What is this stuff?

[Martin Luber]

It came from a friends estate so he isn't talking but he marked it as tin. He was able to cast it in Lyman ingot moulds. It's heavy, but haven't calculated density yet. It's hard; bhn 15. It's brittle, and it won't melt, even with a methyine (sp?) torch on it. It has a large shiny chrystal structure. My son thinks it might be antimony. What say you?

He also worked in a nuke facility...261248

[Bantou]

If he worked at a nuke factory I’m sure he was smart enough to not bring anything radioactive home.


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[dbosman]

It looks like antimony. The difficulty in melting it would fit, too.

[Teddy (punchie)]

Zinc Maybe . We had some that I got use it for a anchor. Looked like crystals, shine if light it right; hard as anything all but fire proof. Used a power hacksaw to cut it. Figured it came for Saint Joe Zinc back in the day. Never did 100% ID it.

[kevin c]

You said its heavy? Is that comparable to the same sized ingot of lead? If so, I'd vote against tin or antimony, which are both light. I'd think zinc would melt if you played the torch on it for as long as it might take to melt lead. Tin would certainly melt.

It might be bismuth. It's heavy and is brittle, but it ought to melt easily.

[M-Tecs]

Looks just like my antimony chunks.

[NyFirefighter357]

It's Antimony Sb

https://www.google.com/search?q=antimony&client=firefox-b-1-d&sxsrf=ALeKk00bRJP8Bu_SxQ8Q6I5XZh4oMTUgvg:158812685 3675&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjcteLHyYzpAhWHg3IEHZSdDGgQ_AUoAXoECB0QA w&biw=894&bih=676

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PyOAkdiIpsE

http://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?37734-How-to-melt-antimony

[Gobeyond]

Antimony mixed in a parent material is my guess.

[Scrounge]

Zinc Maybe . We had some that I got use it for a anchor. Looked like crystals, shine if light it right; hard as anything all but fire proof. Used a power hacksaw to cut it. Figured it came for Saint Joe Zinc back in the day. Never did 100% ID it.

Zinc melts at about 787F, Antimony at about 1167F. DuckDuckGo found this thread for me: http://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?37734-How-to-melt-antimony Don't know if the folks on that site can help us much, though! ;) Only problem is the link to the antimony flux guy doesn't work anymore, so I'm guessing his flux isn't available anymore. You could try borax, that forms a glassy coat, and it will wash off with water.