Unknown ingot

[Acorn]

I bought this 20+ bar at a gun show. Unknown alloy. The guys buddy say he thinks it’s Lino but he wasn’t sure.
Anybody have any idea what it might be?

[Gobeyond]

Looks like it almost says it on the bar. Do a pencil hardness test on it.

[dondiego]

Might be auto body lead.

[Dusty Bannister]

The form is correct for many linotype ingots. The color might just be crud collected over time but is suspect. Look at the exposed surface formed when the ingot was poured. It should have raised wrinkles or ridges at random locations. If one of the ears cast on the end have been broken off, the clean surface should appear as a very fine powder appearance, but will not transfer dust. It has tiny reflective facets in the surface. If you break the ingot, it should be brittle, shine a light across the fractured surface and you will see lines not unlike growth rings on a cross cut of a tree. If you still have not figured it out, hold the ingot by one end and smack it with a hammer. It should clang like old cast iron. If it thuds, you do NOT have lino. Good luck

[imashooter2]

Hard to say what it is, but it is cast in a standard printer's linotype mold.

[ioon44]

I have a printer's linotype mold, I could pour anything in it and call it linotype.

[wmitty]

If you can accurately weigh it in air on a balance and then measure its volume by submerging in water and determine its density, you should be able to determine whether it is Lino…

[Acorn]

Well it clangs when whacked with a hammer.
I had a cheap set(Chinese) of pencils. I tried scratching the surface but none would scribe the surface. But, I hadn’t shaped them into a flat chisel shape, just a point. They all crumbled.

[bowfin]

The Linotype Parts Company was branded as "Star Parts Inc."
https://www.circuitousroot.com/artif...tar/index.html

My guess is that you have an ingot of linotype or monotype.

[HARLOWPARKENFARKER]

Yes, it is Linotype. The, "Loop," looking form at the right end of the bar is for hanging the bar in the Linotype melting pot in a Linotype typesetting machine. As the operator types the text on his keyboard, the machine casts the finished type plate for the printing press. As the molten Linotype in the, "Pot," goes down, the hanging mechanism lowers the bar into the liquid to allow more solid Linotype to melt and keep the pot at optimum pouring capacity. The only, "Gotcha," in the process is that the used Linotype plates are remelted and poured into the mould for this bar after the printing process is completed. Because some of the Tin and/or Antimony is oxidized during the remelting process, the liquid remelt is assayed and some more Tin and/or Antimony may be added by means of, Linotype Toning Metal, small, about five pounds of very high Tin and Antimony content to bring the alloy up to specs.

[Dusty Bannister]

And if you come across any of this Linotype Toning metal or Linotype plus in ingot form, this is a thread where that has been discussed and it can be referred to by other names.

https://castboolits.gunloads.com/sho...-Plus-Material

[Acorn]

Cool. I guess I didn’t do bad for $20.

[Dusty Bannister]

You did very good if it does prove to be Linotype. You will have a better idea when you break the ingot the first time. But sounds very promising at this point.

[Acorn]

I guess I’ll attempt to break off one of the ears tomorrow and see

[Dusty Bannister]

If you support each end of the ingot and strike in the middle with a heavy hammer/sledge hammer, you will get a better view of the "grain" rings I mentioned earlier in the thread. Breaking off an ear will only show the grain size and reflective facets. You will probably have to break it up anyway to get it in a melting pot. I suggest that you lay an old towel on each half of the ingot to slow down the chunks if the fly when you break the ingot. This might prevent a 10 pound piece of lead jumping into your face.