How can you tell if something is made of lead?

Softail99

Softail99

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So I'm thinking of getting into casting my own bullets....and I may have a source of cheap lead :D
So how can I tell if this stuff is lead? Does it matter if its alloyed with another metal? Is there a simple way to test it?
I'd appreciate any thoughts on the matter.
 
tell us what it is- somebody here will know- most of us have cast from some of the oddest things- and yes, if it's an alloy it DOES matter, and what it's alloyed with- zinc is an absolute no-no, however,tin is a good thing- aoling with antimony
 
At my work there are these big, heavy ingots that used to be used for ballast or something in one of the machine shops. They look like lead, they're soft, I can cut a sliver off with a knife and they're f***ing heavy. Any thoughts?
 
Did you ask anyone at workplace about them? Chances are supervisor,shipping/material handling person will know.Are there any labels,stamps,warnings affixed or stamped on them?Are there MSDS materials available anywhere?
If yes just google it.
You might have to ask someone if you can have them anyway so this will be a good question to start with before you end up with something you don't need.
Taking stuff without asking =stealing .Is your job worth it?

ask,ask,ask-it doesn't cost you a penny
 
I did ask around, but no one seems to know. They've been gathering dust in a back corner for years. On the back of one of them it says 4%. Thats it.
 
Lead weighs about 700lbs per cubic foot. Do some rough math with a tape measure and then weigh the item.

My guess is they are counterweights for a forklift.
 
If you have access to one you can try hardness tester first or maybe give a piece to some science teacher to be tested in lab during class ( that might be a school project for someone?).Lead recycling places might be helpful if you tell them " i want to sell x amount of it"
Or simply try casting with it them.Just do small amount for safety sake.
 
I got some lead counter weights out of a machine shop, mine were very close to pure lead. If its heavy, try melting it with a small propane torch, if it scratches, dents easy, and does not ring when dropped on concrete (1-2 oz. chunk) it could be a big lead score.
I hacked my counter weights into manageable chunks with a hatchet and sledgehammer.

Can be melted with a small pot and propane or naptha camp stove. You say you can shave it easily with a knife, I bet it's nice soft lead. Try a small quantity in a mould, you may have to add a bit of tin to make moulds fill out well if it is very soft/ pure lead.
 
So far, they sound like lead......but.

Take a picture of whatever it is you're looking at...the whole thing. I'd also like you to take a pic of the spot where you were scraping/cutting it. Take a closeup of the outside surface of it as well.

I'm trying to determine if it's something that was cast into a mould at one time, and if so, how well did it fill out the mould. I've seen some pretty rough looking castings that look like the lead was contaminated with something and didn't fill out the mould properly, like zinc.

If I were you, and they were easy enough to move....grap them no matter what. Even if you find out later that they're not suitable for casting, you can always take them to the scrapyard and get a few bucks for them. You won't get rich, but stuff like you're describling isn't hard to get rid of.

If you determine that it'll cast alright, see if anyone in your area has a Lee lead hardness test kit....or a proper Brinell hardness tester. Pure lead is really soft...good for black powder. Medium lead is good enough for shotgun slugs and shot. Medium/hard is ok for pistol bullets. Hard is good for rifle bullets. I'm just too tired right now to look up the BNH numbers right now.

PM me a link back to this thread once you've got some pics just incase I forget to revisit it myself.
 
It's no doubt lead given how you've described it, but there's no way to know 100% sure if it's pure, and exactly what's in it, short of taking it to a laboratory (to have it assayed) and I'm sure you won't do that. Almost no-one (aside from competitive target shooters) needs to know exactly what's in an alloy (we don't know exactly what's in wheelweight), and there are ways to estimate/guess, but even then, what's important is how it behaves in a bullet mold and in the field.

Do you cast now? Do you have any known pure lead, and/or wheelweight, and/or linotype? Can you weight it accurately? Do you have a hardness tester?

Take a piece home. Drop a few bullets from a well-heated mold with the unknown alloy, then some pure lead, then wheelweight, then linotype (if you have it). Mark them and keep them separate. Compare how well they filled out. Weigh them. Test their hardness. The heavier they are, the higher the percentage of lead, and the harder they are, the more non-lead that's in it. Tin will make it a bit harder, but it's antimony and other metals that move it up much more. Its melt temp tells a story too, but is difficult to measure (i.e. what is the temp, and when exactly did it "melt"?).
 
Ok....so I broke off a hunk of this stuff, (easy) it's the handle from one of the "ingots", and came up with a way of testing it to get a better idea if it's lead or not.

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Look at the surface where I've taken a knife and cut off a sliver. Very shiny, almost like chrome.

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I thought I'd cut off an even smaller piece, and see if it melts at the same time as a lead bullet more or less.

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When heated with a propane torch, it melts almost exactly at the same time as the bullet, with a second or so. I poured some into a small lid I had lying around, and it seemed to take on the shape pretty well.

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After trying this today, I'm about 98% sure that's its some sort of lead alloy, and there's no zinc in it. (way to soft, and it hits a concrete floor with a dull thud....no ringing).

So what do you guys think?

BTW- thanks for all of your comments, they were a big help.
Softail.
 
If you can cut it easily with a pair of cutter pliers it's some form of lead alloy,if it contains Zinc it will be hard like steel and hard to cut or mark.
 
Pretty certain that its lead. Not much else that it could be given your tests.

I've found that very pure lead can be scored quite deeply with a thumbnail but harder stuff such as wheel weights or any kind of linotype/printers alloy will just get a shiny line.

Congrats on the find!
 
Ok... I'd definately say you have lead there. From the way the piece of ingot handle looks, I'd also say with some confidence that they didn't cast it with any zinc in the mix.

Now.....take a bullet, and a chunk of your ingot (about the same size) and one at a time, squeeze them with a pair of pliers. This is about as unscientific and "bush league" as it gets, but it'll give you an idea of the hardness. If they seem to imprint the pattern of the plier jaws with about the same force, start casting. If the chunk of ingot is a lot easier to imprint, you might still be ok. Try casting a few and dropping them out of the mould into cold water...then retest. If the ingot metal is harder to imprint than a bullet, GREAT. You've got a nice hard alloy for casting rifle bullets.

Congrats on the lead find !!!
 
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