Lead soldering rods?

[Hardcast416taylor]

Today I came into a pail full of lead rods, 3/8" D X 12" long and only marked Hewitt Detroit. No other numbers are on it. Anybody have an idea of what these bendable lead rods make up could be? My guess is some sort of automated soldering machine set up.Robert

[RogerDat]

Good chance they are body solder. Used to fill dings and do body work on autos before bondo. But there were several grades of solder produced by them.
https://i.ebayimg.com/00/s/MTIwMFgxNjAw/z/PC4AAOSwImRYGkdA/$_57.JPG?set_id=880000500F

https://cdn.eastwood.com/media/catalog/product/cache/1/image/9df78eab33525d08d6e5fb8d27136e95/p/3/p31127_3.jpg

There is one type used to "tin" the metal surface by rubbing it with the solder as you applied heat and another alloy used to fill it in and shape using a paddle with bees wax on it. It runs from 40/60 to 5% Sn. And it was as far as one could get from automated :-) it was a skilled trade performed by a craftsman. The fill solder had to be kept at exactly the right temperature to remain putty like so it could be shaped and too much heat on the tinned metal would cause that thin coating that was bonded to come off. It was like painting with solder and a torch.

Still used on classic cars and motorcycles. Won't crack or chip and done right won't ever shake loose. Very important on old Harleys and Triumph motorcycles which tend to vibrate a bit.

Look for any serial or other notations, it may be identifiable from that. Or send a pea sized piece along with a pound of lead to the member BNE here who will run it under an xrf gun to get a definite answer to what tin alloy it is. Here is link to BNE profile page so you can send him a private message if you want.
http://castboolits.gunloads.com/member.php?29218-BNE

Really good score by the way. Lot of that stuff is around 10% tin but some is as high as 60% tin.

[Boolit_Head]

As a side note they were a inspiration for the name "Lead Sled". [smilie=s:

[RogerDat]

As a side note they were a inspiration for the name "Lead Sled". [smilie=s: As in heavily re-worked body?

[Boolit_Head]

No even new ones had lead smoothing the seams.

[RogerDat]

No even new ones had lead smoothing the seams. I have some solder ingots stamped Chrysler Scrap, stamping is a one piece stamp, I would imagine it was to keep the stuff from leaving in lunch pails as beer money. Also some body lead stamped GM. I'm guessing this then must have been used on the line.

I had a fellow show me how to do lead body work when I restored a Triumph motorcycle, and used it a few times after. I'm ok as long as the work is laid flat or mostly flat, but the real craftsman could work on a vertical surface faster and better than I do a piece sitting flat on on a table.

[Hardcast416taylor]

I emptied out the pail today by tipping it over seeing that I could barely pick the thing up. In the bottom of the pail under all the rods I came across something that when I was a plumber I had used, there were 3 ingots of pure plumbers lead at 10 lb. apiece. I`ll try the scrap yard near me and see if they`ll `shoot` a sample of the rods for it`s make up. I checked all the rods and none have any numerical make up markings. There also was about 8 or 10 lbs. of old lead wheel weights in a paper bag. Total weight was in the 70 lb. +/- range.Robert