Blue lead?

[jtmattison]

I just cast up a pile of ingots from some different types of lead I got at our recycle yard.
I separated it and melted it separately so not to mix possibly pure lead with not-so-pure lead.
Anyhoo, I melted a big bar of it and when cast into ingots it had a blueish purple hue to it when it cooled.
The other stuff came out dime bright just like I would expect.
Does anyone know why it came out looking blue/purple?
Inquiring minds want to know... :hmm:

Huntin

 

[musketman]

Properties of lead:

Lead is a bluish-white metal of bright luster. It is very soft, highly malleable, ductile, and a poor conductor of electricity. It is very resistant to corrosion; lead pipes bearing the insignia of Roman emperors, used as drains from the baths, are still in service. It is used in containers for corrosive liquids (such as sulfuric acid) and may be toughened by the addition of a small percentage of antimony or other metals...

Other ID marks of lead: Oxidizes to a slightly bluish-gray color...

 

[Liver eatin’ Johnson]

Did you notice any difference in the hardness of the two? The bright one may have more antimony or tin in it...? I usually melt the lead and let it sit in the pot for a while, skimming it over and over until the impurities are seperated out.

 

[dustydean]

I melted down a bunch of wheel weights one time for
use in some of my center fire wheel guns. I added
some tin to increase the hardness of the lead, and
I noticed that batch turned almost purple when I
poured the ingots. Was it the tin ? I'm not sure. :hmm:

 

[musketman]

Was it the tin ? I'm not sure. :hmm:

Tin has two allotropic forms. On warming, grey tin, with a cubic structure, changes into white tin, the ordinary form of the metal.

 

[brushbuster]

I havent had to do any casting in quite a while But in laymans terms wheel weights are very high in tin and antimony which makes a very hard bullet.your going to have to cook it,stir it ,and scrape a lot of dross before tou get that bluish tint you are looking for.Istill have about 200 lbs of wheel weightsthat i willcast for my 45 auto,but since i'm a plumber any time i remove any lead piping from a house i take it home and use it for my bp guns.

the one thing you have to be very careful about lead pipe is drain chemical residue ,this will cook out, but you must heat it out side and always stay up wind!!!

good luck and safety first!!! :hmm: :imo:

 

[Leonredbeard]

Dustydean,
Centerfire wheelguns! The only wheel guns around here are wheellocks! :blah: What's a centerfire, anyway? Is that when you center the flashhole in the pan? Haw, Haw, Haw! Please don't take offense, I'm just having fun with you. :haha: ::
God bless. :thumbsup:
volatpluvia

 

[dustydean]

I debated with myself for quite awhile before I
wrote that! That was at a weak moment in my life,
before I found m-l's. :haha:

 

volatpluvia :
Centerfire? wassat?
next thing you know people will be trying to develope a paper cartridge using brass or copper to hold powder and bullet.
Maybe even come up with a way to carry the primer in the cartridge too.
Naw.............it'd NEVER catch on. :youcrazy:

 

[Leonredbeard]

Dustydean,
I too had those days a long time ago. Sold the last...ahem...ah...harrumph...revolver several years ago. At least it was a cap and ball. :redface: The last centerfire I had was in 1978 or thereabouts.
God bless.
volatpluvia

 

[jtmattison]

LEJ,
I did a makeshift hardness test by sandwiching a screwdriver shank between two different ingots and clamping them tight to make an impression in the lead.
The lead that was blue/purple had a slightly deeper impression in it indicating it was softer.
The bright silvery stuff I have been using for a long time is a bit harder, it was telephone cable sheath.
Thanks all for the input.

Huntin