Giant Bar Marked "KIRK" Any Idea What It Is?

[Liberty1776]

Attached is a picture of a very heavy bar of what feels like lead. It's marked "KIRK" and may be a keel weight for a boat. It's about 24" long by 4" x 4" and weighs...a lot.

I have heard of an alloy called Kirksite that's used in foundries to make tooling molds for drop hammers. It's zinc based. But this thing seems a lot heavier than zinc. I can't even lift it.

Any ideas if this would work for cast bullets and how I would analyze its composition? Should I cut off a piece and try melting it?

Thanks.

[skeettx]

http://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?371687-Kirk-stamped-lead-bar

[Liberty1776]

Thanks for the thread link. Very helpful.

[JBinMN]

This likely will not help, but maybe some of these folks would know more now than they did then:
http://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?43444-Kirk-bar-ingots-anyone-heard-of-it-And-plain-Lino-Type-for-boolits

And another:
http://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?371687-Kirk-stamped-lead-bar

G'Luck!
:)

Oops. looks like I was beat to the sharing link(s). Oh well...

Once again, G'Luck!
:)

[Alan in Vermont]

That ingot looks similar to the ones I received last summer , marked "Doe Run". I can't get the image to copy here but a pic is in this thread; http://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?360228-40-of-a-Score!!

Mine were about the same length, 23-24" IIRC and weighed 62-63 pounds each. Pure lead for all practical purposes. I melted this batch into smaller ingots. The second batch, six more of the same, I cut into thirds to make them easier to get on my shelves without the labor/cost of melting them.

[starreloader]

I have come across some of the same ingots before, actually 12 bars once, all 12 ingots were pure lead.

[lightman]

Anything we say would just be a guess. I would contact member BNE and arrange to have it tested. He trades an XFR test for lead. Its a really fair swap and a great service that he provides for the members here. He has to work around his job but usually has a fast turn around time.

[CastingFool]

Try a few drops of muriatic acid on it. If it bubbles, you have zinc in there

[Liberty1776]

Per the other threads, I hit it with a hammer to hear if it thunked or dinged. It thunked and dented very deeply and easily. I'm guessing it's lead.

No I have to get it into small enough pieces that I can melt it into smaller ingots. I remember sawing one before on my metal cutting bandsaw. It was a pain.

Any ideas on efficiently reducing its size to, say, 4x4x4-inch chunks? A gigantic pair of side cutters? Some kind of hydraulic shear that's used for something else like a log splitter?

[lightman]

Any saw with a course blade should cut it. Circular saw, sawszall, ect. Even a chainsaw. A log splitter if you have one. Even a hand saw with course teeth. Put something in place to catch the chips.

[JBinMN]

Axe, or small sledge & a chisel will work to get chunks off. A Sawzall(reciprocating saw) has worked for me as well on occasion.

[RogerDat]

Saw with very course teeth. Yes a log splitter has been used to chunk up lead before with reported good results. Or attach cable or chain and lower into pot. Lower more as it melts. Ladle out for ingots as pot gets full. Some have mentioned using an axe to good effect. Guess that would depend on your ability to hit same spot repeatedly with an axe rather than beavering the chunk of lead.

There was a member Banger Jim that reported good results using a double bladed saw from Harbor Freight. Has two circular saw blades and I think they work together in a way that really cuts through lead.

[kevin c]

There was a member Banger Jim that reported good results using a double bladed saw from Harbor Freight. Has two circular saw blades and I think they work together in a way that really cuts through lead.I got one of these based on the comments in this forum. It works well, but does throw chips. It doesn't have the cut depth to do four inches in one pass, but turning the piece 180 degrees should cover that - with extra care taken to watch out for pinching the blades.