I like to know what to use in place of lino lead when mixing with orther lead when you can not get lino lead . WW is hard to get since it is being taken up and soft lead is the only thing to get and like to know what to use to mix with the soft lead to make #2 alloy .
Thank you
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You can still get lino, but you have to get it from a foundry or metal supplier.
Ckeck out a place called RotoMetals http://www.rotometals.com
They sell all of the things you are looking for like metal to make #2 alloy.
Another option is to look on EBay for bearing babbit. However be cautious, when dealing with some of the people on there you may not get what you pay for. Also be cautious of the price. In some cases it may be cheaper to buy metal from Rotometal than to pay for what they have on Ebay.
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I would suggest that you visit with Bill Ferguson who is one of the sponsors of this forum. His add will appear at the top of the log in page. But if you wish to contact Bill direct, try
Since you have soft lead, Bill may be able to help you with an enrichment alloy so you can just add to what you have and end up with your Lyman #2. He may also recommend an alternative, such as 2-6-92 which is considered a magnum alloy.
He is a good man to listen to because in addition to providing metals for the caster, he is a teacher as well. Duane Mellenbruch Topeka, KS
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Excellent point Duane! I almost forgot about Bill. Thanks for pointing him out.
And he gives a discount to CBA members! A good reason to become a CBA member!
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Thank you all for your help I just email Bill.Your help is maken thing alittle easy. I know what you mean about buying on ebay .
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You can also check the Cast Boolits site , sometimes someone there is selling lino
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Tie down bars are close to what some call lino even though lino has no magic number. I have 4 of them 44 lb each. This Country is full of metal surplus need to look.
Stephen Perry
Angeles BR:fire
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Tie down bars are close to what some call lino even though lino has no magic number. This Country is full of metal surplus need to look.
Lino has no magic number? Do you mean the formula? We did have a lot of metal surplus until China went on a binge and sucked the US nearly dry last year. Maybe you did not see lead at very high prices. I sure did, as did most of the other members active on these lists. Duane
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Pat
Duane questions me too much but I'll talk to you. Tie down bars are for keeping BIG machinery from moving or dancing down the floor while in use. Like I said I have 4 at 44 lb each. They are in the linotype range of metal composition. Duane reads too many newspapers about shipping metal to China, we send what we want to not what we need. The US is still full of metal processed and not processed. I work in Deserts that have all the metal and trace metal we want if you know how to extract it.
Stephen Perry
Angeles BR:fire
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Pat
Duane questions me too much but I'll talk to you. Duane reads too many newspapers about shipping metal to China, we send what we want to not what we need. The US is still full of metal processed and not processed. I work in Deserts that have all the metal and trace metal we want if you know how to extract it.Duane was asking about the SCRAP metal that has been sold. You address raw minerals. I guess there was a misunderstanding. I guess my questions are not appreciated? Duane
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Duane
Your talking in newspaper generalities that most know about scrap. I don't mind your questions but one at a time is better for me to respond to, kinda like Howard Cossel would be fine.
Stephen Perry
Angeles BR:fire
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Thanks for the explanation since I never knew such an animal existed. In the last sentence of your post are you recommending that we learn how to mine our own metals? I don't think Duane asked anything out of line since I had the same question about what you meant by the words magic numbers.
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Duane
Your talking in newspaper generalities that most know about scrap. I don't mind your questions but one at a time is better for me to respond to, kinda like Howard Cossel would be fine.
Ah no, I am speaking about real instances of where scrap dealers are being paid a heck of a lot more by refiners and refusing to sell back to the public. Now these may not be Nation wide shortages, but they certainly do mean that the average shooter is at a disadvantage when it comes to being able to pursue his casting hobby.
I do not stand and watch them load the boats and do have to rely upon the media no matter how inaccurate or slanted it might be. But I also have looked to see who the biggest scrap metal buyers are, and at THAT TIME, the leader was China.
As to the additional questions (more than one at a time) I am sorry, but no one else seems to object. When a statement is made that is confusing, it is nice to get it clarified as soon as possible. We do happen to have an international membership. I have free time early and late in the day. So I am able to spend a lot of time on the various forums and lists.
I make an effort to post a PM if I believe that my questions or critical comments might make a member uncomfortable. You personally have seen that in the past. It is a nice practice to follow. It makes it much easier to clear up any potential misunderstandings. And it has kept me from looking the fool. Worth trying. Duane
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Another option is to look on EBay for bearing babbit.
