Stained glass lead?

[4rdwhln]

My friend gave me some track for making stained glass windows. does anyone out there know is this dead soft lead or a mix?

[Old School Big Bore]

Should be dead soft but the joints may be solder. You can snip 'em out, ingot the strips up & if you have no tester, just smack one against a hunk of known soft & see if one dents more than the other.

[4rdwhln]

Thanks, It will go in the lead pile at smelt time.

[bangerjim]

Soft. If new no problem. If old they could have lead-based paint and other crud in there that can be considered hazardous if inhaled.

Unless you have a BIG BUNCH of it, the small amount of solder in there is not worth worrying about at all. Just melt the whole thing down as soft and have fun!

banger

[runfiverun]

except that in the past few years they have started adding antimony [2-3%] to the came and extruding it like they do lead pipe.

[zuke]

I was given about 5lbs and it went into the last big melt.

[dbosman]

Some came has a zinc layer over the lead - for weather resistance. You can clearly see the layer as it folds over the edge.
Take a sharp knife and cut across the length.
Take a good look at the cross section. No layer - nearly pure lead.

[bangerjim]

My "new" came is actually 15 year old "new-old" stock in 4 foot lengths and is darn near dead flat soft. I found a bucket of scraps at the yard several months ago and it had REALLY old and new trimmings. The new clean stock was lead but I had heard they are using Zn in there also. The old stuff had paint, caulk, gunk, broken glass, and other garbage that all floated to the top when melted.

Guess I have been lucky not finding any came with Zn layered on it!

Glad you pointed that out! A tiny little Zn never really hurt anyone! It should float on the top if temps are controlled appropriately.

banger

[4rdwhln]

The stuff I got is old and has that wonderful old musty garage smell I remember from my youth. Hopefully it will make some great boolits.

[charlie3tuna]

Watch out for for the came used for the borders! The stained glass people told me some of it is pure zinc (for strength) NOT zinc plated. I have some of it. Can hardly bend it, cut it etc....charlie

[mikeym1a]

we have a stained glass operation here in town that sells it's scrap to the local salvage yard. I've gotten some from them several times. It is very soft. In fact, I'm in mind to go down and talk to them about buying direct from them. Hopefully, this might save me 60% in purchase. Just trying to build up my supply. mikey

[zuke]

we have a stained glass operation here in town that sells it's scrap to the local salvage yard. I've gotten some from them several times. It is very soft. In fact, I'm in mind to go down and talk to them about buying direct from them. Hopefully, this might save me 60% in purchase. Just trying to build up my supply. mikey

And your waiting to do so because??????

[Handloader109]

Wife makes a few glass pcs a year. Brought me back about 5 lbs the other day the new trimming so we're in the pot. Old stuff goes in the smelting pot. Yes watch out for zinc. Not plated, solid zinc........

[TheDoctor]

I have some solder from a glass shop. Still trying to figure out exactly what to do with it. 89% tin, 9% copper, 2% antimony. If someone used a large amount of this on a piece, your tin and copper could go up a lot, real quick.

[charlie3tuna]

I have some solder from a glass shop. Still trying to figure out exactly what to do with it. 89% tin, 9% copper, 2% antimony. If someone used a large amount of this on a piece, your tin and copper could go up a lot, real quick.


Sounds to me it would make an excellent Cu source for alloying. Want to part with some?....charlie