Linotype versus wheelweights.

[Jumping Frog]

I was talking about a swap deal with a guy who has wheelweights available. As part of it, he mentioned he also has a lot of linotype available.

I've never seen or used linotype, but have read enough to know it is worth snagging when available (if the price is right). What is the relative value of linotype versus wheelweights?

See, I am figuring wheelweights as worth a case of beer for a 5 gallon bucket. Where would linotype fit in on the "beer scale"? :mrgreen:

[leadman]

Lino is a good thing to have, but is wasteful to cast boolits out of it. It makes the WW alloy really shine, both figuratively and literaly.
Lino has alot of tin and antimony in it. Tin helps the boolits fill out and the antimony aids the hardening process. I mix about 10% lino to my WW.
If you water drop or heat treat the BHN really increases due to lino. Heat treated boolits can reach 30 BHN.
The price on selling and swapping is pretty decent so you can use this for a guide.

[Jumping Frog]

The price on selling and swapping is pretty decent
That is what I am asking about. The price? Any opinions?

[Shiloh]

Lino is great for a hardening boolit metal.

I find that water hardened WW are adequate for my purposes. I will add it if needed for a little harder alloy from range or other scavenged soft lead. Particularly for use in rifle boolits. For handgun boolits, at the velocities I shoot, as cast hardness is sufficient.

Shiloh

[GLL]

JF:

Kinda depends on which brand of beer you are using on that "Beer Scale" !

You can buy lino for about $1.00/pound depending on your location. If you are getting a FULL 5 gallon bucket of WWs for one case of your beer I would say lino is a three case 5 gallon bucket ! A FULL 5 gallon bucket of linotype will be over 100 pounds !

Sounds like you may be using pretty good beer !

Jerry

[HeavyMetal]

What GLL says is pretty much on.

Provided that it is indeed a type metal of some kind!

Temper your offer with the condition the metal is in. If it's already in ingots be a little low in what you offer. If it's in strips of letters it's lino if it's individual type ( a b c d ) then its monotype ( even better than lino) and it may even be foundry type. Casting and checking a BHN will give you some idea of alloy content.

I am always suspect of guys that have "lino" but had to make ingots out of it! I have three buckets of foundry type and have never had a reason to make ingots out of it. It is vey easy to store in a 5 gallon bucket and it is not dirty like wheel weights! Since this is the condition of every batch of real type metal I've ever seen I can't understand the reason for making ingots out of it.

I have made alloys useing type metal as a "sweetner" to get the hardeness I wanted for a specific application and put that in ingots.

Make a deal for the stuff if you can but make the "burden of proof" on the seller!

[runfiverun]

ditto
lino is handy though when all you can get or scrounge is like range scrap or pure lead of some kind.
you then can make a very reliable lead alloy from it,seems expensive till you need consistent alloy,or just plain can't get ww's.

[Jumping Frog]

Temper your offer with the condition the metal is in. . . .
Wow, I never even thought of any of that. Thanks for the guidance.

[Jumping Frog]

. . .when all you can get or scrounge is like range scrap or pure lead of some kind.
He said he also has a ton of soft lead, but it is unclear where this is going to head.

[fredj338]

Well, mixing pure lead 50/50 w/ Lino makes a nice bullet. Maybe work a deal for all of it. I agree, if it's not certified metal from someplace like Rotometals, then I would want to see the actual type metal not ingots. It's why I don;t buy on Fleebay, you have no idea whay you are getting. The last lino I bought was about two years agop, $1/# shipped, sill in type form.

[Lloyd Smale]

trade for or buy all he has of any alloy. Lead will get nothing but harder to find in the future!

[Bass Ackward]

I get suspicious every time someone has "a lot of linotype" available. I mean that the system just doesn't call for it that much anymore on a local basis. So it has to be made and shipped in at hefty expense. So how can we keep shooting up in the quantities that we have and not be draining it down?

Make sure that you know this guy well and that he has actually USED some of what he may "THINK" is lino.

We had a scam here a while back where lead that was sold as used lino was actually water dropped WW plus tin. The bars were made and aged for a year until they softened back to 18 - 20 BHN. They looked like lino, they rang when banged together, they tested out with a tester.

But obviously, there was disappointment when it was remelted / mixed. Just keep that in mind.

[felix]

Take a 10 pound sample and test for a slush stage. If temp very short between solid and liquid, call it lino for mixing purposes and be happy. ... felix

[Down South]

See, I am figuring wheelweights as worth a case of beer for a 5 gallon bucket. Where would linotype fit in on the "beer scale"?


One hell of a hangover the next day. :drinks:

If you can make a decent trade for it then grab it.

[243winxb]

What is the relative value of linotype $2.01 per lb. Retail. Used $1.00per lbs.

[Jumping Frog]

trade for or buy all he has of any alloy. Lead will get nothing but harder to find in the future!
That is why I am turning into a hoarder. He says he's got about 3,000 lbs of mixed stuff.

[jsizemore]

All kinds of scrap metal prices;

www.scrapindex.com/metal/usa/index.html