linotype question

[mizzouri1]

I have sfrb full of linotype for alloying.

do I need to smelt and flux it first?

or can I just weigh it and add to my casting pot?

many thanks

[ioon44]

If the linotype is clean I just add it to my casting pot and flux.

[lightman]

Either way will work fine. Most members leave their type metal in its original form for identification purposes. If its clean I weigh out what I want to add to the pot.

[mizzouri1]

Thats the answer I was hoping for, many thanks

I have yet to cast a single boolit, I am trying to get all my ducks in a row but it won't be long now.

I would like to give a BIG THANK YOU to all on cast boolits for all of their help and info. mizzouri

[bangerjim]

I TOTALLY agree to leave it in it's original form. Proves it is REAL lino and it is also easy to break or cut off amounts to add to your mix.

I have many dozens of small boxes full of 12-14# of strips in each box. Stores very easy in boxes. Being in that form, it will be easy to sell if that every is a need. In ingots, the buyer just has to trust the seller for the content of the ingots. Not good!

banger-j

[R8ed]

Whats sfrb?

I have sfrb full of linotype for alloying.

do I need to smelt and flux it first?

or can I just weigh it and add to my casting pot?

many thanks

[fishhawk]

sfrb = small flat rate box

[fredj338]

Many want to melt their Lino into ingots, but I can never figure why. It's already in useable frm, you can easily weigh it & add what you like. I've never seen dirty Lino. Just add it as is.

[SteveS]

A while ago I bought 50lbs. of lino that was filthy. I didn't want to put it in my Lee pot so I cleaned it up and made ingots. It's true that the 1lb. ingots are nowhere near as convenient but it sure makes pretty ingots. I have no intention of selling any but it's pretty easy to tell the difference between my wheel weigh and lino ingots.

[Dusty Bannister]

Mark them now. You will never regret it. If you do not, you will.

[Mitch]

I agree no need to melt into ingots.i usualy make up 50 to 100lbs of alloy at a time.jus weight verything out make melt,then make ingots of my alloy.as mentioned by Dusty make them right away no mater what alloy it is you will never rember lol I don't.I use letter and nuber stamps from harborfrieght.Ink is ok but rubs off to easy

[RogerDat]

I figure the time to melt type metal is when it is getting made into a boolit casting alloy. That might be ingots of some recipe that calls for linotype rather than right in the casting pot. I see some advantage to having a few pots worth of ingots that are ready mixed for casting. Making those I would flux the linotype. But for the most part want to keep stuff separate so I can use it as needed. Who knows if one will want to cast that linotype as Hardball, Lyman #2 or to sweeten some designer recipe that you found works perfect for your specific firearm and load.

I think because I get a lot scrap metal and WW's I tend to want to combine the assorted scrap into "known" useful batches of decent size rather than having a bunch of small stacks of this that and the other. Would rather have 30# in ingot form of something that is gunned as being 2.5% Sn than a bunch of small scrap a few of which are 10% Sn. Better still would be use that 30# to make 100# of 3/3/94 that is ready to go.

Type metal in raw form, WW's, plain lead, and solder or pewter are always kept separate until made into an alloy that I will use. I just combine the scrap batches to mix with the known to make those alloys in advance of casting so I'm storing something ready to use (or tweak) rather than lots of assorted scrap. Making those ready to use there is some fluxing done. Not everyone does things this way but it works for me. Not everyone does that much assorted scrap but I rarely walk away from something that seems "pretty good" at the scrap yard anymore than many of us can walk past a lead WW on the ground in a parking lot without picking it up.

It does sort of explain the shrine to the Lead Alloy Calculator in the garage. At least to you forum members if not the wife. Shrine has genuine beeswax candles I might add.

[SteveS]

Mark them now. You will never regret it. If you do not, you will.

I do have them marked but only with a Sharpie. Stamping with an L might be a good idea.

[bangerjim]

Don't rely on sharpie's for permanent ID. Time and temperature take their toll.

Get a set of those cheeeeeeepo metal stamps at HF....they have 4 or 5 different font sizes. I have them all! Stamp a 1 or 2 letter code in the ingots and WRITE the code down somewhere!!!!!! (don't even ask!)

[RogerDat]

Some past discussions lead one to believe that common labeling/stamping codes are:

• L for Linotype or F foundry, M monotype.
• Pb for plain.
• P for pewter.
• WW for clip on wheel weights.
• SO for stick on wheel weights.

These seem to get used most, sometimes with a sharpie, sometimes with letter stamps, or even with one of those vibrating engravers for marking valuables. Seem to recall in a recent thread one person just used a straight line chisel to make the letters |_ for an L \ /\ / for a W which if you are making fewer but bigger bread loaf size ingots might not be too much work. Lot of difference between marking 4 25# ingots from a 100 lb. pot and marking 100 ingots at 1# from a 100 lb. pot.

Solder is the odd one. People do different things some just put the percent of tin as in 40 to show it is 40% tin or 40/60 (or as 40-60) to show the 40% tin 60% lead in order to designate that it is a binary alloy rather than one with tin, antimony, and lead.

Also don't discount labeling a container inside slip of paper (or scrap wood, I am not only cheap but too lazy to fetch paper) and on the outside a sticker or tape. Do it all the time for coffee cans and 5 gallon buckets with a bunch of muffin ingots. Simple "100# Pb" inside and on a piece of tape on the side of the bucket works for bulk storage.

[Le Loup Solitaire]

Instead of buying metal stamps you can use an ordinary screwdriver to make numbers or letters by tapping the driver with a hammer, and/or any other info you want included on the ingot(s). Its slower but works just as well. As for Lino...its pretty hard stuff with a brinnell of around 22 and a weight less than alloys that are softer. LLS

[hydraulic]

I use a hinge pin from a door hinge and a hammer. It makes a nice little round indentation on the muffins and I keep a key posted in my loading room wall: no mark is coww, one mark is pure lead, two marks are range berm lead, three marks is I have no idea what it is.

[bangerjim]

Instead of buying metal stamps you can use an ordinary screwdriver to make numbers or letters by tapping the driver with a hammer, and/or any other info you want included on the ingot(s). Its slower but works just as well. As for Lino...its pretty hard stuff with a brinnell of around 22 and a weight less than alloys that are softer. LLS

Those HF stamps are dirt cheap!!!!!! So easy to use. But I guess you can use a screwdriver for a chisel. Or a six gun handle for a hammer.

One good tap and you have a PERFECT letter or number rather than wasting time making a 7 segment-like letter/number. I stamp hundreds and hundreds of ingots. The cheap HF stamps are a no-brainer for me. I hold 2 or 3 stamps together to form the code I want (similar to Roger's code above) and whack away.

Fast.......permanent.......legible.

banger-j

[Defcon-One]

Many want to melt their Lino into ingots, but I can never figure why. It's already in useable frm, you can easily weigh it & add what you like. I've never seen dirty Lino. Just add it as is.

It is fun to melt stuff. That is why!


I agree. Leave it in original form and use it as needed! Also, the spacer strips may be a different alloy than the printing strips with wording applied. You didn't say if you had any spacers, but now you know.

[deepskyridge]

I use a couple of mini muffin tins for smelting pewter and lino, comes out about the size of a 50 cent piece. Easy to weigh and add to a pot. I agree about the HF stamps, they work great.

Gary