Be careful of babbit metal, Jeff. There are about ten standard specs. Some contain too much copper which will make casting impossible. There's one type that has 8% copper. Problem is you don't know which you've got. I once had a 200lb batch ruined by one big babbit metal ingot. Wasn't wasted but I had to set it aside and mix it with good alloy no more than 10%. Was a real nuisance. I'd avoid the stuff. Pityas there's lots of tin and antimony in it, but the risk isn't worth it.
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Another option is to look on EBay for bearing babbit.
Be careful of babbit metal, Jeff. There are about ten standard specs. Some contain too much copper which will make casting impossible. There's one type that has 8% copper. Problem is you don't know which you've got. I once had a 200lb batch ruined by one big babbit metal ingot. Wasn't wasted but I had to set it aside and mix it with good alloy no more than 10%. Was a real nuisance. I'd avoid the stuff. Pityas there's lots of tin and antimony in it, but the risk isn't worth it.
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I do not stand and watch them load the boats and do have to rely upon the media no matter how inaccurate or slanted it might be. But I also have looked to see who the biggest scrap metal buyers are, and at THAT TIME, the leader was China.
Interesting, Duane, that the US seems to be losing to China materials that are of value to its citizens. Like you, I have no documentary proof that a lot of our scrap is going to China, but I have been told that by more than one scrap merchant. I recently just missed a ton of lead that I was told had “gone for export." In the last five years our scrap lead price has increased sharply. About a year ago it spiked at nearly one US dollar a pound. It has since fallen back to about 65 cents but my supply is not reliable because of it being exported if I and other local users don't get to it fast enough. The scrap merchants know we'll buy it eventually but they take the first offer and we lose it forever. I suppose the answer is to visit the scrap yard often and buy whatever I find. Unfortunately, even as a commercial caster I don't have unlimited cash or a big storage area for it.
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Just as I posted my reply a few minutes ago to Duane, I remembered something else that might not be directly related but was damn frustrating for me. You can hardly get a better supply of alloy than fired bullets from the backstop. About a month ago my club committee decided to reconstruct our main backstop berm. As part of the deal the contractor was allowed to sift out the bullets. There was two tons of it. He melted it down and sold it. To whom he sold it I have no idea, but it was the same price I pay the scrap dealer, so I would have been very glad to get it or at least some of it. I certainly could have arranged a group buy. Why didn't I ? I found out two or three days after. I am a past chairman of the club and a serving RO (unpaid). All my club committee members know I cast commercially but none bothered to tell me. Didn't think of it, they said. Needless to say, I am not amused.
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I like to know what to use in place of lino lead when mixing with orther lead when you can not get lino lead . WW is hard to get since it is being taken up and soft lead is the only thing to get and like to know what to use to mix with the soft lead to make #2 alloy .
I am fairly new to this forum, and have only recently learned that wheelweights have been pretty much the standard raw material because they have been free and readily available. They are about the most convenient material short of fired bullets from the backstop, and I would use them if I could get them. But they have never been free in South Africa and now they are seldom available as the service stations re-use them.
I knew that there is a move afoot to ban WW in California but you are the first I've seen to say they are not so easy to get. Maybe the time has come to use WW when available but to give some thought to alternatives. Its the same story with linotype. It is hard to find here because the printing industry has long abandoned it. It must be the same in the US.
The answer is to go to first principles and learn how to blend scrap lead from all sources into bullet alloy. Unlike WW, other scrap often comes in large pieces. My experience of several years of commercial casting is that scrap on the average can be expected to contain 1% antimony. You melt it in a big melter like a fish fryer and add another 5% antimony and get yourself a big quantity of ingots for casting.
The antimony must be bought new from a local foundry or from the Antimony Man. In my part of the world it is about $6.50 per pound. I think WW are too soft even for handgun bullets but if you have found them OK as many do, then add 3 or 4% antimony to the scrap. That will give you WW alloy. Don't rely on such things as linotype.
Forget Lyman #2 alloy. It contains 5% tin 5% antimony. It is thus expensive and no harder than the industry standard 2/6 alloy. Tin is very expensive and does little for hardness. Its purpose is castability but the antimony provides enough castability on its own. So dispense with the tin and just add antimony as described above. By adjusting the antimony percentage you can blend any alloy you want including rifle bullets any time you want.
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Thank you for your advice. I found out from this forum to go to Rotometals and they are a big help.Also have whatever you need.
Tahnk you
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Aaron
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Wilderness
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Tom Acheson
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