Anyone know anything about this stuff...composition, etc. ?
About 25 years ago I came into about fifty pounds of the “lead” backing from dental X-Rays. I assume it's there to block, and thus limit, or minimize one's exposure to the X-Rays coming out the back side of the film (?). My dentist would throw the backing (1,000's) into a box when he developed the X-Rays. I saw the box one day during a visit and asked him “What gives?". He said he didn't really have a reason for saving them...he just did. I think he did say that one of his patients “melted some down into fishing sinkers". I told him I cast bullets and was always on the look out for a source for material. He said I could have it. They are small squares (about an inch) and thin enough that they melt by “waving a torch at them". I thought they were simply lead (pure?), since the little sheets were so soft “feeling” and flexible. I melted the stuff into ingots and cast some 50 cal. Maxi Balls in a T-C mold and you could not start them in a barrel. So, apparently, it is an alloy of some sort. It's definitely softer than wheel weights, but harder than lead. I didn't do a hardness test, so I don't have numbers to relate to for reference. I still have those ingots lying around somewhere, and am thinking about putting them to use. Anyone ever use the stuff, or know ( or think?) of a reason why it should not be used ?
