BOOGIE the oily
New member
Ok, since I intend to start reloading and casting in the (hopefully) near future, I'm on the hunt for anything that may be useful to me, when the time comes.
Today, lurking around on the web, I found a guy that was selling "linotype lead" (in homemade ingots), at an unusually high price (about U$S 3 per Lb, when others are selling scrap linotype for about U$S 1 to 1.50 per Lb.), and, to justify the price, he's making some claims I'd like to learn more about.
First, he says all his ingots have a durometer mark, and a stamp with the lead's actual hardness, that he claims is 20 Brinnel. Now, knowing my countrymen, and how easy it is to make a dent on a piece of metal, and stamp a number, that claim means absolutely nothing to me.
But he goes on to say that on actual linotype, tin and antimony get depleted with use, and that the used linotype others are selling is actually between 8 and 15 Brinnell at best, and that when smelting linotype, between 20 and 30% weight is lost because of steel plates and whatnot, plus some extra loss due to dross.
Is that true?
And if it is (and assuming the "stamped hardness" on the ingots is real), does it justify paying about twice as much for this metal?
Today, lurking around on the web, I found a guy that was selling "linotype lead" (in homemade ingots), at an unusually high price (about U$S 3 per Lb, when others are selling scrap linotype for about U$S 1 to 1.50 per Lb.), and, to justify the price, he's making some claims I'd like to learn more about.
First, he says all his ingots have a durometer mark, and a stamp with the lead's actual hardness, that he claims is 20 Brinnel. Now, knowing my countrymen, and how easy it is to make a dent on a piece of metal, and stamp a number, that claim means absolutely nothing to me.
But he goes on to say that on actual linotype, tin and antimony get depleted with use, and that the used linotype others are selling is actually between 8 and 15 Brinnell at best, and that when smelting linotype, between 20 and 30% weight is lost because of steel plates and whatnot, plus some extra loss due to dross.
Is that true?
And if it is (and assuming the "stamped hardness" on the ingots is real), does it justify paying about twice as much for this metal?