How useful is Linotype?

[drfroglegs]

I have a source for up to 500lb of Linotype for $1/lb.

I have a pretty good collection of pure lead, some antimony lead and some pewter (most purchases here).

If you had the chance, would you get a hundred pounds or so of Linotype? $1/lb seems like a really good deal!

[Menner]

drfroglegs
Where are you in Maryland I would be interested in 1-2 hundred lbs of Lino if close by I am in southern De.
Tony

[drfroglegs]

I am in Columbia, but the lead is in Baltimore.

I plan on picking up about 200lbs, so there should be plenty left.

PM me if you're still interested and I'll give you some info.

[rockrat]

I would buy it all if it was close to me!!

[Dusty Bannister]

I find Linotype very useful and probably will become even more useful in the future as the COWW supply is depleted. I am seeing scrap lino at up to 2.00 a pound so would certainly buy all I could afford at the given price. It will come in handy in the future for various types of shooting. 1 lino and 1 pure lead makes magnum alloy (2-6-92) 1 lino and 3 pure lead makes very good mild pistol loads at (1-3-96). If you buy it, it will be there for you if you need it for whatever purpose in the future. Good find. Dusty

[baogongmeo]

If you could buy all 500lbs and sell 300lbs for $2 per you would probably pay for the trip AND end up with 200lbs or so free. Ding Ding Ding Winner!

[Mk42gunner]

For $1/lb, I would buy all I could afford.

I don't think I would be casting any boolits from straight linotype, but it would be a great way to get tin and antimony into a mixture.

If nothing else, it doesn't eat much and you could almost always sell some for more than that.

Robert

[FISH4BUGS]

It is the magic ingredient of casting. Linotype hardens up lead so you can make virtually any recipe you want with it. Start with pure lead and add lino and go from there.
At $1 per pound it is a real deal. I'd buy every pound I could afford at that price.

[bangerjim]

A real steal at a buck! I bought all I could get at that price 2 years ago.....several hundred pounds.

Excellent alloy to mix with!!!!

Get all of it. Raid your wife's cookie jar if necessary to ge the money. $500 is nothing for that alloy. You will not be sorry if you do any amount of casting now and in the years to come

banger

[mdi]

Yep, linotype is really useful for home casters and most will pay a buck a pound for it. Jes wonderin', what shape is it in? Chunks, bars or big blocks? I'm on a budget so I would only go 75-80 lbs.

[mto7464]

A buddy of mine that worked at a news paper office told me last week he knew where a pig was hidden in the ceiling of the news paper office. Now if only I could get in there to get it.
Yup buy it all.

[FISH4BUGS]

Over the years I have grabbed every little bit of linotype I could touch. I have 8 25lb pigs (at .75 per pound 10 years ago) and many 5 gallon buckets of letters and spacers (bought some and traded for most). I have probably 250 lbs of the stuff.
Get the linotype. Drive there and pick it up. It is a once-in-a-blue-moon chance to score linotype.
As one that is a hopeless lead scrounger, I must tell you that you would be crazy if you didn't get this.

[tygar]

I would buy any you don't want. I'm in VA.

I buy all the lino I can get & usually use it straight with a little soft added for 223s & add to soft or WWs to make #2 for most shooting in rifle & magnum pistol. Good stuff

But again, I will BUY what you don't want. By the way, I have been buying lino/mono/foundry for $1.60# m/l shipped, not 2$, & I have bought a lot.

[drfroglegs]

Well I just got home. WHAT A DEAL!

I ended up getting 200lbs and wish I had more money. The Linotype is obviously straight from the press. He had TWO 55gal drums full to the top. I took out my 200lbs (probably 250, he was very generous) and I bet the drum went down maybe 6". I bet there is a solid TON of Linotype that man has.

I PMed the people who asked me about it. It is very nice Linotype. Most of the strips still have words on them!

[Mk42gunner]

Sure wish I was within reasonable driving distance.

Robert

[fryboy]

3/4 of a drum weighs in around 1200-ish pounds

[mto7464]

If I were you I would keep this honey hole to yourself and get back there often and buy more. Maybe offer him a little less for a larger quantity.

[drfroglegs]

If I were you I would keep this honey hole to yourself and get back there often and buy more. Maybe offer him a little less for a larger quantity.

I was convinced that 200lbs was all I could possibly ever need, but you guys are making me think twice!


Would any of you have reservations about melting it down into ingots rather than leaving it in letter form. I don't know if that hurts resell value at all to have it in ingots.

I plan on getting XRF done on it so I will know the exact composition down the road if I was to resell it. These ingots fit a lot better in ammo cans than the letters fit in buckets, and they take up a lot less space in ingots.

[baogongmeo]

I don't know your age but as time goes by there will be less and less scrap print shop lino available and people will be forced to buy what they require from the metal vendors with their higher prices. You are already buying this considerably below market value... I'll say buy it all even if you don't think that you'll need it, it'll make you more $$$ than the same amount in CDs. Ten years down the road who knows what the price of lino will be but almost certainly it will be quite a bit higher.

Oh, and for resale the letter form would be preferred IMO.

[RogerDat]

I was convinced that 200lbs was all I could possibly ever need, but you guys are making me think twice!


Would any of you have reservations about melting it down into ingots rather than leaving it in letter form. I don't know if that hurts resell value at all to have it in ingots.

I plan on getting XRF done on it so I will know the exact composition down the road if I was to resell it. These ingots fit a lot better in ammo cans than the letters fit in buckets, and they take up a lot less space in ingots.

The 200 lbs. you think you need is probably 400 lbs. you will really use and since the printing industry no longer uses this lead it means buying at scrap prices is going to be less and less likely. Rotometals wants over $3 per pound on sale. People on the forum will generally pay around $2 per pound for it in its raw letter form.

Melt only in small batches to use as you cast if it has letters. With letters in strips it is "proof of alloy" if you are trying to sell or trade. No doubt that is linotype. Be like melting down known silver coins, everyone knows what a silver half dollar is and that it has exactly a certain amount of silver, melted it is just a lump of metal. Bad move.

If I was you I would sort the spacer strips from the letters, melt just the spacer strips into one big batch. Or multiple batches that you re-mix the ingots between batches so that all the ingots are the same well mixed alloy THAT lead you want to get XRF tested to know what it is. Shops used all sorts of stuff for spacers. I have some batches come in under linotype in alloy but also had some spacers that were 1.5 times more Sn and Sb than lino. So you want to mix well and get tested. Can plug the exact alloy into the custom line at the bottom of the alloy calculator to use in recipes.

If you can go back and get more. If you have to wait until payday or something then contact the person and strike a deal to purchase a certain amount on payday. I doubt you will again see hundreds of pounds of linotype at $1 per pound in your lifetime unless you are very lucky or keep looking a long time. I would not in too much of a hurry to share until I had eaten my fill of the score. I may be a nut but I have hit up my savings and taken the day off of work to nail a small barrel the couple of times I found them. On the other hand that means I have a good supply and if someone is selling something I really want I can sell some or trade linotype for it. Linotype under the bench IS money in the bank.

I should mention that sometimes I sit in the garage on a folding chair staring at my lead stash and muttering "my precious" in a way that sort of scares the wife.