hybrideye Posted February 4, 2010 Report Share Posted February 4, 2010 (edited) Hello all, I have a very large amount of hospital lead (x-ray room) that was given to me, while I was told by many that it is a very pure lead I am and have been having problems with skimming. I flux with beeswax, stir and skim. The lead remains shiny and clean for a few seconds then gets a goldish film on top. I have to keep skimming as it wants stick to the ladle (haven't bought a pot yet). I have adjusted the heat, tried fluxing again, but it keeps happening. I hope it isn't some leftover radiation or something fun like that!! I am a machinist, but not a very good metallurgist, so what is causing it? Is it too much heat? Dirty lead? combination? I have learned to work with it but if I can fix it I am all ears. As soon as I get a good melt the lead turns a purple color, I flux, skim and then get the gold film....if that helps any? I also have a very big bag of Babbitt, I believe they are some type of floor anchors. I melted them on my very first pour (thinking I was melting lead) and was dumbfounded as to why I couldn't cut it. I modified one of my molds and had some trouble with flexing and figured I could use the babbitt for those pours, worked out great just not to keen on grinding it! does anyone else use it? Edited February 4, 2010 by hybrideye Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jig Man Posted February 4, 2010 Report Share Posted February 4, 2010 (edited) I had a 4X8 sheet from an Xray room. It was a bear to use. I don't know why. I use it for jigging spoons. You can make them and 10 years later they look like the day they were poured. Edited February 4, 2010 by Jig Man Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hybrideye Posted February 4, 2010 Author Report Share Posted February 4, 2010 I had a 4X8 sheet from an Xray room. It was a bear to use. I don't know why. I use it for jigging spoons. You can make them and 10 years later they look like the day they were poured. Yeah I can get it to pour, but occasionally it sticks to the ladle and I get a flat top. I have a whole bunch of it so it will have to do, I just got another 100lbs of lead from my brother, at least he says it is. He is the one that gave me the anchors and claimed they were lead too! I will post up some pics when I can, thanks for the reply. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Boomer Posted February 4, 2010 Report Share Posted February 4, 2010 Babbitt can have a significant amount of copper in it, which sounds like what happened to you. It also will certainly have a fair amount of antimony, which will harden it right up.. If I had x--ray lead, i'd throw the babbitt away (or sell it). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Uncle Grump Posted February 4, 2010 Report Share Posted February 4, 2010 Hybrideye See this thread....me thinks you have your melting temp to high. http://www.tackleunderground.com/community/topic/13354-lead-quality/ UG Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Piscivorous Pike Posted February 4, 2010 Report Share Posted February 4, 2010 Babbit caught my eye! I dont need any now but I know a secret about babbit. It used to be used for railroad bearings, they would cast a block of babbit and set the axel in the two piece bearing. But my interest came as I was introduced to alloying babbit with lead and you could hand load them and shoot them at darn near the high velocity of a jacketed bullet. You had to mike your bore lenght with a slug then get the correct G, H and I die to lube it to the exact bore dimensions. We also used it to accurize rifle barrels. Making the bullet slightly oversize of pure to nearly pure babbit and then, (forgot the load data ) we would shoot a few of those and they would lap the barrel in, concentric and quicker than a hand lap. The folks I worked for were National Palma Team Champions and had some of the finest smiths available. One old timer was a genius with alloys. I bought his equipment to make those 42 years ago, and I still have it ! I dropped out of competion 33 years ago. My friend, with the babbit you may have a white elephant. I do not know how big the shooting sports are where you are located, those in the know used to pay premiums for clean pure babbit when the railroad babbit dried up. I hope that answers the question," Does anyone use it?" Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hybrideye Posted February 4, 2010 Author Report Share Posted February 4, 2010 Hybrideye See this thread....me thinks you have your melting temp to high. http://www.tackleund...4-lead-quality/ UG Thanks a bunch Grump! Guess I needed to search a little better Answered my question for sure, I am using a turkey cooker and cast pot and ladle to melt now and hopefully in the near future will be able to get a production pot. Thanks again! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hybrideye Posted February 4, 2010 Author Report Share Posted February 4, 2010 Pike, yes I have been told of Babbitt being used for casting bullets and I can see why, good read and Thank you! I work with a guy whose grandfather had Model T's and had a mold to cast the rod bearings (which according to him were a common replacement issue), pretty interesting factoid also! I poured a run of the modified mold I made, and noticed a huge difference in the bait holder rigidity (which is what I was shooting for). I was dropping 1 to 2 anchors in with each pot to harden the lead a bit, but haven't done it since my first runs last year. I will ask around the shop and friends and see what I come up with. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ogajiga Posted February 4, 2010 Report Share Posted February 4, 2010 In my experience "babbitt" differs greatly in alloy metals composition, and one's use of it can be assisted by knowing the type. Usually, there is a maker's mark and type# on foundry bars, tho as a finished bearing one can only guess. Here's a link to a chart of a few common babbitt types. http://www.babbittrepair.com/types_of_babbitt.htm Generally speaking, IMO, casting with straight tin babbitt is a waste of valuable alloying metals since 5% tin is sufficient to improve pourability and corrosion resistance and 5% antimony adds considerable hardness alloyed with lead. Not sure what role copper has in casting metal alloy composition, anyone? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
