orisolo
03-10-2013, 06:14 PM
I started to test with lead melting few weeks ago.
I have a connection for range lead that can get me around 15,000 lb per month (not free).
Today economy sucks and I figured this can turn into an extra income.
Ebay looks like a good place to sell the lead.
I did a small batch for testing with good results and couple of mistakes.
1. Range lead came out perfect.
2. WW I manged to melt the zinc into the lead (not sure what to do with it now, about 40 LB), I know need to get thermometer for next WW batch.
3. Soft lead Sheet (not sure if this was X-ray room or roof flashing) i got strange results.
and this is the reason for the post.
The sheet lead when melted was so colorful I got all kinds of colors floating in the lead, green,purple,blue and lots of their shades.
I'm not sure what is the color meaning, I fluxed like 7-8 times using a candle and the color didn't stop to come out. I finally gave up on fluxing and skimming the colors and cast the lead.
Lead ingot having shades of purple all over them.
You can see in the image attached the lead ingot that came out and the sheet material in the background.
Does anybody have a clue what is it? is it still soft lead? is it contaminated or still good lead for casting?
Thanks in advance.
P.s. On another note... I was going to order the Magma 90LB melter when I found in the scrap yard a lots of propane tanks cut in half ( they have to be cut so the yard knows they are not pressurized) looking into the bottom half i saw my future melting pot and almost free cost. I'm now working on the design of the valve for bottom pour and a foot handle to control it.
63620
I have a connection for range lead that can get me around 15,000 lb per month (not free).
Today economy sucks and I figured this can turn into an extra income.
Ebay looks like a good place to sell the lead.
I did a small batch for testing with good results and couple of mistakes.
1. Range lead came out perfect.
2. WW I manged to melt the zinc into the lead (not sure what to do with it now, about 40 LB), I know need to get thermometer for next WW batch.
3. Soft lead Sheet (not sure if this was X-ray room or roof flashing) i got strange results.
and this is the reason for the post.
The sheet lead when melted was so colorful I got all kinds of colors floating in the lead, green,purple,blue and lots of their shades.
I'm not sure what is the color meaning, I fluxed like 7-8 times using a candle and the color didn't stop to come out. I finally gave up on fluxing and skimming the colors and cast the lead.
Lead ingot having shades of purple all over them.
You can see in the image attached the lead ingot that came out and the sheet material in the background.
Does anybody have a clue what is it? is it still soft lead? is it contaminated or still good lead for casting?
Thanks in advance.
P.s. On another note... I was going to order the Magma 90LB melter when I found in the scrap yard a lots of propane tanks cut in half ( they have to be cut so the yard knows they are not pressurized) looking into the bottom half i saw my future melting pot and almost free cost. I'm now working on the design of the valve for bottom pour and a foot handle to control it.
63620