RogerDat
06-21-2015, 11:27 AM
I had only one easy way to sort the thin flat spacers that came with some linotype. Did they bend easily and without snapping in half, or when bent did they snap in two. In short was the flexibility "soft" bendable or "hard" snaps.
After sorting 60 lbs. into two buckets I had 20 lbs. of "soft" and 40 lbs. of "hard". I melted each batch into ingots, fluxed with sawdust and wax. Noticed right away that both batches seemed to cast with a smoother surface than plain. On cooling both had enough hardness to clink rather than thunk when banged against each other.
Took them to the scrap yard the results were:
Hard and brittle gunned as Linotype 12 Sb, 4 Sn. 12/4/84
But what I had been calling "soft" because it would bend without breaking was measured at 13 Sb, 2 Sn yep 13/2/85.
I did not use a hardness tester so my definition of "hard" or "soft" was not related to BHN but only too the ability to bend without breaking. This characteristic was clearly different, in the form of spacer strips I could bend the stuff that gunned 13/2/85 double, unbend it and give it a twist, easily.
Since the batch was 20 lbs. and the ratios don't work for contamination of plain lead with some linotype that slipped in only thing I can think of is as an alloy the Sb/Sn in linotype ratios is more brittle than the Sb without the Sn to alloy with. At least in the form of thin strips of metal.
So nothing for the plain soft lead stash, 20 lbs. of mild antimonial lead instead. I was ok with the results, just not what I expected. Another unexpected finding was the sample from a 5.5 lb. batch of mixed and unlabeled solder turned out to gun as 60% Sn. I have a feeling that an especially shiny rats nest of wire solder that was part of the batch might have been nearly pure tin. With the rest being between 30 and 50 percent tin.
So on the spacers no way to apply what I had to what you might have or find (Your Mileage May Vary) but it is worth doing some investigation of any linotype spacers to see what you have.
After sorting 60 lbs. into two buckets I had 20 lbs. of "soft" and 40 lbs. of "hard". I melted each batch into ingots, fluxed with sawdust and wax. Noticed right away that both batches seemed to cast with a smoother surface than plain. On cooling both had enough hardness to clink rather than thunk when banged against each other.
Took them to the scrap yard the results were:
Hard and brittle gunned as Linotype 12 Sb, 4 Sn. 12/4/84
But what I had been calling "soft" because it would bend without breaking was measured at 13 Sb, 2 Sn yep 13/2/85.
I did not use a hardness tester so my definition of "hard" or "soft" was not related to BHN but only too the ability to bend without breaking. This characteristic was clearly different, in the form of spacer strips I could bend the stuff that gunned 13/2/85 double, unbend it and give it a twist, easily.
Since the batch was 20 lbs. and the ratios don't work for contamination of plain lead with some linotype that slipped in only thing I can think of is as an alloy the Sb/Sn in linotype ratios is more brittle than the Sb without the Sn to alloy with. At least in the form of thin strips of metal.
So nothing for the plain soft lead stash, 20 lbs. of mild antimonial lead instead. I was ok with the results, just not what I expected. Another unexpected finding was the sample from a 5.5 lb. batch of mixed and unlabeled solder turned out to gun as 60% Sn. I have a feeling that an especially shiny rats nest of wire solder that was part of the batch might have been nearly pure tin. With the rest being between 30 and 50 percent tin.
So on the spacers no way to apply what I had to what you might have or find (Your Mileage May Vary) but it is worth doing some investigation of any linotype spacers to see what you have.