enough math for your life already (engineer by trade, I do plenty) you can go the easy route. Melt it and see if it makes good shootin' bullets. It if does, congrats!

Rings but doesn't shatter would make me think some kind of WW alloy.

[7Acres]

HeadLead, I'm picking up some of this on Friday from a guy. Hopefully it's good for boolit making!

[HeadLead]

I appreciate the info. above. I will bring the alloy home tomorrow, throw it in the lead pot and heat it up (paying attention to temperature at which it liquifies). I work in a Biomedical Science Facility and Hospital Environment, so I have access to a good deal of this stuff.

Sorry no pictures today, it was quite a busy day for me.

Thanks again.

[7Acres]

Mine is lead for sure. One plate about 18lbs. The other a square bar ~14-15" long 2" square. 43lbs total. Both with steel rings and guy wires attached to the ends.