Alloying Lead

[combat]

I manufacture lures and have been buying lead from Cast Indstries, and ran across a deal for several hundred pounds of soft lead and would like to alloy it to the same type that we buy for casting using centrifical mechine. Does anyone know the formula or what I need to add to make it more durable?

Thanks!

[sagacious]

You need linotype to make it harder, but you don't specify the alloy you're currently using. If you can get linotype, and provide the formula for your current lead alloy, I can suggest a blending ratio for linotype/pure lead.

[diemai]

@ combat

If this could be of help ???

The German tackle,-and component supplier HAKUMA ihr Spezialist für Köder, Kunstköder, Meeresangeln, Raubfisch angeln, Pilker, Wobbler, Fischen, Bleiguss, Formen, Ruten, Rollen, Dorsch angeln, Leng angeln in Norwegen, Dänemark, Hitra sells alloyed lead ingots for lure casting .

They state in their printed catalog 2006/2007 issue(don't have a recent one) , that this alloy consists of 12% Antimon(sorry , don't know the English for it , suppose it's a chemical element and/or metal ?) and 2% pewter/tin("Zinn" in German) .

The melting point is a bit lower than pure lead , stated 250° Celsius , also it does not shrink as much in the mold when chilling down after casting , they also write in their catalog .

I have used this alloy a few times for casting leadheads and jigging spoons , the stuff does not tarnish like ordinary lead , but keeps its silvery surface .

It is also more rigid , meaning that no deep blemishes would show up , when tossing the leadheads or jigging spoons roughly along rocky bottoms , thus the paint coats of the lures don't come off as easily .

The 1000 grams ingots(haven't bought the 12000 grams ingots before) are shaped like a square chocolate bar , with grooves to break smaller pieces off , which really works with that alloy !

Just put it on a concrete floor , grooves downward and hit the back of the groove with the pointed end of a hammer , if you hit it right , it would break , not just deform like ordinary lead .

good luck:yay: , diemai

Edited January 24, 2009 by diemai

[reeves]

The alloy that Cast Ind. uses for their spin casting is:

85% Lead

11% Antimony

4% Tin

The antimony and tin being the most expensive elements in this blend, thus keeping the cost of purchasing this alloy already mixed is rather high. I have found that with a mix of 10lbs of wheel weights and 3lbs of linotype, I can cast parts very comparable to using the alloy above.

Hope this helps.

[combat]

You need linotype to make it harder, but you don't specify the alloy you're currently using. If you can get linotype, and provide the formula for your current lead alloy, I can suggest a blending ratio for linotype/pure lead.

Hi, I am not sure of the alloy used that I was purchasing from cast industries, but I believe it was refered to as printers lead. The lead that I bought the other day, I believe to be soft lead. It is very easily scratched. I would like to alloy it so that it will give me a product that will not dent too easily, yet not to hard so that the colar won't break on the hook.

I am hoping to get a formula and a source from where to purchase to add to the soft lead.

Thanks for your reply!

[Swede]

try a smaller mix 50% lead 50% wheelweights 1 lb or so just to see what you will get

that should get you started

[reeves]

combat,

In your original post you referred to centrifugal spin casting of your parts. The alloy you seek is totally different between hand pouring and spin casting. The info I provided above is for spin casting. If you could, please specify how you intend to use this alloy as I'm confused and only want to point you in the right direction.

Thanks!

[sagacious]

Hi, I am not sure of the alloy used that I was purchasing from cast industries, but I believe it was refered to as printers lead. The lead that I bought the other day, I believe to be soft lead. It is very easily scratched. I would like to alloy it so that it will give me a product that will not dent too easily, yet not to hard so that the colar won't break on the hook.

I am hoping to get a formula and a source from where to purchase to add to the soft lead.

Thanks for your reply!

Combat,

If the "printer's lead" you had been using is linotype, the alloy for certified linotype is 4% tin, 12% antimony, and 84% lead.

Obviously and unfortunately, you cannot turn your pure lead (or whatever it is) into linotype alloy by blending linotype alloy into it. Pure lead has a Brinnell hardness of 6, and linotype has a hardness of 18-20. Buying antimony and tin, and adding them to pure lead is more complicated than you want to deal with.

