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View Full Version : Gulf Coast Foundry pigs from Sarasota area


Cosmic_Charlie
10-09-2021, 05:03 PM
One of my motorcycle buddies had some pigs, 29# each that he was willing to part with. They don't seem dead soft so who knows what they are...could be wheel weights. Gulf Coast apparently served the maritime industry.
289984
DougGuy
10-09-2021, 06:28 PM
That's a sacrificial anode, attached to marine hulls by flatbar welded across the ends hence the notches. Those afaik are a lot of zinc and aluminum in there but I could be wrong.
Cosmic_Charlie
10-09-2021, 07:24 PM
Thanks Doug.
Finster101
10-09-2021, 07:26 PM
A drop or two of muriatic acid should tell you. Zinc sizzles lead does not.
Cosmic_Charlie
10-09-2021, 10:02 PM
Apparently the sailing guys down there were using them for ballast, thinking they were lead. They are heavy. I think Doug nailed it.
DougGuy
10-09-2021, 10:18 PM
The only thing that throws me off is that most of those anodes are cast around a strip of carbon steel, so it's captive, and they weld this onto the hull, rudder, torque nozzles, anywhere they want to prevent electrolysis from eating the boat. These don't look like they are cast onto anything, they look like the notches in the ends are there for a strap of flatbar to hold them on. In which case, once they were consumed enough to slip out of the flatbar, they would just fall off so either they aren't made for a ships hull, they are meant for a different application but still the same job, to prevent damage from electrolysis. I dunno, my guess is zinc/aluminum alloy but I could be wrong.
Cosmic_Charlie
10-10-2021, 11:21 AM
I did the acid test, they contain zinc. I think they may have been intended for boat ballast, sure are heavy. Maybe unsorted wheel weights melted down by the foundry.
lightman
10-12-2021, 08:26 AM
Too bad that it wasn't lead. Glad you found out about the Zinc before you contaminated any of your other lead.
Cosmic_Charlie
10-28-2021, 08:50 AM
Too bad that it wasn't lead. Glad you found out about the Zinc before you contaminated any of your other lead.

Yeah, I could use a healthy score of dead soft. Have plenty tin and lino and ww.
RogerDat
10-29-2021, 02:52 PM
Scrap yards pay a bit more for zinc in ingots than in WW's I forget what I was paid when I took some in that I culled from a mixed batch of lead and zinc bars. It was a good deal more than WW's would have fetched. Less than brass cases.