Calcium alloy???!

[LarryM]

abouts 7-8 months ago I acquired pile of old lead cable sheathing ended up with 50-60 pounds of ingots. I've only had a chance to cast up a couple hundred .358 158 RF (Lee mold). I added a bit of solder for tin and got what I consider a pile of good boolits. Well today I find out that this sheathing is a calcium alloy.:(
Now what?

[felix]

Shoot it new guns. After a gun is shooting spot on, switch to cleaner lead. ... felix

[truckjohn]

Calcium alloys....

Feel free to add tin to make it cast better.

Calcium/tin alloys will oven-harden pretty well.
They also age harden.... but not as well as they oven harden.

Calcium is not really "Soluble" in lead -- it is more like an
oil/water emulsion.... As such, it drosses out like crazy.

On the other hand.....
Unless you like super-toxic Stibnine or Arsine gas,
don't mix it with anything else you have unless
you know it is pure lead or lead/tin alloy only.

Also.... don't use your regular lead pot, as Calcium is
famous for "Poisoning" your pot in contact with
Arsenic/Antimony alloys.... It gases off the toxic
gases listed above, and makes your As/Sb (Wheel Weight, Lino, etc.)
alloys slushy and a non-castable lumpy mess.

If you have enough of the stuff, you can get an alloy test done on it
to see what it actually is. If not, save it for sinkers or something like
that.

Thanks

John

[leftiye]

WOW, That makes the concerns about lead (poisoning) in the caster's system sound like Key Lime Pie!

[LarryM]

Man, as toxic as some of this stuff is how can anyone even think about throwing unknown alloy into the pot? For safeties sake shouldn't we just buy labratory verified alloys in order to prevent poisoning ourselves and everyone around us?

Seriously, I am concerned about this stuff but what kind of percentages are we talking about? Do none of these evil calcium alloys end up in wheel weights? Do the wheel weight manufacturers buy certified alloys or do they buy bulk scrap lead and mix their own?
If the calcium alloy has ruined my cast iron pot for wheelweight alloys has it also done the same to my aluminum mold?

[truckjohn]

Most alloys are not "Unknown".....
just unknown to *you*

This is why the rule "No Car Batteries" goes round and round the boards..... Besides the acid and other hazards.... quite a few car batteries are starting to show up with Calcium lead plates.

I guess I am surprised that the cable sheathing is made of calcium alloy lead.... as most places stay away from the stuff..... it drosses too much and you have to add too much supplemental Calcium to keep the alloy right.

Most of the common stuff that is made to be soldered together -- Sheathing, roof lead, pipe, electronics, etc. is usually a Lead + Sn or Sn / Sb mix -- so you could repair it by soldering with common solder.

Of course, this is also why we pass along knowledge about what products usually contain which alloys.

John