Ingots marked with "P" ?

[umwminer]

picked up some lead today and it is cast into ingots that are the same length but a bit more than half as wide as the typical
Lyman or Saeco 1 lb ingot and has the letter P cast into the center . They are shiny silver colored like WW ingots and have a very definite "ring" when struck together .
Question.....Were commercial lead alloys cast as such and if so what do I have ?

Thanks !
Bob
umwminer@hotmail.com

[308Jeff]

I'm guessing Pewter. Are they noticeably lighter than lead ingots of the same size?

[rancher1913]

they come from a potter mold, it has 4 cavity's that are each about 1/2 of a layman cavity. there is a gentleman that makes copies of the molds as potter is no longer around. I have 2 and use them for casting pewter to make it easier to distinguish, that could be what you have but the "p" does not mean they are pewter. check the weights against know pewter and lead and you can narrow it done.

[OS OK]

Since it is an alloy of Sn + Cu + Sb, I don't think that it is abbreviated with a P. I dunnoh, good question.

[Skunk1]

Potter ingot mold, they made a half pound ingot mold. Tried to get one last week but didn't work out for me.

[RogerDat]

I bought this one from a guy on eBay. http://www.ebay.com/itm/Weight-mold-Small-6-to-8-ounce-lead-pewter-Ingot-mold-More-in-my-store-/302195423329 His ad has pictures of ingots from it for OP to compare to what he has.

All my pewter gets cast into ingots using this mold. 5# of these ingots fits in a zip lock sandwich bag very nicely. About 4 ingots to the pound in pewter. Depending on ingot thickness. Lead would be markedly heavier.

[308Jeff]

That's what I get for reading too quick. I didn't read the "P" was cast in, just the "marked with" part in the title.

[Skunk1]

I bought this one from a guy on eBay. http://www.ebay.com/itm/Weight-mold-Small-6-to-8-ounce-lead-pewter-Ingot-mold-More-in-my-store-/302195423329 His ad has pictures of ingots from it for OP to compare to what he has.

All my pewter gets cast into ingots using this mold. 5# of these ingots fits in a zip lock sandwich bag very nicely. About 4 ingots to the pound in pewter. Depending on ingot thickness. Lead would be markedly heavier.

are those cast iron? One photo looks aluminum and one looks cast.

[William Yanda]

they come from a potter mold, it has 4 cavity's that are each about 1/2 of a layman cavity. there is a gentleman that makes copies of the molds as potter is no longer around. I have 2 and use them for casting pewter to make it easier to distinguish, that could be what you have but the "p" does not mean they are pewter. check the weights against know pewter and lead and you can narrow it done.

My Potter molds, traded here with a member, have 6 cavities each.
They are cast iron-they rusted.

[TexasGrunt]

I've been casting my pewter into a Do-It slab mold. I cast into the 1.5 ounce cavities and the slabs come out just a hair over 1 ounce. Since I mix alloy in my pot this works out quite well for me.

[umwminer]

Thats IT ! The Potter ingot mold . Been casting since the early 70's and have never run across this before . I knew that somebody here would know !
Thanks !
Bob

[imashooter2]

Potter #107 ingot mold. There's a picture of one in my photo gallery, but danged if I can figure out attachments on this iPad.

[Bullwolf]

are those cast iron? One photo looks aluminum and one looks cast.


I purchased one of those Potter copy ingot moulds a while ago from Ebay. The mould that I received was made out of aluminum.

The P mould is actually quite small. I use mine to identify soft [P]ure lead bars.


http://i.ebayimg.com/images/g/npMAAOSw0UdXqnvi/s-l1600.jpg

Mine had a few rough spots in it. Especially so around the P in the bottom cavity, just like the one in the photo above. But it was pretty easy to clean up.



- Bullwolf

[Bullwolf]

Potter #107 ingot mold. There's a picture of one in my photo gallery, but danged if I can figure out attachments on this iPad.

Here's the photo of a Potter mould, from imashooter2's gallery.


http://castboolits.gunloads.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=88680&d=1385511792




- Bullwolf

[rancher1913]

I got short changed, mine only has four cavities 8-)