Rotometals Lead

[Marc Adamchek]

For those of you who get your casting lead from Rotometals I have two questions:

(1) What increments/form do you buy your lead in

(2) Do you ever buy their "pig lead" or
(a) is this to be avoided

OK, I ended up cheating, as I always seem to do, when another question pops into my head. I apologize.

 

[longcruise]

I'm sure the rotometal guys are great guys and their company is a great company. Must be, they are sponsors here. But, when my lead is not free, it costs me about 38 cents a pound at a local recycling yard.

 

[Marc Adamchek]

Yeah, I checked them out specifically because I heard a lot of good things about them and the quality of their lead, prices etc. on this board, but now it seems like they're being avoided like the plague. Kinda funny cuz we're only talkin' a time span of 3 weeks or less and they went from great guys to do business with to personas non gratus (sp).

 

[arcticap]

Some folks who have ordered in the past were very complimentary.
http://www.muzzleloadingforum.com/...ost/810975/hl/rotometals/fromsearch/1/#810975

Their pig of lead states 99% which would seem to only mean that being larger, the ingot may need to be cut into smaller pieces for practical use by the average caster.
http://www.rotometals.com/product-p/67_lbs._of_lead.htm

 

[Idaho Ron]

Scrounging lead is WAY too expensive for me. The first time I got hosed I got some "pure" lead from ebay. It was the hardest lead I have ever seen. The BHN was 22!!! It was also made from melted car batteries. The next time I was hosed I got 50 pounds and again it was 12 BHN wheel weights. The fact is I went out and bought a hardness tester because I was NOT going to get hosed again. Then I found Rotometal and started to buy their pure lead. WHAT A DIFFERENCE! Ya with my tester I could find soft lead but I know when I get the roto lead it is the exact stuff I want. I pay extra for it but it is pure. I want only the best when I am after a trophy buck. The last thing on my mind when I am shooting a trophy deer is how much did that lead cost.
Confidence is also what Rotometal sells. I have the best lead and the best bullets anywhere.
I have a pot big enough to handle the pig lead. I would get it in a heart beat. Ron

 

[Marc Adamchek]

Ron - I'm just starting to get my casting stuff together, this will be the first lead I've bought (as well as melted).

I just don't know how difficult it is to break those big 25 lb "ingots" apart. I always picture an ingot to be a small bar.

Well, I just took another look and I see they also sell 1 lb ingots which should be easy to manage.

All in all, just a newby's confusion: look up lead to buy and see it in wire configuration, large size hunks, etc. I completely missed the smaller sized ingots.

I'm trying to cover all the bases with this casting stuff and I'm just losing it once in awhile! Call off the fire trucks, false alarm.

 

[Little Wattsy]

Ron - I'm just starting to get my casting stuff together, this will be the first lead I've bought (as well as melted).

I just don't know how difficult it is to break those big 25 lb "ingots" apart. I always picture an ingot to be a small bar.

Well, I just took another look and I see they also sell 1 lb ingots which should be easy to manage.

All in all, just a newby's confusion: look up lead to buy and see it in wire configuration, large size hunks, etc. I completely missed the smaller sized ingots.

I'm trying to cover all the bases with this casting stuff and I'm just losing it once in awhile! Call off the fire trucks, false alarm.

With a hatchet (like a chisel) and a hammer (maybe a sledge) its easy enough to cut those big hunks down to size.

 

[HOGGHEAD]

I have a friend who works at a machine shop. When I get big pieces he cuts it up with his chop saw at work. SO I guess I am kind of lucky.

As far as finding lead. Well you just have to know where to scrounge. I have scrounged up about 3,000# of WW, 800# of pure lead, 400# of linotype, and about 100# of tin bars. Not counting the tin I probably have $200 or $300 in all the lead I have.

But then I am a scrounger. You always have to keep your eyes open, and a few buckets in the back of your truck. Most of my pure lead came from medical construction sights where they were rebuilding X-Ray rooms. And church's where they were redoing church stained glass windows. And a little bit of plumbers lead. The linotype came from a printing place that went out of business. I bought almost 1,000# at an auction for $50. I was the only bidder.

It is easy to tell pure lead. A hardness tester is nice. but it is just as easy to tell it by dropping it on the floor. Different hardness lead ingots make a different sound when they hit a concrete floor. the harder the lead, the louder the "ting" when it hits the floor. Pure lead just makes a "thud" when it hits the concrete. No "ting" at all.

You can either learn to be a scrounge like me, or just buy your lead. Whatever you like. I do not mind being known as "the scrounger".

Below, my casting bench. I have got about 1,000# of WW(under the bench) that needs cleaned up. Tom.

 

[longcruise]

Ron, I would never fault your reasoning or decision. OTOH, I live in a metro area of approx 3 million people. About five miles from my house is a huge metal recycling dealer. All day long is a constant parade of metal coming in. If you are in a small town or a rural area, the opportunitys are going to be far fewer.

I go there and they let me into the "lead bin". I have no problem picking out the pure stuff by visual inspection and the fingernail test. Last time in there I got several huge pieces of lead pipe. Time before that it was half a dozen big sheets of xray room shielding. My last batch was .38 cents a pound. They would much rather that I come in and pick through it at that price than do the handling and bundling for maybe even less!

 

[Greg Allred]

Marc,
I bought a 65# pig of pure lead from Rotometal last month, their shipping was great. Ordered on tuesday and it was sitting on my porch friday. I melted it in a 2 gallon dutch oven, If you are new to casting, one pound ingots are the way to go. I use scrap lead for round balls and buy certified lead for conicals.

 

[Claude Mathis]

..., but now it seems like they're being avoided like the plague.

I've heard nothing but good things about them. What makes you say that? Specifics please.

 

[Idaho Ron]

Ron, I would never fault your reasoning or decision. OTOH, I live in a metro area of approx 3 million people. About five miles from my house is a huge metal recycling dealer. All day long is a constant parade of metal coming in. If you are in a small town or a rural area, the opportunitys are going to be far fewer.

I go there and they let me into the "lead bin". I have no problem picking out the pure stuff by visual inspection and the fingernail test. Last time in there I got several huge pieces of lead pipe. Time before that it was half a dozen big sheets of xray room shielding. My last batch was .38 cents a pound. They would much rather that I come in and pick through it at that price than do the handling and bundling for maybe even less!

That makes a HUGE difference. I live in a town of 3000. Twin is a good sized town but it is 15 miles away they have a recycler there. I have heard that some guys poke through the recycler but I have also heard that they won't let just anyone go through the stuff.
I do get wheel weights from a friend but only for fishing weights. I like to scrounge for stuf but for muzzleloader lead I just don't have the time for. If I see an auction with lead I show up with a tester. I have seen it work both ways. When I say it is hard some guys bid it up. Some times it brings less because it is hard. Ron

 

[ohio ramrod]

I find that my sawsall works great at cutting up large pieces of lead. The old lead pipe was very near pure if you stay away from the soldered seams.Also lead flashing is near pure as well.I was lucky to drive past a recycling yard (junk yard ) before retiring and have a good supply of lead.

 

[Norinco]

Doesn't a saw produce a lot of dust? I guess if you clean it up right it's not a problem. I just use a cold chisel and a hammer.

 

[HOGGHEAD]

A sawsall works as well as a chop saw. All you need to do is to cut it under a stream of water. Just like the chop saw uses cutting fluid, to keep the dust dowm. Tom.