How to Mark

[RoGrrr]

I have several buckets of COWWs.
Many years ago I had WWs and for convenience smelted into 1# ingots and marked them with a magic marker. As time went on, the lead oxidized and the marker faded to the point that I couldn't differentiate the WW ingots from the other ingots so I ended up simply putting all my unknown lead into the pot and casting boolits til it was all gone.
Bcuz of my experience in the past I have hesitated to melt my WWs.
How do you guys mark your 'specialty' ingots in order to be able to ID them several years down the road ?
I've toyed with the idea of making a fairly large stamp of the letter W and heat it with a torch to 'brand' those ingots.
I don't have (haven't built it yet) a hardness tester.

[dilly]

I do wedges for range scrap, muffins for soft lead, and leave the linotype in type form. I also have corn cob if I ever come across something else I need to melt.

Those old cast iron implements aren't THAT expensive, and it's really kind of nice to have to stack like with like.

[JonB_in_Glencoe]

I use the Harbor Freight letter stamps and a hammer.
http://www.harborfreight.com/36-piece-14-in-steel-letternumber-stamping-set-60671.html
Like I punched/labeled these Zinc contaminated ingots.
http://i640.photobucket.com/albums/uu127/JonB_in_Glencoe/reduced100_2661.jpg (http://s640.photobucket.com/user/JonB_in_Glencoe/media/reduced100_2661.jpg.html)



another option is the custom ingot mold and a center punch. See the punch mark by Lino.
http://i640.photobucket.com/albums/uu127/JonB_in_Glencoe/submittedcastpic.jpg (http://s640.photobucket.com/user/JonB_in_Glencoe/media/submittedcastpic.jpg.html)

[jeepyj]

I don't know if this helps but recently I melted several hundred pounds my pot holds 125+ pounds. While casting I took a hammer and a couple different shape punches to mark them such as a Phillips and flat bit screwdriver and a line up punch. I marked each ingot and also poured some samples and marked them so I could test the mix of each batch. I figure it will make it easier to figure out how much Babbitt and Lino to bring it to my preferred BHN
Jeepyj

[RoGrrr]

JonB
I wasn't aware that HF had stamps that big. I'll pick up a set.
Thanks for the image.

You're just rubbing our noses with your fancy-dan ingot molds. I think I had seen this pic before and even then lusted over them.
My home made molds are more utilitarian, being made from angle iron. The only problem with mine is that being triangular, the ingots must stack like a pyramid. My next set will be made with channel iron so the ingots are roughly rectangular/trapezoidal and should stack better.

[runfiverun]

triangle shapes do stack better and tighter together.
I haven't even tried out my cast boolits ingot molds yet, they have sat there gathering dust since forever now.

I just keep my alloys separate.
the soft lead goes over by the lube sizers.
the WW ingots go under the casting bench on the right side.
the linotype goes under the other side of the bench in a smaller cubby hole.
and the 4/6/90 mix goes on the other side of the master caster bench under the oil/grease storage shelf.

[JonB_in_Glencoe]

http://i640.photobucket.com/albums/uu127/JonB_in_Glencoe/submittedcastpic.jpg (http://s640.photobucket.com/user/JonB_in_Glencoe/media/submittedcastpic.jpg.html)
The ingots are pretty fancy, especially when Lino is cast in them :bigsmyl2:
Yeah, this is one of my favorite photos.



JonB
I wasn't aware that HF had stamps that big. I'll pick up a set.
Thanks for the image.

You're just rubbing our noses with your fancy-dan ingot molds. I think I had seen this pic before and even then lusted over them.
My home made molds are more utilitarian, being made from angle iron. The only problem with mine is that being triangular, the ingots must stack like a pyramid. My next set will be made with channel iron so the ingots are roughly rectangular/trapezoidal and should stack better.
I bought some 94-3-3 alloy from another member, that were cast in angle iron (three sided bars). They stack nicely in my two ammo cans (20mm) that I use as wintertime pickup truck weights, about 225lbs in each one. Also, I've seen photos from other members here who stack that shape of ingots in milk crates on their side...and stack the milk crates 3 or 4 high...of course there is no picking them up once full of alloy ingots.
Jon

[RoGrrr]

runfiverun
This all happened 30-some years ago when I was loaned a mold and told to hit the tire stores for FREE lead. I was also given some other scrap. At that time I knew nothing about alloys and hardness. After all, it was "JUST lead".
As far as ingot shape goes, I agree that the triangles stack well but there's that geometric handicap - pyramid stacks.
My molds are free, except for the labor of cutting and welding. I'll decide which shape I like after making Gen 2 molds.
Is your avatar one of the 3 Amigos ?

