How to use linotype?

[brewer12345]

Some years ago I scored a couple hundred pounds of linotype mostly in raw lines of type. Can I simply add handfuls of type to the casting pot, or do I need to melt it down and flux first? If I need to smelt, do I just flux with beeswax or do I need something else?

[Walks]

Melt it down into small ingots.
That way you can weigh out just the right amount to add to your Lead alloy mix.

[brewer12345]

OK, but melt it down because it isn't usable in its raw form or for handiness?

[samari46]

Cut the linotype with pure lead. About 50/50, and use the lino as an enrichment alloy. Frank

[Dusty Bannister]

Personally, I weigh out the amount of strips needed to add to whatever base metal I have and just add that to the pot. After it melts, go ahead and flux and reduce and then skim and start casting. There is no real need to do anything else as any ink, dirt, oil or other debris merely melts or burns off as part of the melting process. For me, the strips and pieces are easier to get the desired weight rather than add chunks of a full ingot or pound ingots.

[brewer12345]

Personally, I weigh out the amount of strips needed to add to whatever base metal I have and just add that to the pot. After it melts, go ahead and flux and reduce and then skim and start casting. There is no real need to do anything else as any ink, dirt, oil or other debris merely melts or burns off as part of the melting process. For me, the strips and pieces are easier to get the desired weight rather than add chunks of a full ingot or pound ingots.

Perfect. I just did not want to gum up my pot. FWIW, I will be using it in modest amounts to harden up wheelweights for specific bullets. COWW or range lead plus a bit of tin in general gives me very satisfactory bullets for 38, 45, and the like.

[StuBach]

For the calibers you want you won’t need much antimony so adding in raw strip form should be fine. I’ve done that for years and it works great. Low pressure handgun loads (45 and 38) don’t need much hardness to perform well as long as barrel fit is good and you use a decent lube or PC.

Use the alloy calculator to make it easy on yourself to figure how much Lino to add and shoot for around BhN hardness of 12 and you should be very happy. If shooting 9mm/40 you might up it to 14-16. Those have been where I generally play with good success.

[winelover]

For my usage, three parts pure to one part lino, is all I need. Air cooled, after three weeks, tests at 14-15 BHN on a LBT tester. Whenever I need harder alloy, I will heat treat the bullets.

Winelover

[ABJ]

Brewer, It depends on how OCD you are, but I melt it down so the different types of type metal are blended and uniform. Some of mine are spacers and are very soft. Others are real hard and some are medium hard. Lino and mono mixed I guess. I use a metal measuring spoon and pour out little coins or wafers and add x amount to my ingots depending on what type of ingot I am alloying. I use the alloy calculator to determine how many to add.
Yes it is more work, but it keeps my alloy consistent.
Tony

[GregLaROCHE]

Make sure your ingots aren’t too big unless you are planning on casting some really hard boolits. A little bit goes a long way. Be careful not to over heat it.

[Don1357]

For my usage, three parts pure to one part lino, is all I need. Air cooled, after three weeks, tests at 14-15 BHN on a LBT tester. Whenever I need harder alloy, I will heat treat the bullets.

Winelover

This right here. It would be as hard as anybody would want it, beyond that you get bullets that start shattering on impact with anything hard. If you push into magnum territory you need to start using gas checks.

There was a time in which BHN 11 was a hard cast bullet...

[GregLaROCHE]

A little spice is nice. Too much and you loose the flavor.

[kevin c]

Three to one pure to Lino would give you 3% Sb, 1% Sn, pretty much the nominal Sb content of COWW plus tin, of similar BHN (11-12), and can cover a fair range of applications.

Lino certainly will be more homogeneous if melted together, and stores and ships a bit easier as ingots, but may be less sellable as it is less identifiable. That last goes less here on the S&S if the seller has a good reputation.

[David2011]

Should you ever want to sell some of the Linotype it’s better to have it in its original form. That way there’s no question that it’s what you say it is. It’s also easier to weigh and add exactly the amount you want from lines of type. That’s how I do it.

[fredj338]

It is a total waste of time & effort to melt down type metals, I dont understand why guys insist. Just add the appropriate weight to your pot, stir with a wooden stick, no add'l work needed. Type metal is pretty clean unless you got stuff that is stored with other crud.

[Petrol & Powder]

Some of my Linotype is still in the original 20+ pound pigs with the eye cast into one end. So that has to be cut up and melted down into smaller ingots just so that it's manageable.

If I had it in the form of type, i would simply weigh out the amount I needed and add it to the pot.

When I cast linotype into 1 pound ingots, I stamp the ingots to identify them. The large ingots are clearly linotype, so there's no need to store them in a different form.

[John Boy]

Linotype is:

4% tin
12% antimony
84 % lead

If I mix one pound of lino with one pound of plumbers lead, according to my calculations, the resulting two pounds of alloy will be:

2% tin
6% antimony
92% lead,

This would give an approximate BNH of 12-13 "according to calculations".

[bangerjim]

I leave lino in it's native strip format and just break/cut off hunks as I need them. No need wasting time and fuel re-melting an already pristine alloy into ingots!!!!! Unless the strips have been exposed to some chemical that will discolor it, it is perfectly OK to leave it and not re-melt/flux it! Absolutely NOT NEEDED.

And like said, it is VERY easy to prove it is real un-melted LINO if you ever want to sell it. I would NOT EVER buy some home brew ingots someone says is lino! The type strips prove it.

banger

[LAGS]

All of my Lino Alloy is home made from raw materials.
I cast it into several size ingots so it is easier to store and have sizes at hand depending on what I want to do with them.
The 1lb ingots are set aside to be added to other materials like range scrap , pure lead or SOWW.
The COWW's only get a little Tin added to them and rarely Lino.
But I do cast Rifle Boolits and some Magnum handgun Boolits with the pure Lino Alloy , but not the ones I use for hunting.
But in my situation , it is better to alloy the raw materials into Lino Alloy so I don't have three piles of material to store.
And then I have a Known starting point to make other alloys as they are needed or needed to be hardened up.
It is sort of like buying Roto Metals Super Hard alloy that others buy for the same reason.

[Burnt Fingers]

Linotype is:

4% tin
12% antimony
84 % lead

If I mix one pound of lino with one pound of plumbers lead, according to my calculations, the resulting two pounds of alloy will be:

2% tin
6% antimony
92% lead,

This would give an approximate BNH of 12-13 "according to calculations".

The alloy calculator gives a BHN of 14.7

I use 5:1 pure/lino with a bit of added tin for a 96-2-2 alloy that comes in around 11 BHN which works for 95% of my needs.