Hi, first post.. names Ryan.
I picked up some lead from a local recycler some of which is this star shaped wire. Very ductile doesnt feel as heavy as it should I'm wondering if anyone can identify it before I throw it in my lead pot?
Thanks in advance.
Welcome aboard Ryan. No idea on the lead.
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Not heavy?
Could it possibly be some other alloy rather than lead?
Lead is not the only soft metal.
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Sure looks likes stained glass came to me.
Nix that, looking at the photo closer you can see the star shaped cross section.
No idea. If it doesn't seem heavy enough to be lead I wouldn't want it.
Wow Thanks for the quick repies . I decided to melt some. Threw in one bullet made from fishing weights. sSo it melted about the same temp as the bullet and it took surprising quite a few wires to fill up the 10lb pot l let my lee 457-500 mold sit in the lead for a few then casted one. It went frosty "frostier than red lead with oxide on top of the pot" it did not want to cool, released from the mold on first cast, looked "fuzzy" and was 9% lighter. OTher note as the pot filled up i noticed it was kind of grainy on the surface when i mixed it back in it would go smooth and but seemed to sludge on top until i turned it up a little more than normal. Oh and the spout ran like a leaky faucet more than it has thus far.
Last edited by Disinformant; 01-09-2014 at 01:24 AM.
It is a very specific alloy with its main ingredient as "mystery metal"sorry couldn't resist.
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Looks like Stained Glass Window maker's "came" which is the sticks they put between the glass pieces to solder it together. Should be about pure lead but there is some out there now that is mostly TIN (nontoxic for the window lickers doncha know) and that is worth $6 a pound at least!
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I guess i need to play with some known alloys so i can tell ... the pure lead fishing weights cast a bit different the clumpiness that makes its way back into the pot makes me think theres antimony in it. But i really dont know guess im gonna have to locate some wheel weights and melt for comparison. I put 1/2 lb of pewter in there and it did nothing for fill out. REading on came they do put antimony in it. Its odd that it would be a star shape. Oh I dont know who started the tip of using synthetic 2 cycle oil on sprue plates but thanks it works amazingly well.
it is not for stained glass as there is no channel for the glass to sit in, I would guess a solder for possibly copper roofing, or possibly pieces of lead alloy anodes. do a google search on "star shaped lead solder" I found a company called mayco industries (http://www.maycoindustries.com/anodes.htm) here is a link to there page on star shaped anodes. though they show 16 point stars it also states that other shapes are available. In my humble opinion I would try to more closely identify the alloy it is made up of, before I introduced it into my bullet alloy.
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Could it possibly be solder?? What I am thinking is old phone company solder when cable was lead sheathed. I have found small scraps of stuff like that before. JW
I have no experience with this stuff, but I would bet on solder...
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I have some of that (haven't used it yet)and some of mine are stamped solder eu... (something unreadable). hope it helps cause thats all I got!
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Stained glass window lead.
If you made boolits from that stuff, can you compare their weights to lead boolits from the same mold? Might provide a clue. Tin is about 1/3 lighter than lead.
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Back in the '60's I did a science project that involved a large radiation shield, became a "Lead hound"! I got several hundred pounds of that star shaped wire that was eutectic lead/tin mix (67/33) and it was exactly like yours. It came from a body shop, used in the days before fiberglass to repair body damage in cars.
Steve
If it's a eutectic solder 63Sn/37Pb, then melting it with a good thermometer, then while cooling and watching it 'freeze' will tell you alot.
From Wikipedia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SolderTin/lead solders, also called soft solders, are commercially available with tin concentrations between 5% and 70% by weight. The greater the tin concentration, the greater the solder’s tensile and shear strengths. Alloys commonly used for electrical soldering are 60/40 Tin/lead (Sn/Pb) which melts at 370 °F or 188 °C and 63/37 Sn/Pb used principally in electrical/electronic work.
The 63/37 is a eutectic alloy, which:
>has the lowest melting point (183 °C or 361.4 °F) of all the tin/lead alloys; and
>the melting point is truly a point — not a range.
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Heres what Ive gathered so far it frosts more than pure lead looks almost crystalline and if I dont let it cool enough the sprues look like they grew fur where they separate from boolit. And its 9% lighter than pure lead. Oh and adding tin did nothing.
We have a stained glass company in our small town, and the used leading looks just like what he has in the bucket. Sometimes you find pieces of new in with the old scrap, but, that's what it looks like to me. If that is what it is, it's very nearly pure.
"eutectic solder"Thats the name! I had a brain fart and couldn't think of it! Thanks
I t most difinitly not window came! Take a close look at the ends, there is no glass channel but is five pointed star shape.
It's not the years in your life that count. It's the life in your years (Abe Lincoln)
"A free people ought not only to be armed and disciplined, but they should have sufficient arms and ammunition to maintain a status of independence from any who might attempt to abuse them, which would include their own government.” George Washington
Solder that is made of 63% tin and 37% lead. Eutectic solder is also known as 63/37 solder and is often preferred because it goes directly from a solid to liquid state when melted.
http://www.toolingu.com/definition-6...ic-solder.html
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