June 15, 2012, 09:54 PM | #1 |
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Mystery Metal
I've started running across this stick-on weight lately:
It's malleable like lead, but it floats like zinc and doesn't melt. What the heck is it?
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June 16, 2012, 05:16 AM | #2 |
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OH, joy! Another mystery metal in the wheelweight business. I've never seen anything like that, but would love to know. Malleable like lead, floats like zinc, but won't melt. Sounds like a caster's nightmare.
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June 16, 2012, 11:27 AM | #3 |
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Castboolits says that they're lead. They must be absolutely dead pure because my Lyman pot won't get hot enough to melt them (it only hits about 650 degrees.) So I guess it's not a mystery anymore.
http://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?t=139839
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Well we don't rent pigs and I figure it's better to say it right out front because a man that does like to rent pigs is... he's hard to stop - Gus McCrae Last edited by Hardcase; June 16, 2012 at 11:34 AM. |
June 16, 2012, 11:33 AM | #4 |
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Sounds good !!
There might be something wrong with your set-up as a 650DegF. should have take care of it. I smelt, way above that and cast as high as I can go with my pot. ....
Be Safe !!!
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June 16, 2012, 04:57 PM | #5 |
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Pahoo, you're right, something is wrong with the rheostat or the thermostat on the pot, but it gets the job done and I'm too lazy to fix it
I rationalize my laziness by figuring that if I can't get it hot enough to melt zinc, I should be able to keep myself out of trouble. My casting pot gets plenty hot, so I'm good on that side of the operation.
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Well we don't rent pigs and I figure it's better to say it right out front because a man that does like to rent pigs is... he's hard to stop - Gus McCrae |
June 16, 2012, 06:30 PM | #6 | |
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Won't fix what almost aint broke.. ..
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Be Safe !!!
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June 16, 2012, 06:34 PM | #7 |
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Might be cadmium
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June 16, 2012, 08:06 PM | #8 |
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Cadmium
Cadmium has a higher luster and a blue-grey color than the metal pictured in the initial post. But the photo may not show the true color.
A good way to help identify the mystery metal is to measure one of the little ingots to determine volume in cubic centimeters, weigh it to determine mass in grams, and calculate density in grams per cubic centimeter. Cadmium 8.65 g/cc, lead 11.35 g/cc, and zinc 7.14. Last edited by Tuzo; June 16, 2012 at 08:13 PM. |
June 17, 2012, 12:00 AM | #9 |
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Metal ID
Did you try the wire cutter test? Take a pair of sidecutters (for wire) and put your mystery metal in the jaws and squeeze....if you can make a dent, it's a lead alloy. If it's too hard to dent, it's probably zinc or steel.
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June 17, 2012, 12:08 AM | #10 |
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malleable = zinc
non malleable = steel These are the two materials offered in non lead wheel weights. |
June 17, 2012, 08:12 AM | #11 | |
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Quote:
http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/malleable |
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June 17, 2012, 10:10 AM | #12 |
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Harness Testing
Please understand that I mostly work with known pure lead. ....
As some of you might know, harness testers can be a bit pricey. As an alternative, I took an "automatic" center punch and lightly ground, rounded and polished the tip. I use a know pure lead sample, punch the lead and then the alloy, in question. I then compare the top of the punch or dimple, with a magnifying glass. If the top of the dimple, on the unknown piece is smaller than the lead, then it's obviously an alloy. .... Then there is the old Buckskinner trick of scratching with your thumbnail. Another melt test, is to take a sample know lead piece and unknow alloy and lay them in the bottom of a flat pan and slowly bring it up to temp. In most cases, the lead will melt before the alloy . I use to do this test three times but now, only need one. Wash your hands and; Be Safe !!!
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'Fundamental truths' are easy to recognize because they are verified daily through simple observation and thus, require no testing. Last edited by Pahoo; June 17, 2012 at 11:10 AM. |
June 17, 2012, 10:17 AM | #13 | |
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June 17, 2012, 10:28 AM | #14 | |
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I could say use a magnet but then that would be negated by some types of stainless steel. So where do you want to draw the line? [/end highjack] Back to the subject, If you get plastic covered metal; you have steel for sure as the manufacturers of non lead wheel weights are not currently covering zinc with plastic. Pure Zinc has a melting point of just under 790 degrees. It goes into the 8's depending on the impurities or alloying materials. |
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June 17, 2012, 02:42 PM | #15 |
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Zinc will react to muretic acid , just a drop ,it will dance a jig on zinc lesser on an alloyed metal of sorts no reaction on lead/tin/lino.Take normal safety steps handling the acid !!!
Not cadium ,it`s to expensive to put on wheels just to be torn/slung off .& cadium is more toxic than lead !! Look like weights of of an import of sorts , they maybe aluminum ?? Lyman provides an adjustment on most of there furnaces , remove the knob, some have a set screw some slide on , look at the shaft is it hollow ?? if it is take a small flat bladed screwdriver & insert it it`ll engage the adjustment screw , can`t remember which way to turn it though .
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June 17, 2012, 02:44 PM | #16 | |
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June 17, 2012, 02:50 PM | #17 |
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Pure lead. I've been running into them for awhile now, same markings on some clip-ons.
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June 17, 2012, 03:23 PM | #18 | |
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Mr. Dictionary is our friend. It keeps us from perpetuating incorrect terminology if we do not have the education to know the correct terms. Last edited by dahermit; June 17, 2012 at 03:40 PM. |
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June 17, 2012, 03:29 PM | #19 | |
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June 17, 2012, 03:57 PM | #20 |
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Ductility and malleability are not always coextensive – for instance, while gold is both ductile and malleable, lead is only malleable.
Rich, Jack C. (1988). The Materials and Methods of Sculpture. Courier Dover Publications. p. 129. ISBN 0-486-25742-8. malleable (ml--bl) Capable of great deformation without breaking, when subject to compressive stress. http://www.thefreedictionary.com/malleable ductile (dktl) 1. Easily stretched without breaking or lowering in material strength. http://www.thefreedictionary.com/ductile Last edited by SHR970; June 17, 2012 at 04:02 PM. |
June 17, 2012, 11:18 PM | #21 |
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Rest assured its not Unobtainium.
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June 18, 2012, 04:30 AM | #22 | |
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Black powder shooters find they have to run at much higher temps to get well-formed round balls and conicals when making them of pure lead.
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June 18, 2012, 05:06 AM | #23 | |
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I've always understood them to be two different things, both due to similar reasons in the metallic bonds. |
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June 18, 2012, 07:01 AM | #24 | |
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June 18, 2012, 07:47 AM | #25 |
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Just throw em on the concrete. If it goes ding its zinc. Thud its lead.
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