[Hardcast416taylor]

I use the shank of a Phillips screwdriver to stamp an alloy and a broken straight screwdriver shank to make various other alloy stamp marks.Robert

[country gent]

I use a set of 1/2" number letter and stamps. Make what you want to ID up tape together with heavy duct tape and a piece of key stock accross the top ( can be held on with tape also) then rest on ingot squarely and with a 2-3 pound ball peen give it a good solid hit. 20-1, 50-50 ww p, lino, whatever you want will magically apear. The shorter the ID the easier to mark. Big Stamps driven deep make seeing it much easier. In the alloies ised the stamps last forever.

[Tenbender]

What about a paint mark ?

[badgerblaster]

136319
I've got a cheap set of stamps like this.
WW = Wheel Weights
PBP = Lead Pipe
RS = Range Scrap
Etc.
However you stamp it, it only needs to mean something to you.

[JSnover]

Paint marks, sharpies, etc will all work but I learned the same lesson as the OP: none of them are permanent. Metal stamps are the best and lead is so soft, the cheapest set in the world will last forever if you're only marking ingots.

[RoGrrr]

I'm leaning towards those HF stamps, as they are available in 3/8" size which makes them legible for aging eyes. AND, they are on sale this week for $23.
Paint is messy unless you use a marker like auto junk yards use, available in many colors, which I hadn't given any thought to. Bright colors are tempting - like YELLOW.
That settles it. I'm going to mark.
Either paint stick , or punch stamps.

Gotta decide which one....

At least I have my mind made up - shoot cast boolits !

[Yodogsandman]

Both are better! Mark with a punch AND spray paint both ends while you have them stacked up after smelting. I use a regular chisel and hammer. no mark=pure, 1 chisel mark=COWW's, 2 chisel marks=range scrap. No paint-pure, red paint=COWW's, green paint=range lead. Started this after I mis-took pure for COWW's once. The paint is a great visual indicator.

[SciFiJim]

runfiverun
This all happened 30-some years ago when I was loaned a mold and told to hit the tire stores for FREE lead. I was also given some other scrap. At that time I knew nothing about alloys and hardness. After all, it was "JUST lead".
As far as ingot shape goes, I agree that the triangles stack well but there's that geometric handicap - pyramid stacks.
My molds are free, except for the labor of cutting and welding. I'll decide which shape I like after making Gen 2 molds.
Is your avatar one of the 3 Amigos ?

I stack my angle iron ingots in a milk crate turned on its side. This overcomes the limitation of a pyramid shape. The ingots approach the shape of a cube. One of my milk crates is full. I cannot drag it across the floor when leaning my full (considerable) weight into it.

[lightman]

I store mine in milk crates with a tag on the crate showing the alloy. I used 5 gallon plastic buckets at one time but discovered that they deteriorate over time and fall apart, especially under weight. If I could start over, I would stamp them. Just way too many now! Maybe a retirement project? And yeah, a milk crate is heavy, about 700# or so when filled.

[RoGrrr]

SciFiJim SAID:
cannot drag it across the floor

AND

lightman CONCURRED:
about 700# or so

So at this point, I really doan know what I'm gonna do when I start moving and re-stacking my stash.

[Bullwolf]

I really like the letter punches, I might have to pick some of those up.

I'm cheap, so I use a small chisel to make flat line stamps on my ingots.

l_ = The letter L

_
l = The letter T

_
l_l = The letter P
l


l-l = Makes the letter H, and so on...


I'm sure you all get the idea.



L = Linotype.
P = Pure
T = Tin
H = Hardball
S = Soft (looks more like a 5)
X = Custom
W = Wheel Weight lead.

Have a few other codes as well, that likely only mean anything to me. I feel sorry for whoever goes through my estate when I'm gone - They are going to at least need a hardness tester, or possibly an X-ray gun to figure out my alloys.


- Bullwolf

[DonMerlin]

JonB
Where did you get that ingot mold?

[RogerDat]

If you turn one ingot on every other row of triangle ingots on its side they stack "square". I store mine in SFRB and label those boxes in addition to magic marker label of the bars themselves. Allows me to have 25# boxes that I can move around and store easily. Lino stays in raw form (MFRB). Mixed alloys that are usable as is end up in muffin ingots marked with magic marker. But they are intended for being melted fairly soon.

Having found unmarked Lyman ingots at the scrap yard I wish more people stamped. I'm just not inclined to do the extra work.

[BruceB]

My ingot mould was tailored to cast triangular bars just long enough to fill a .50-caliber can WITH space for a finger, to ease lifting them out.