The best you can do is blend linotype with your lead, and if your lead is indeed certified pure lead, blending 1/2 linotype and 1/2 pure lead by weight will give you approximately 2% tin, 6% antimony, and 92% lead. This alloy has a nominal hardness of 14 or 15, which is still quite hard and won't scratch/dent easily, but will bend and not snap. Adding more pure lead than that will make for a softer alloy.

Reeves suggestion for blending linotype with wheel-weights to economize on linotype is a good one. A blend of 3lbs linotype and 9lbs wheel-weights will essentially duplicate the 1/2 linotype and 1/2 pure lead hardness numbers listed above.

If you have been buying linotype, you know where to find it. If not, contact your local scrap metal suppliers.

Hope this helps, good luck.

[combat]

Combat,

If the "printer's lead" you had been using is linotype, the alloy for certified linotype is 4% tin, 12% antimony, and 84% lead.

Obviously and unfortunately, you cannot turn your pure lead (or whatever it is) into linotype alloy by blending linotype alloy into it. Pure lead has a Brinnell hardness of 6, and linotype has a hardness of 18-20. Buying antimony and tin, and adding them to pure lead is more complicated than you want to deal with.

The best you can do is blend linotype with your lead, and if your lead is indeed certified pure lead, blending 1/2 linotype and 1/2 pure lead by weight will give you approximately 2% tin, 6% antimony, and 92% lead. This alloy has a nominal hardness of 14 or 15, which is still quite hard and won't scratch/dent easily, but will bend and not snap. Adding more pure lead than that will make for a softer alloy.

Reeves suggestion for blending linotype with wheel-weights to economize on linotype is a good one. A blend of 3lbs linotype and 9lbs wheel-weights will essentially duplicate the 1/2 linotype and 1/2 pure lead hardness numbers listed above.

If you have been buying linotype, you know where to find it. If not, contact your local scrap metal suppliers.

Hope this helps, good luck.

Thank you for your responses, I really do apprecate it.

I would prefer not to use wheel weights due to the smoke and toxins. Do you have any other recommendantions of another type of material I can add other than wheel weights? I hear others talk about peiter (sp?) or other antique artifacts. I am not really familiar with kind of stuff.

Also, I am doing hand pouring at the moment, and plan to buy a casting machine, I just wanted to use this lead that I bought for almost nothing instead of buying the expensive premium lead and paying outrageous shipping.

Again, thank you for help!

[dlaery]

I have some lead that is 20% Antimony, 80% Lead. And I have some Tin I could sell you to mix with this, if you don't need too much.

[dlaery]

Also on the Antimony, you should do a search on this, it is toxic also, worse than lead in my opinion. The Tin dosen't seem to be as bad. It is what they use for lead free solder.

[sagacious]

Thank you for your responses, I really do apprecate it.

I would prefer not to use wheel weights due to the smoke and toxins. Do you have any other recommendantions of another type of material I can add other than wheel weights? I hear others talk about peiter (sp?) or other antique artifacts. I am not really familiar with kind of stuff.

Also, I am doing hand pouring at the moment, and plan to buy a casting machine, I just wanted to use this lead that I bought for almost nothing instead of buying the expensive premium lead and paying outrageous shipping.

Again, thank you for help!

Re-read my last post carefully. I didn't recommend adding wheel weights to your soft lead. Adding wheel weights to pure lead in a ratio of 50/50 would only bring the hardness up to about 9.

Blending wheel weight lead with linotype is an economical way of extending your supply of expensive linotype. That's something you should keep in mind for the future.

My recommendation is, again, that to harden your soft lead you need to blend it with linotype (or a similar alloy with high antimony and tin content)-- in the ratio I suggested. If you are not familiar with linotype, you need to talk to your local scrap-metals dealer and locate a source.

Before you buy any casting machines, you need to familiarize yourself with lead alloys, and lead alloy blending and maintenance.

To get the most useful answer, you need to provide details like your lead-pouring experience, your pouring method and equipment, what type of lure or sinkers you're pouring and the sizes and quantities, your usual source of lead and it's hardness/alloy, and what type of quality you expect, etc. Otherwise, us helpful folks will expend considerable print in a effort to guess what help you actually need, and what the solution might be. The more info you can provide, the more likely you are to get a solution that fits your problem. See where I'm coming from?

Hope this helps, good luck!