soft lead

[redriverhunter]

I was watching a u tube video, this guy said by not fluxing your lead and taking the suff off the top you can get soft lead. Can it be done?

[Winger Ed.]

The alloys might stratify or separate some but I really doubt it would be enough to have pure/soft Lead on top.
If anything, I'd think the lighter and harder stuff would tend to float on top of the more pure Lead.

There's some really good youtube videos that have helped me greatly,
and shortened my learning curve on several things. Others- not so much.


There's one on there with some zit picking teenager pouring water on top of a 1/2 full Lee pot.
As the water boils off, he has 'proved' that there is no such thing as the tinsel fairy we have come to know and love.

I suggested he try that by plunging a wet wooden paint stick into the pot.
He hasn't updated his findings...........

[rancher1913]

people post utube videos to make money, in order to attract viewers they do all kinds of wild stuff and gullible people believe its true. do some research on here and stay off utube and you will be far far better off.

[fredj338]

I was watching a u tube video, this guy said by not fluxing your lead and taking the suff off the top you can get soft lead. Can it be done?

Not really. You can reduce the tin/antimony a bit but you cant get pure from that.

[Dusty Bannister]

BNE did some testing on this and found it was bunk. Once in an alloy, it does not stratify and as it forms oxide, it contains all of the elements, not just one or two. Dipper casters like to continue to stir the pot, bottom pour casters might cover the melt with a layer of dry clean cat litter to stop the oxide from forming.

[farmbif]

I'm not expert but from what I know it is nearly impossible to change composition of an alloy or refining an alloy, to be clear to separate lead from other alloys, without getting it to something like 1650-1800 degrees and using some pretty specific quantities of additives such as silica, borax and other things.
things can be added to a lead alloy at much lower temperatures

[Hick]

Antimony and Tin form a chemical compound that dissolves in liquid lead-- like sugar dissolving in water. The compound does not float out. You cannot take them out by removing the oxides that float any more than you can get that sugar back out of the water. Tin and Antimony by themselves also dissolve in lead.

[Land Owner]

There are no dumb questions. You discovered some "stoopid stuff" that made your internal BS-o-meter go off and came here to ask the Lead Casting experts for their observations. Good for you! Asking the community that has experience is always the BEST way forward.

[GregLaROCHE]

I wish that was true. I have a bunch of range scrap that’s on the hard side. I would like to soften it to use in my muzzle loaders. Unfortunately, I couldn’t find a way to do it. Once the metals are alloyed, it’s almost impossible to separate them. You find both good and bad advice on YouTube.

[William Yanda]

I was watching a u tube video, this guy said by not fluxing your lead and taking the suff off the top you can get soft lead. Can it be done?

That "may" be true of his lead, perhaps he can show the final product is softer than what he started with. Is it true of yours? That is a different question.

[Dusty Bannister]

If this individual on U-tube is finding that his lead is softer after heating and skimming, review the part of lead alloys where you find that antimony in lead does in fact age harden over time. So yes, he will perform the hocus pocus and get a soft alloy, but that is temporary and will change in a few days or weeks.

[lightman]

I'm sure there are some good Utube videos but for the most part I'm not impressed. Some of them look like the guy is doing everything the hard way while others are down right dangerous. Melting lead while wearing a tank top, shorts and sandals .............. Really!!!

Someone once said that once you pour the Jack into the Coke you can't get it back! Same thing with lead alloys. At least not with the methods available to the average caster.

[GregLaROCHE]

You’ve got to be careful with what you find on YouTube, but it can really be helpful too. Videos have helped me a lot. What first comes to mind is help in understanding Chinese instructions, that have been translated into English. They may be in English, but those Asians don’t think like I do.

[triggerhappy243]

I wish that was true. I have a bunch of range scrap that’s on the hard side. I would like to soften it to use in my muzzle loaders. Unfortunately, I couldn’t find a way to do it. Once the metals are alloyed, it’s almost impossible to separate them. You find both good and bad advice on YouTube.

yellow sulfur......... powdered, layer it on top of the melt, let it finish the flames, then stir into the melt.

EDIT............ yes, do this outside, with a stiff breeze at your back. Dont sniff the fumes,
There are several threads on this subject in the stickies.

[Dusty Bannister]

Good grief! You could at least post the thread on this with the warnings about sulfur to prevent injury. This process usually refers only to removing zinc contamination. It might combine with small amounts of other metals like lead, etc. First off DO IT OUTSIDE !!!

https://castboolits.gunloads.com/sho...-Sulfur-Report

[Chaparral66]

BNE is 100% correct. You cannot scoop out the tin and antimony and then end up with pure lead. To help support that at work we have two wave solder machines, one running 63/37 tin lead and one running a lead-free alloy. Part of maintenance is to scrape off the dross from the top of the pot. We routinely send solder samples off for analysis and even after running the system for several years we have yet find that our alloys need adjusting due to dross removal.

The BS-o-meter should be pegging when someone suggests you are removing the tin or antimony at the pot temperatures we are running.