Lead analyzing service... what did you learn?

[357maximum]

and y'all laughed when i told ya i spent 8 days mixing and remixing 3,000 lbs of ww alloy.
i don't have 30 different 100 lbs batches stored in the same pile now.
i just have one big pile of alloy and i know what to expect from it.
and another one being ingoted and piled up for the next big batch.

No "all" of us laughed, some were proud of your dedication and merely smiled to ones self when they recognized their own issues/inflictions. Some of us simply feel the need to do that....and it works, the bigger the smelt the better. I would smelt all my coww into one huge smelt if I had the ingot moulds to keep up with emptying it. I have an old steel bathtub with the drain hole welded shut out in the back acreage that the deer drink from...I have thought many a time about smelting in it.....but I would need a bunch of ingot moulds to keep up when it comes time to empty it. For now I have to be content with 400lbs at a time I spose.



BTW....what did you do to piss off that gremlin in your avatar?

[Beau Cassidy]

I am certainly no expert but I would think one would get some separation of alloy if it took a long time to pour too large of a batch into ingots. For sure it would be murder to properly flux large batches. I will just stick with my 'lil 'ol 100 lb batches.

[imashooter2]

I am certainly no expert but I would think one would get some separation of alloy if it took a long time to pour too large of a batch into ingots. For sure it would be murder to properly flux large batches. I will just stick with my 'lil 'ol 100 lb batches.

Lead / tin / antimony alloys are like sugar in water. They don't "settle out."

[btroj]

A bit of tin will oxidize out but that is all. No "separation".

I think large batches are often done by doing a pot at a time and putting each batch of ingots in a pile. An equal number from each pile is then smelted together to even out the components. Tis would make for pretty uniform ingots throughout the entire batch.

[pcmacd]

Well, it was neat getting to see the various #s for lead composition, seeing trends in it, wondering how it shot, how each person ended up w/ that composition, etc. So the big question is, "Now that you know what is in your lead, what have you learned?"

Were you surprised to see some elements? Expecting it? Does it answer questions about how the lead casts? Does it raise more questions?

In the sample I had done 6 months ago I learned that there was a reason the lead was super runny, light weight, and sheeted when it cast... namely that it was highly alloyed in tin, antimony, and some copper. It also told me what I needed to turn it into something better.

So... What have you learned?

Sounds like you found some FOUNDRY TYPE, which is 15% tin, 23% antimony with a trace of copper. When used to alloy lead, you can sometimes see a purple cast to the bullet - the copper - according to Arthur Greene, one time metallurgist of Beverly Hills.