ingot id

[whelenshooter]

About 4"x4"x18" with a small diameter cable running through the longitudinal center.

I got it several years ago at a local scrap yard. Sold as lead, thought it was lead. It was very soft, could indent easily with finger nail. It melted at around 600 f.

When melted it formed a coppery substance on top and then turned to a greenish yellow dross that kept being produced.

For full disclosure I had sold this to another person and he melted it and sent me the pictures. I've never had any lead look like this. Just don't want him to be messing with a cadmium alloy or something. The green dross ended up consuming most of the melt. He fluxed a couple of times with paraffin.

What's your opinion?

Thanks, david
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[Sasquatch-1]

The metal in the Dutch oven in the last picture has a tint that looks like what I get when melting dead soft lead.

[whelenshooter]

That was what he was left with after taking pounds of that green gold dross off.

[whelenshooter]

The verdict from BNE is in: 99.7% Pb. Evidently my friend over heated the lead and generated lots of dross and oxide. He was checking the temps with an infared thermometer. It read about 650 f. Possibly the surface temp read lower than the actual internal temp. I advised him to get a proper casting thermometer. I may be all wet...

[RedRiver]

Did you keep the dross?

[whelenshooter]

He did. He remelted it over the weekend and rendered quite a bit more usable lead.

[Sasquatch-1]

99.7% pure lead is VERY usable as far as I am concerned. I wish I could come up with a couple hundred more pounds. Very good for swaging and muzzle loading.