Price Check on Isle 7 for printing spacers and monotype

[jakharath]

Howdy!

My youngest just turned one. For his sister's first birthday we made her a time capsule. I used a 20mm ammo can, one of the big ones, to keep all of the stuff in. Been looking for another but couldn't find one.

Low and behold in my garage I had a one that was full of unsorted printing lead - spacers, monotype and a little linotype. At the top there was four 'ingots' (looks like someone poured into the bottom of a bread pan) weighing a combined total of 30 pounds. Very clangy sounding and shiny mystery metal, thinking it's mono or lino.

What is the going rate for lead printing spacers and for monotype?

Thanks!

[Beagle333]

Spacers, buck a pound. Mono, two bucks.

[h8dirt]

When we do not know the composition of what we have, it lowers the price. Accordingly, I would agree with Beagle333. FWIW -- printer's spacers can be a **** shoot. Some are nearly pure lead. Some are pretty rich in tin and antimony. If you take the time to bend each one, you can sort them to some degree. The last mixed batch that I cast into ingots ended up being over 12% in both tin and antimony. That's a meaningful amount of tin. It's caused me to re-think spacer material uses.

[jakharath]

These spacers go from easy to bend to I can barely bend them.

[Defcon-One]

That could be thickness!

Bend them in half. If they fold all the way over without breaking, then I'd assume they are very soft or Pure Lead. If they break, then they are a harder alloy. If they snap off very early in the bend, then I'd suspect type metal, Lino or Mono. A very grainy breakline is also a clue to Antimony content.

Just an educated guess, but it gives you something to work with.

Also, melting point can easily indicate pure lead vs typemetals. (Lead is over 650 deg. F, type metals under 500 deg. F)

[jakharath]

Defcon-One - Thanks!