Linotype vs Foundry type

[Oleman]

I have a chance to pick up some Foundry Type at a good price. I've never molded with it. Tell me what you think about Foundry type.

[waco]

It's 64% lead, 24% antimony, and 12% tin

i would cut it with pure lead for sure. Good stuff for mixing alloys.
Waco

[bangerjim]

Excellent sweetening alloy. Get all you can if at a reasonable price!!!!!! That stuff is getting hard to find. You can still find plenty of lino either in pigs or in type strips, but foundry or mono is "movable" type from a bye-gone era! It is almost a shame to melt it down for booilts.

DO NOT cast it directly, but use it for alloying pure. Use the free alloy calculation spreadsheet you can get on here to figure out what you need.

bangerjim

[Echo]

I mix foundry w/pure @ 1/8 ratio, and add another .5+% Sn...

[Rich/WIS]

Because of the high antimony content it may not melt well in a regular lead pot. I had to smelt mine in with a propane pot. Mixed 3parts range lead to one FT produces a very hard bullet. Don't have a hardness tester but based on weights of bullets cast with known alloys seems somewhere between Lyman #2 and lino weight wise.

[Oleman]

Well that is what I wanted to hear. I have an RCBS pot but my buddy has a propane heated pot. I have a couple hundred pounds of BH 5.5 I can sweeten. I look for that alloy calculation spreadsheet.
Thanks.

[bangerjim]

The reason you do not want to cast high Sb levels in your mix is what is called "antimonial wash" which is a deposit that occurs in your barrel. Google it to learn what you need. I have never had the unfortunate experience of it as I keep my Sb levels down to recommended levels only.

Mabe others more familiar with the phenomenon can chime in here.

You do need Sb for hardness, but within reason. Pure FT is waaaaaay to rich from all the reports I have studied.

Sb is the magic element in an alloy that allows you to water drop for increased hardness, if you are so inclined.

banger

[Oleman]

Because of the high antimony content it may not melt well in a regular lead pot. I had to smelt mine in with a propane pot. Mixed 3parts range lead to one FT produces a very hard bullet. Don't have a hardness tester but based on weights of bullets cast with known alloys seems somewhere between Lyman #2 and lino weight wise.

Originally I had thought of getting a propane pot. What would be a good BTU rating for doing this? Do you have any URL to this type of equipment I could order online. So far my thinking is a two burner stove one 60K BTU burner and one 30K. I was thinking of my grill on the small burner to warm the mold while using the bigger burner to melt the lead.