Lead Alloys

There are two common types of lead alloy; “soft lead,” which is another term for pure lead, and "hard lead" with is an alloy containing a majority of lead and some other harder metal. "Soft lead" melts at 621 degrees F and has excellent pouring characteristics at 700-800 degrees. As "hard lead" has various metals in it, its melting point varies, but generally "hard lead" solidifies quicker than soft lead and requires more effort to mold good parts.

SOFT LEAD
Soft lead can be easily identified by pressing or scratching your thumb nail into it. If the metal scratches easily, most often than not, it is soft lead. If it is not easily scratched or has to be broken with pressure, it probably consists of "hard lead". Tiny jigs and sinkers, as well as spinner jig lures, are much easier to cast when using soft lead. Soft lead is a necessity for use with bendable type sinkers such as split shot or pinch-on sinkers.

HARD LEAD
Because of its molding difficulties, the application of hard lead is not recommended for untrained handling. The other metals in the alloy besides lead can cause the alloy, when poured into a mold, to solidify or “freeze” at temperatures where pure or soft lead is in a fluid state. Consequently, more heat may be necessary to get complete castings with hard lead. The main appeal of a hard lead alloy for sinker and lure making is that this alloy can often be purchased at less cost than soft lead. This advantage, however, can be offset by difficulty in molding the metal. The most common source of hard lead is used wheel or tire weights.

Some types of Lead Alloys:
Commercial Pig Lead - 99.6% lead, .4% various other metals
Cable Sheathing - 98.5% lead; 1.5% various other metals
Battery Lead - 90% lead and 10% antimony;
Plumbers Solder - 67% lead and 33% tin;
Wheel Weights - (varies) may contain anything from aluminum to zinc, in addition to antimony and lead;
Type Metal - 82% lead, 15% antimony and 3% tin.

Types of Lead Acid Batteries

Starting, lighting ignition batteries (SLI):These batteries are used in automotive industries and have high charge and discharge rates. Most often these batteries use electrode plates strengthened with either lead calcium in a sealed configuration, or lead antimony in a flooded configuration. These batteries have a good life under shallow-cycle conditions, but have very poor lifetime under deep cycling.

Traction or Motive power batteries: Traction or Motive batteries are used to provide electric power for small transport vehicles, like golf carts. Compared to SLI batteries, these batteries are designed to have a greater capacity to be deep-cycled while still sustaining a long lifetime. Furthermore, Traction or Motive power batteries ability to withstand deep cycling is far below that of a true deep-cycle battery.

RV or marine batteries: These batteries are can be thought of to be a mixture of SLI batteries, traction batteries, and true deep-cycle batteries. The lifetime of these batteries are limited, at best, to a few years; hence these batteries are typically not a long-term cost effective option.

Stationary batteries: Stationary batteries are often used for emergency power in uninterruptible power supply applications, like generators. They are shallow-cycle batteries intended to be close to fully charged for the majority of their life-spans with only occasional deep discharges.