Help ID Scrap Lead

[RedRiver]

Got some mystery lead today. The non threaded caps are somewhat heavy and have a ring when dropped. The "I" shaped "lead" is heavy, but no too heavy. The look like some sort of gasket. Tin maybe?

No idea what these two things are.


Anyone seen this stuff before?

[Leslie Sapp]

I believe the strips are glass caming, used in stained glass windows. I have no idea what the caps are.

[RedRiver]

The strips vary from 1/4" to 1/2" wide. My wife has done stained glass and said it doesn't look like that. Unless it is from big stained glass.

[RogerDat]

Lead came for the first one. Generally close to pure lead unless the ends are soldered, then it has a little tin. Stained glass windows are framed with lead came. Glass fit into each side of the "I" It is good lead, zinc stiffener in them is not common but does come up once in awhile. Just watch when you melt it and fish any none melting stuff out.

The caps could be for iso lead containers. Nuclear medicine is transported in lead containers with lead caps. Iso lead varies a bit but is good bullet stuff about 10 BHN as I recall, but maybe someone who has used it regularly will weigh in with more on those caps material.

[Soundguy]

Must agree, I channel looks lil large stained glass leading, and was gonna Sa isotope caps as well.

[BNE]

I just XrFed some ISO cores and they were ~97% Pb, and 3% Sb. Shoot me a PM if you want an analysis of your lead.

[Dusty Bannister]

Maybe you can find your sample at this location:

http://fellingfamily.net/isolead/

[RedRiver]

That was my thoughts. Stained glass lead and iso caps. Wish he could have gotten the whole thing but I won't be picky. M wife has only worked with small glass. When she looked closer it's what she thought as well.

Thanks for the offer to shoot my stuff. I only have about three ounces of the caps otherwise I would.

[NyFirefighter357]

This id's the "H" channel http://www.franklinartglass.com/shop/category.aspx/cascade-metals/207/

[hunter74]

I don't know for sure what it is on the first pic, but what I do know is that I have used a lot of it, and it's close to pure pb. I treat it as such, and it works great!

Sent fra min SM-G930F via Tapatalk

[RogerDat]

I would say that came is softer than even most sheet lead. Maybe x-ray room wall liner lead is as soft, but a lot of flashing type sheet lead or lead pipe is a bit harder.

[Soundguy]

Lead flashing and vent cover can't be too hard. I've made many a Bp revolver ball, and rifle ball out of it with no problems. Bp ball needs to be dead soft.. 5-6 preferably.

[RogerDat]

Lead flashing and vent cover can't be too hard. I've made many a Bp revolver ball, and rifle ball out of it with no problems. Bp ball needs to be dead soft.. 5-6 preferably.

They are both very soft, but sheet lead and pipe that is "plain" lead in the stuff I have found seemed a touch harder, not huge difference. More like came was all 5 and the sheet lead or pipe would go the 6 or maybe a touch more. But then for me the sheet or pipe is mixed scrap so I think it varies a bit more than the came. Maybe a touch of antimony to help with forming in some of it or something like that. I treat it all as plain lead. My equipment (or uses) don't need more exact than that.

I found a barrel with a whole lot of lead came so that stuff was all the same. Saving it now for round ball casting, I use the plain lead mixed scrap as pure lead in recipes when making up an alloy but I'm sure it isn't pure lead. If nothing else my big pot is seldom that clean :-)

[Soundguy]

If its not past 6.5- 7 I imagine ok, 6 easier on loading levers though ;)

[John Boy]

Got some mystery lead today. You might want to melt a small ingot of each and test it for hardness. That will give you a good idea of it.
BTW - How much of this stuff to you get? If it is just what you showed in your hand, the effort isn't worth it

[Sur-shot]

Years and years ago, like 1950s, I had a buddy that would bring me cuttings from big lead casings for wire cable, big hundreds of pairs phone lines, etc. When they had a cable dug up they had to repair the wire and reconnect the lead sheeting for water proofing. The sheeting could be 1/4 inch thick and 8-10 inches in diameter, but it had to be squared on four ends to be melted back together with a red hot iron. What that first picture looks like is the cuttings or trimmings from the ends of the lead cable sheeting, the edges roll as it is cut and a trim is about a 1/4 inch at a time and is run several times to make sure the cut is square for joining the four ends of a splice. Hard to tell for sure but that is what it looks like.
Ed

[RedRiver]

Got pounds of it. Just need the time to pour it.

[dbosman]

Some came, made specifically for windows exposed to the outside environment, have a layer of zinc. You can usually see it as a layer if you cut the came with a sharp knife, so you can see the edge.

[RedRiver]

Melted it down, had a heck of a lot of **** on the surface, looks identical to stick-on ingots, grayish with a hole in the center. I will check hardness soon here.

[RedRiver]

Scraped the crud off just as the last bit melted so I'm sure zinc, if any, got skimmed off.

[RedRiver]

Identical reading to lead pipe with my Lee tester. Side by side you could never tell the difference in appearance either

[John Boy]

Don't ya love it when a plan comes together? :D
OK, now take the "****" that is called "dross" and re melt it with a good fluxing. Believe you'll end up with less dross and more lead ... Good Luck and Good Find

[RedRiver]

I know about dross. Have about 29 lbs of it in ingot form right now. Th thing is, some of this had zinc plating on it. The dross is garbage.