Quote:
Originally Posted by cadman
Well now I get it. Thank you very much for the explanation. Just out of curiosity, how do you know so much about lead and it's properties? I read your profile. Is it from being a firearms instructor? You really know your stuff. Good info. If you don't want to reply here, you can PM me.....Thanks again.............Ted
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Ted,
Thanks for the kind words. Always happy to share where and what I can.
My father was a geophysicist, but had done some hobby foundry work and metal pouring when he was a teenager. For fun, he made his own blackpowder cannons, and also cast the 1" projectiles. With his help, I was casting my own blackpowder cannons by the time I was a young teenager. When I was about 15, I created an alloy that decomposes water and creates hydrogen, but just recently I heard that someone had done the same and had patented the alloy for possible use in hydrogen fueled vehicles. Doh! Oh well...
I studied metallurgy, and have continued working with, and pouring, metal ever since I was a child. I have made molds for various things from machine parts to bullets to jewelry to lures, and other than the book stuff I guess I've just picked up a few tricks along the way. I've worked with virtually all the metals that can be melted and poured on the home/shop foundry level, including some precious metals, so if it can be melted I've probably melted it LOL!
Since lead is easy to come by and easy to pour, I've had a fair amount of experience with working with it in a variety of applications outside of hobbyist tacklemaking. That experience has a lot of 'crossover' applications in lead pouring/tacklemaking, and I've been trying to share some of that knowledge with TU members. A lot of what I had to learn was done through hands-on practical experience, so I've been trying to shorten the learning curve (and costs) for some of our lead-pourers when there's something I can shed some light on. It's nice to see folks learn something new, or experience success in their endeavors.
There, that's the short version lol!
Glad some of this stuff is useful to you guys!
Good fishing,
Eric
