Arrrgh!

[docone31]

Well, it happened.
My melts are in ingots. I kept them seperate. I thought I had my ingots for the pure lead. Well, now I do not know what is what. They all look the same, and are about the same hardness.
I have two distinctly different alloys. They all look the same when cool.
Boy.
My mind is slipping.
It now looks like I will have to make a blend of all of them. I did keep my pigs of pure seperate though. Only my ingots are mixed up.
Arrrrgh.

[sqlbullet]

what is the alloy on the non-pure stuff?

Oh, and it has nothing to do with the mind. I have come close many times to mixing them up.

[Springfield]

That's why my wheelweights are cast in Lyman moulds and make one big 6 lb ingot, my harder rifle alloy is in lyman 1 lb ingots, my pure lead is in 2 lb Cast Boolits ingots, my 60/40 lead/tin is in 1 lb Cast boolits ingots, and my regular BP alloy is in 1.7 lb ingots from moulds I bought here from anachronism. You need more ingot moulds!

[docone31]

I usually keep it seperate, and I punch it.
However, I was into muzzle loaders for a while, so I put it aside.
I have a batch of crud in my melt that is just miserable to work with. I do not know what it is.
I had been blending it into my melt for casting at 20 wheel weight, to 1. Both ingots of the same size. With that blend, it worked real well.
All the tests came out the same with them.
The ball bearing test, nail depth test, dropping test, hitting them together. Same results, same sound.
It is just when they are molten and cast, the ones from the crud shatter, and do not pour well.
When molten, the colour is blue on top. Typical of lead. It just isn't.
I am just going to guess and try a batch when it is time to cast for my paper patching.

[lwknight]

I resemble that!!
I got a set of 1/4" stencils at Northern tool for about $30.00
Since the bulk of my alloy for storage is 5 to 8 pound ingots,its not a big deal to stamp
the alloy onto it. Marks-O-Lot works too but, over time fades or gets rubbed out.
I keep the code simple. WW=clip on wheel weights Pb99=stick on WWs Pb999= pure
HB=92-2-6 etc
Make your own code that you will remembeer what it is.

[SPRINGFIELDM141972]

I know the feeling and it sucks. I had a bunch of high tin 60/40 ingots and a bunch of babbit stacked up but seperate on the carport. Then the guys painting the house decided to move it without asking and piled it into a single pile.

Everett

[fredj338]

A Sharpie works, so does a cold chisel. I just went w/ diff molds. Pure goes in 1# Lyman, ww in a 3# channel mold & range scrap in a custom 2#+ mold from GLockpost. So I always know what I have & need to smelt when low. You can get a good idea w/ a Cabintree tester.

[Kskybroom]

+1 lwknight.. I use letters and numbers. Make yourself a code. BUT WRITE IT DOWN. Before I forgot.. Dont AX......

[zomby woof]

I keep mine in labeled 5 gallon buckets

[hiram]

I have 3/8 letter stamps.

I stamp lead L
linotype O
wheelweights W
range lead R

[303Guy]

Well, now I do not know what is what.Hee hee hee!:mrgreen:

Forgive my mirth!:lol:

I now have about five different alloys in three calibers (two of which are 303 Brits for two different rifles) and several different papers and wrappings and I don't have the faintest recollection which is which!:bigsmyl2:
Ummm .... That's supposed to be a silly grin!:mrgreen:

I have said before I'm a scatterbrain!

Oh well. At least I had fun casting and wrapping them and actually getting my mold system to work properly!:roll:

[lwknight]

I wanted 3/8" stencils but, the price is forbidding.

[evan price]

I use an old *** lockback knife and scratch a letter in the ingots after I tip them out..

"W" = Wheelweights
"R" = Range Scrap
"L" = Lino
"S" = Stickons
"B" = Babitt
"T" = Tin Solder
"P" = Pure Plumbers lead

I also weigh each ingot to the nearest 1/4 pound - my molds make about 4lb ingots- and make a line on the edge to indicate if it is PLUS or MINUS the 4lb nominal. Makes it easy to total up how many pounds I have in the strategic inventory.

[WHITETAIL]

:arrow:When I started I used a simple ax
to mark my lead.
A single mark is plane lead.
A W marked with a ax is WW.
Then as I got more lead I used
a chisel.
Then the marks were as each batch
I did got a new number.
III IIII V and so on.
They never fade or rub off.[smilie=w:
__________________
Beer is proof that God loves us and wants us to be happy!
Ben Franklin

[Von Gruff]

I use nail boxes to store the ingots seperate to each other and any mixes I individually mark on an ingot in that particular heap under the bench. So far no one has seen a need to re organise my gunroom. I have different pot, (old stainless kitchen pots that are distuingishable from each other) for each of the alloys so I never have to wonder what was left in the pot.

Von Gruff.

[Jim]

drop them on a concreat floor the alloy will ding when dropped the pure will go thud. steve k
Works for me!
I usually keep it seperate, and I punch it. (From Docone31)
That works for me, too. I use an old solid steel carpenter's chisel.
L - lead
T - tin
A - mixed alloy, ready to cast

[cbrick]

I've been hearing for many years that you shouldn't mark ingots with a marks-A-lot because it will fade out. I have always marked my ingots this way and my oldest ingots (15-20 years?) are still very clearly marked and not in the slightest faded. I do store them inside so oxidation is minimal and the ink isn't in the sun.

How long is this fading supposed to take?

Rick

[tomf52]

Electric engraving pencil. Fast, easy, and never rubs off. About $10 at Sears.

[Marlin Hunter]

Electric engraving pencil. Fast, easy, and never rubs off. About $10 at Sears.

+1

http://ep.yimg.com/ca/I/dremel-store_2084_6007268

[zuke]

I picked up letter stamp's, then de3cided what da hey? so now all I use are straight WW.