If ingots are stored in such a manner that they're not being handled all the time, felt markers will suffice for identification.

A .50 can holds just over 100 pounds of triangular ingots.... very efficient use of space.

[runfiverun]

yeah,,, that's one of the three amigo's. :lol:
there's two more somewhere around here from time to time.

[fredj338]

I use diff molds for diff alloys. Then I know at a glance what I have & am reaching for. A simple cold chisel is all you need though. 1 mark for lead, two for clip ww, three for range scrap.

[03fatboy]

Thanks for the tips,just started to cast ingots of WW and was going to use a marker,but now I'm going to stamp them.

This site is awesome!!!

[Budzilla 19]

Stamp them! In plain English ! No guessing,no remembering one mark, two mark, huh? That way you're never in doubt! Oh yeah, this site has really improved all my casting techniques for sure! Not that they were bad to start with, but the amount of knowledge on this site is mind boggling to say the least ! Have fun with it!

[.22-10-45]

BullWolf..from your location..I wonder if in a former life you wern't some cowpoke handy with a runnin iron! :kidding:

[lobogunleather]

Low tech reigns around my house. I melt, clean, and flux old wheel weights in a cast iron pot on the camping stove in the back yard, then pour ingots in an old aluminum muffin pan. While they are still hot I mark the tops "WW" using the point of a knife. After they have fully cooled the markings remain perfectly clear until ready to use.

[JSnover]

Stamp them! In plain English ! No guessing,no remembering one mark, two mark, huh? That way you're never in doubt!
Got that right! Mine read P for pure, S for scrap and W for wheel weight. I bought some alloy from RotoMetals a while back and made sure all of those ingots had the alloy content stamped. My Babbitt is very bright so I don't mark it. I also have about twenty pounds of mono and Lino, which I leave in its original form so there's never a question of what it might be.

[Echo]

I use angle-iron molds for my WW+2%Sn ingots. Flood my various 4-cavity molds for 5-lb ingots of 7-1+ alloy (Ww-Monotype-+1%Sn). And my pure Pb goes into coke cans with the top removed - makes about 6-8 lb ingots, easily stripped and added to the pot as needed. Pistol boolits are made from my 7-1+ mixed 50/50 w/Pb and another 1% Sn, cast into individual 1-lb ingots.

[pretzelxx]

I use a sharpie

[fecmech]

I just write on the ingot with a vibrating engraver. Just as fast as a sharpie and legible forever. Here's one just like mine on Ebay for $20.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/like/281588608444

[mazo kid]

A set of the 3/8" HF punches for my use. After smelting, they get stamped....PB for soft lead, WW for wheel weights, and if alloyed, the lead-tin ratio. No more wondering ."is that little stack pure lead, or did I bring in some WWs?"

[mold maker]

Made a hammer head that holds up to 3 HF 3/8 stamps. Just load the hammer and smack each ingot.
Before that, over the last 50+ years I had accumulated 5-8 of each name brand ingot molds. Each alloy uses a different name mold. Stored in 11 labeled milk crates (749 lb ea) the ingots were easy to ID.
Like someone else said, you will not budge a full milk crate, so put it where your sure it can remain.
Several years ago I moved, but the lead is still at the other house, I just collected more. I'm slowly moving it as I move the rest of the man cave. Thank goodness I only moved back into my parents home, two blocks away.

[scottfire1957]

Angle iron ingots can be stacked squarely, if you alternate the direction of the ingots for each row.

l l l l = = l l l l = =, so on and so forth.

[fredj338]

Stamp them! In plain English ! No guessing,no remembering one mark, two mark, huh? That way you're never in doubt! Oh yeah, this site has really improved all my casting techniques for sure! Not that they were bad to start with, but the amount of knowledge on this site is mind boggling to say the least ! Have fun with it!
Well if you can't remember 1, 2 or 3, maybe reloading in general is something to abandon. Seriously, some people will go to great lengths to justify what they do. Yep, stamping is pretty definitive, as long as you can remember PB, WW, S, etc.

[Jeff Maney]

3/8" letter stamps & ball peen hammer is the best method I have found also! Easy to see and permanent marking. Just develop your marking codes, write them down on the wall above the casting pots and go to casting!

Jeff

[konsole]

Letter stamps and 1-3 letters depending on what you stamping. When using more then 1 letter stamp on the same ingot, tape them together, but stamp the ingots after they have cooled down or else the heat of the ingot will soften the tape and the tape will slide down the stamp. For coww and soww my recent batch was stamped "CW" and "SW" for clip weight and stick weight. Maybe you could use "RS" for range scrap, and maybe "M" for monotype and "L" for linotype. I stamp them 2 times on the topside in case the ingot is dropped and the stamping is gouged off. I would prefer larger stamps because mine are only about 1/4", but the smaller size makes it easier to get a deep stamp on hard metal ingots that I have made recently, like zinc.

