Hardness of battery clamps

[Buzzard II]

I got a 5 gallon pail of battery clamps from an old mechanic for free-"get 'um outta here and their yours". What kind of lead were these made from? Pail had to be there 20 years. Thanks!
Bob

[lightman]

I'm thinking they are probably real soft. Good score! Lightman

[JonB_in_Glencoe]

I got a bunch and smelted them last summer
http://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?144453-Battery-cable-ends&highlight=

The alloy I ended up with is a little harder than my WW alloy...Measuring 12BHN
most of the WW alloy batches I smelt measure 10 to 11 BHN
all measuring done with Lee's hardness tester.
Jon

[Remyvtr15]

Yeah I got some too... i'll look out for more.... I'd love a rundown on exactly what items are leaded that are just laying around that we might not think of as lead.

[captaint]

The battery cable ends - the clamp end - is lead too. Just toss the bolt. Mike Oh, and don't forget about the old lag bolts. They had lead inserts. Took a handful of those home a short time ago.

[357maximum]

I have receive about 5 gallons of battery cable ends from a buddy of mine that runs a auto/semi salvage yard every year....my results mirror JonB's results almost exactly. Once in awhile one individual clamp seems softer but when the smelting is done they always come out a tick harder than clip on ww.

[DLCTEX]

The battery cable ends - the clamp end - is lead too. Just toss the bolt. Mike Oh, and don't forget about the old lag bolts. They had lead inserts. Took a handful of those home a short time ago.
If you are talking about the anchors for lag bolts used in concrete you may be disappointed to find they are aluminum alloy. There are some old style anchors that had a threaded insert that was held in the hole by tamping a lead portion on it.

[geargnasher]

They're about like wheel weights, give or take. The factory ones tend to be hard and the cheapo aftermarket patch clamps tend to be soft, so give or take. They seem to be composed of everything and the kitchen sink, so a very liberal three or four sawdust fluxings with heavy stirring and ladling the alloy up and pouring through the sawdust layer repeatedly to remove all the contaminating trace metals is a really good idea when you melt these down. Also be careful of the fumes from corrosion burning in the smelting pot, it will singe your lungs.

Gear

[Buzzard II]

Thanks to all for the info! I sure do appreciate everyone's input!
Bob

[DukeInFlorida]

I don't want ANY trace of any acid corrosion going into any of my gun barrels............

You guys can do what you want with your guns, but NO acid battery cable ends for me.

Trade em off with your local scrapper for wheel weights.