Make Ingots or Just Add? Lino and Foundry - Pic Inside

[psychbiker]

I got around 120lbs of this lead. It's linotype and also looks like some foundry.

I plan to cast 30 cal rifle with a mix of COWW I bought here.

Should I melt this down into ingots? Not sure on the cleanliness in adding it straight to my Lee pot.

http://i.imgur.com/X15yCbB.jpg

[454PB]

I have a lot of the same stuff. I recommend you NOT melt it into ingots for a couple of reasons. Number one, once it's ingotized, the only way of identifying it is by marking it. You, or your heirs may want to sell it some day, and it sells much better when what it is is obvious. The other reason is that it's very clean in it's present form, which is basically "mini ingots".

[lightman]

I have quite a bit of that stuff too, and I have left it in its original form for the same reasons that 454 states. Its easy enough to work with in the small pieces and the stuff is so hard that you only need to add a little to a pot.

[Dusty Bannister]

You are in fine shape just the way it is. Find a nice plastic bucket with a lid, put the bags in and the lid on and all is well. Remove one bag for blending when you need it. I prefer to blend this with WW in batches larger than just a single casting pot. Way more consistancy that way. You will probably want to flux the casting furnace anyway, but making ingots will only speed up oxidation, and allow confusion of what the ingot is later on. Enjoy what you have. Dusty

[dtknowles]

Mine is in Win white box 9mm ammo boxes, about 4 pounds to a box.

Tim

[bangerjim]

Everything in your picture is either foundry or mono type. I see NO linotype at all. All you have are individual letters of handset type.

LINOTYPE = "line of type".....literally.....entire words and complete sentences cast in a line of hard lead.

Mono and foundry is harder. And better!

NEVER melt down lino, foundry, or mono! Keep it in it's native form as that is the ONLY you can prove to someone else that it is pure and not tainted with pure Pb.

And it is easy to add fractional ounces/pounds when in the native format. Just weigh out the small amount you need and dump it in. The dirt and oxides will float and you can reduce them out with a small piece of beeswax.

I know we all just LOVE to melt things, but resist the urge in this situation!!!!!!!

banger

[fredj338]

Never seen the point in melting down Lino/mono, just add the amount you need. It's already clean, ready for casting.

[zuke]

it ain't broke, so don't try to fix it

[Down South]

I've got 5-5 Gal buckets of the same stuff except I have a lot of the large block letters and symbols too.
I keep it stored in the buckets as is with sealed lids. I mix it as I need it to my alloy. Like others have said, it's already in ingots.

[badbob454]

im different , i mix coww with my lino or foundry type in one 100 pound batches this way every ingot is what it is stamped 75coww/25 foundry stamped with metal letter stamp and then placed in a 50 cal ammo box so marked , any extra is in its raw form ,, i had at one time melted hundreds of pounds of lino in ingots ... hard to sell and rightly so , no-one can tell it is pure lino-type once ingotized

[Cherokee]

Half of my Lino is in ingots I made years ago, the more current purcases are as is. I find mixing big batches of alloys is easier with the ingots as all of my lead and tin are in ingots as well. I know the lino ingots are lino because I made them, but only my markings ID them. The pices I have will become ingots when I use up my old stash.

[Geezer in NH]

$20 bucks at Staples gets you a great 5 pound digital scale. Keep your stuff and weigh it with the best formula you can find to make the alloy you want. It is easier to add the hard by weight that way IMHO

[Sekatoa]

Much of what I've acquired was very dirty. I like to ingotize them to flux out the dirt, but also for ease of measuring out component for making alloys, like lyman #2. In order not get different alloys, tin, type metal, pure mixed up, I stamp them and /or use specific molds for each. I also store them in labeled tins. Should I be distracted from casting for weeks, months, even years, I'll easily know what I have. If I had a much larger amount, I'd probably keep the bulk of it in original form, after putting about 25-50 lbs in ingots. But I don't plan on selling mine, and don't think I have any more than I plan using. Another reason I put in ingots is so I know my 25-50 batch is constant and the same hardness. I always make a small test I got for testing the hardeness.

Whether it's type metal, wheel weights, pewter or pure, once it's been smelted and put in ingots, yes, it'd be harder to sell and no one but you would know for sure what's in it....so I don't generally buy someone else's ingots either.

So, IMO, it really depends on your ultimate plans for it, and how you like to do your hobby. I understand some like to keep it simple, but I enjoy the metallurgy aspect as much as anything else.

[bruce381]

my ingot foundry type turns purple when pourd into mold.

makes easier for me to messure out and I don't care that its not in native form I'm not going to sell it anyway.

[Echo]

I ingotize alloy, and mark each 5-lb ingot (made by flooding a regular 4-cavity ingot mold). I mix 5 lbs monotype with 35 lbs COWW ingots, and add 1% Sn. Forty pounds is 640 ounces, so 6.4 oz of Sn (or thereabouts) is added. Makes 8 5-lb big ingots that are easily broken into 4 each smaller ingots that fit the furnace nicely. Marked 7-1+, and the date.
I also make similar big ingots with foundry type, mixing 10 to 1, and adding the 1% Sn, and come up with a very similar alloy to the above, marked 10-1+ and date.
And mix either one with pure Pb 50/50, adding another 1% Sn for pistol boolits...