(UPDATE TO MY WHEEL WEIGHT INGOT LABELING) I modified the stamping on my coww and soww ingots. Instead of just "CW" or SW", they now say "COWW PB", or "SOWW PB". With two stamps sets you can tape "COWW" or "SOWW" stamps together to stamp that all at once, otherwise with one stamp set (which means one "W"), you have to untape the "COW" or "SOW" to get the 2nd "W" stamped. Just "COW" or "SOW" probably would have been fine, but casters just know what "ww" stands for.

[Budzilla 19]

Konsole, good idea! At least the nomenclature is an accepted form of identification for your ingots. FredJ338, you don't know me, or what I do for a living. I'm a senior quality control specialist for the natural gas and petrochemical industry, and yes, plain English and definitive markings are the only way to go! To have repeatable results, you need precise identification of all your components. Just my.02 cents

[country gent]

Also as someething no one wants to think about but at the ages of most of us. When were gone and that stack of ingots is part of an estate others knowing what it actually is and what the markings means may make a big diffrence also. You can code but if someone dosnt know the code its greek and no one knows what is what. Coww, Soww, lino. mono, 50cow 50 soww all are easy for anyone to figure out. It would allow those buying inheriting yopur stash to use with out resmelting and or blending so much.

[lightman]

I'm kinda like country gent. Think about those that come after us, whether its a family member selling off your stash or a fellow caster that you don't even know. I've been a craftsman in my trade all of my life and I would rather be remembered as that old guy that had his stuff together than something less. Prolly don't make any difference to some, but it doe's to me.

[Budzilla 19]

Lightman, hear,hear!!! I agree wholeheartedly!! Hard to believe people who teach this stuff would not agree with consistent identification of components!!! Bet it would make a difference if they were talking about powders, or primers or bullet weights in a given caliber!!! Just my .02 cents.

[11B-101ABN]

Mold Maker: I think that hammer you spoke of is a very good idea... Got a picture?

[country gent]

If we were as through as some not only consistent ids but also an lot number to show date, batch of lead scap pot number and such would also be there so every aspect could be tracked.

[John Boy]

As time went on, the lead oxidized and the marker faded to the point that I couldn't differentiate the WW ingots from the other ingots so I ended up simply putting all my unknown lead into the pot and casting boolits til it was all gone.Interesting the marker faded on your ingot ...
I have over 1000 lbs of ingots stacked up in the basement, each marked with the Bhn done with a magic marker. In 2012, Super Storm broke a basement window and the basement had 36" of salt water with sand and mud covering all my ingots.
To this day after rinsing off the mud on the ingots ... the Bhn written on each ingot is readable!

[Budzilla 19]

John Boy, sorry to hear about Super Storm on your stuff. Glad you still got it.

[RogerDat]

One of the reasons I store in labeled USPS boxes is in the event of disposal it makes it a whole lot easier for my kids or wife to sell it to a caster as specific alloy or plain lead. The reason I mark ingots inside the box with a marker is because I'm sure sooner or later I'll get the content of a couple of boxes mixed on a table.

I scrounge so I also tend to have some "stuff" that is some sort of odd ball mix found at scrap yard, 16 Sn / 84 Pb for example. Lot of that stuff ends up as either marker labeled bread pan ingots if I have much of it or labeled 4 cavity small ingots in a coffee can. I get it gunned at the scrap yard so I have to label it if I'm actually going to have that information to use. Stamps and hammer for all the odd stuff would be sort of slow. Sharpie marker is easy.

Pretty sure any caster buying this after I'm gone (or unable to cast) will have no trouble with WW or Pb labels, can labeled "High Tin" full of ingots with "14 Sn" Or 20# loaf pan ingots marked 2 Sn (bunch of scrap thought was plain that had some tin). I prefer to have it labeled so others can understand the label but can't really fault someone that has their own marking system. If I'm not the one using it because I'm dead.... why would I have to care again? Kids don't know the system some caster is going to get a deal. Kids pay attention they will know what they are selling (wife hasn't paid attention to most of what I say for almost 20 years so far so why start now?)

I say stamping is great but stamping all the 1.5 lb. ingots from 100 pound pot would be time consuming and way too much like what I had to do to stamp part numbers for custom runs of parts when I worked in a machine shop. Serial numbers by hand were even worse but it happened.

[konsole]

I modified my post #38 with a different way I am stamping wheel weight ingots.