A Fresh Haul of Isotope Cores, + Unk Bar Stock?

[Danderdude]

I picked up 540lbs from the local scrapyard yesterday.

Originally I was just picking the best roof flashing and vent pipe covers, since the WW were mostly steel and zinc. I filled up the cart with 150lbs of the flashing before doing a preliminary weigh-out. Then after asking the No Habla Ingles employee for a ladder so I could climb up into the bin, he said, "Clean lead? Want clean lead? [points] Clean lead!"

Hidden under a pallet that was on top of a neighboring bin, was a load of isotope cores and shipping containers. I got all 7 big ones @31lbs each they had, plus half a bucket of smaller vials. The balance of the load was a 100 lb forklift ballast block.

One thing I grabbed were some very clean bars that had all been bent(first pic, far right), about 5/16" diameter, with no markings. I suspect they are pure lead but does anybody know of any solder that comes this way?

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Larger image (http://i.imgur.com/03If0dt.jpg)

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[GlocksareGood]

Looks link bar solder to me. Very common form for it to be in. Any wtitting on it?

[Danderdude]

There's no writing at all, and the Lee hardness tester puts it at dead soft unfortunately, as I just found out.

[Beagle333]

Where's the "Green with envy" icon?
Good haul!

[dikman]

Look like solder bars to me.
"...dead soft unfortunately" - you get a haul like that and you're worried that some of it might be too soft? :lol:

[merlin101]

There's no writing at all, and the Lee hardness tester puts it at dead soft unfortunately, as I just found out.

That's ok,you did REAL GOOD! Mix it with some COWW you've got stashed or pick up some super hard from Roto metals. I wish the yards around here would sell to the public, I see stuff like that but can't buy it!

[Hardcast416taylor]

I got ahold of a small pail of that same type "bar solder". It was marked 70/30. Not the greatest stuff for tin, but still has some content more than pure lead would have. Besides I paid .80 a lb. for anything the yard man called "clean" lead and these fell under that title.Robert

[el34]

I got ahold of a small pail of that same type "bar solder". It was marked 70/30. Not the greatest stuff for tin, but still has some content more than pure lead would have.

Man I'd call that really good for tin! 70% tin and at 80c/lb- fantastic.

[MaryB]

Yards here won't sell less than rail car load, no sales to the public so I am jealous.

[alamogunr]

Man I'd call that really good for tin! 70% tin and at 80c/lb- fantastic.


Seems that the industry standard of marking solder with the tin percentage first won't sink in here. Good Call!

[fastfire]

I picked up 540lbs from the local scrapyard yesterday.

Originally I was just picking the best roof flashing and vent pipe covers, since the WW were mostly steel and zinc. I filled up the cart with 150lbs of the flashing before doing a preliminary weigh-out. Then after asking the No Habla Ingles employee for a ladder so I could climb up into the bin, he said, "Clean lead? Want clean lead? [points] Clean lead!"

Hidden under a pallet that was on top of a neighboring bin, was a load of isotope cores and shipping containers. I got all 7 big ones @31lbs each they had, plus half a bucket of smaller vials. The balance of the load was a 100 lb forklift ballast block.

One thing I grabbed were some very clean bars that had all been bent(first pic, far right), about 5/16" diameter, with no markings. I suspect they are pure lead but does anybody know of any solder that comes this way?

86782
Larger image (http://i.imgur.com/03If0dt.jpg)

86783

I've seen the (isotope cores) at the scrap yard before, what are they?
I suspect they are lead but what were they used for in there previous life?

[Danderdude]

I've seen the (isotope cores) at the scrap yard before, what are they?
I suspect they are lead but what were they used for in there previous life?

I may be remembering incorrectly, but in my research I believe I found that those are made for shipping single injections of Molybdenum 99, which decays to Technetium 99 with a very short, and very predictable, halflife and decay emission. These kinds of things are used for "scintigraphy", which is injecting a radioactive isotope into a person and using radiation-reactive paper or a screen to make a picture.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nuclear_medicine

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/49/Parathyroid_subtraction.jpg

[Defcon-One]

Large cores will be 1% Tin, 3% Antimony, 96% Lead.

The small bars that are bent look like Solder to me. I'd do a melt test. Under 500 Degrees F, probably Solder. Over 650 Degrees F, probably Pure lead.

[runfiverun]

isotope cores are equivalent to ww alloy with 1% tin added in my world.

those little round "bars" are how body lead used to come, they come from pure lead up through about 40% tin and the tin content was picked out based on how vertical the surface to be worked on was.
you wanted to keep the lead in a flowy soft state longer on a flatter surface so it would settle out flatter and not have to be worked as much.
but on the more vertical surfaces you wanted a slushy state you could build up and push around so it wouldn't just run off and onto the floor.