White Bronze - Home Melting Techniques. High Leaded Bronze Production

by DuralM in Workshop > Molds & Casting

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White Bronze - Home Melting Techniques. High Leaded Bronze Production

White Bronze - home melting techniques. High Leaded Bronze production

In some old documentation I've found interesting bronze which was white and made of 40% of copper and 60% of lead. I had both metals, so I decided to make this bronze alloy. As a result, I was going to get high-leaded bronze.

Making a Mold

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Preparing 40% of copper, 60% of lead and a mold.

First Melting/casting Attempt

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I melted copper and only after that added some lead. I got white alloy but the bottom was softer than the upper part. So, it wasn't mixed as good as it should be.

Second Attempt

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I decided to melt bronze alloy again to get a better quality. I can't say that the second attempt was much better. Anyway, I've got white and enough soft leaded bronze alloy.

Result

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After the bar had been processed on the lathe I saw, that in fact the result was very good. Alloy has a grate quality. It's white (with some shades of red), softer than copper but much harder than lead. I'll definitely use it for future projects.