How To Scrap Letterpress Metal and Type Metal

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The technique of letterpress printing, along with the invention of the printing press, is arguably the most important innovation of all time. The technology that drove forward the spread of information, however, has since been reduced to a niche industry kept alive by a small number of passionate crafters and tradesmen. The undeniable reality, in many cases, is that most letterpress shops are slowly going out of business, if they haven’t gone out of business already.

This reality presents an opportunity for scrap metal recycling. The letterpress industry is full of iron alloy, copper alloy, and lead alloy scrap metal. A scrap metal junkie can salvage all of these different metals to make cash. Today, however, I will focus on scrap type metal and how to maximize the scrap value of lead-based letterpress alloys. I explain more below.

What Is Scrap Type Metal?

Type metal is the name given to the special class of lead based alloys used to create “type,” the basic building blocks of the letterpress technique. The common characteristic between various alloys of type metal is that they contain mainly lead (Pb) with significant amounts of antimony (Sb) and tin (Sn). Roughly speaking, type metal alloys will contain about 80% Lead, 15% Antimony, 5% Tin.

Foundry type metal is a valuable subset of type metal used to create fonts – and I’m speaking simply here – which are complete collections of individual letters. Foundry type metal has a higher percentage of antimony and tin, as much as 25% and 12% respectively. Foundry type metal will usually have a small amount of copper as well, around 2%-3%.

Linotype alloy is a different subset of type metal. Linotype alloy is used to cast full lines of type, and it has lower percentage of antimony and tin, usually around 12% and 4% respectively. (See the picture above for an example of Linotype.)

Hard lead is the name used to describe lead alloys with significant amounts of antimony in their composition. It is sometimes used to describe lead that has any number of other additives. (Soft lead, on the other hand, refers to lead that has virtually no impurities, and is just pure lead.) You could describe type metal as a hard lead, but it is generally considered its own thing.

Is Scrap Type Metal Dangerous?

No. Type metal is not dangerous, and it is not considered a hazardous material. Solid lead cannot be absorbed through the skin, and must be ingested to cause harm.

While it is true that type metal is made of mostly lead, that doesn’t mean it is dangerous. Like anything you sell to the scrap yard, don’t put it in your mouth and you’ll be fine. Use gloves when you handle it. If you handle it with your bare hands, no big deal, just make sure you thoroughly wash your hands.

How Much Is Scrap Type Metal Worth?

At a scrap yard, scrap type metal is worth as little as $0.20/Lb. On eBay, scrap type metal is worth as much as $2/Lb. (As of November 2019)

There is often a disparity between the melt value of an alloy, and the scrap value of an alloy. In the case of type metal, this disparity is surprisingly hard to swallow.

Melt value is what the market value of an alloy is once it is refined into its pure elemental parts. The melt value of type metal is higher than the melt value of soft lead. While lead is a relatively low cost base metal (~$1/Lb), antimony and tin are both relatively expensive base metals (~$3/Lb, ~$8/Lb). So using our percentages of 80% Pb, 15% Sb, and 5% Sn, we can calculate the melt value of type metal to be roughly $1.65/Lb. (The actual melt value depends on your exact alloy.)

By comparing the $1/Lb melt value of pure lead to the ~$1.65/Lb melt value of type metal, one could hope scrap type metal has a price that is 65% higher than scrap soft lead. Rhetorically speaking, if scrap soft lead is worth $0.50/Lb, maybe you could expect the scrap yard to pay you $0.80/Lb for your scrap type metal?

At the scrap yard, however, you should consider yourself lucky and blessed if they buy your scrap type metal for scrap soft lead price. At most scrap yards, all of the valuable additives in type metal are considered contamination that must be removed. They are more of a hassle than an asset. (As an analogy, it’s like tin solder on Copper #2. Even though tin solder is worth more than copper, it has contaminated the copper making the total scrap value less.)

Why? Scrap yards do not have high enough volumes of type metal to justify buying it at a special price. They either lump their type metal in with all of their general lead, or they keep it in a hard lead pile (lead wheel weights, etc) separate from their soft lead. Either way, they are only interested in the lead value of your alloy, and they will not take into consideration the value of its additives. The only exception would be if you could sell them tons of the stuff at a time.

This is not good news if you have scrap type metal, because the melt value of type metal is actually more than the value of lead. How can you recoup some of that value? Sell scrap type metal online.

How To Sell Scrap Type Metal

There are a few options for selling scrap type metal online. You can sell on Craigslist, Facebook, or eBay. I have had success on local classifieds, like Craigslist and Facebook, where people are interested in buying fast without the added wait time of shipping and handling. This process takes longer, however, because your local market is smaller than online. Because of this, I tend to sell over the internet, and ship to my customers.

Some things you will want before you get started are: Access to an XRF analyzer, an eBay account (or something like eBay), flat rate USPS boxes, a box cutter, a fiber bag (optional), and a scale.

Step 1. Identify Your Scrap Type Metal Alloy

Most buyers of type metal online are interested in using the alloy to make homemade bullets, and are willing to pay a premium over melt value, up to $2 per pound or more. The more information you can provide about the exact alloy you are selling, the better price you will get for the scrap. This is because some buyers want to know the exact composition of their metal, and some pay a premium for lead that is “harder.”

If you know the exact alloy of the metal you have, great! Include the exact alloy name/make and specifications in your listing. This is not a huge deal for most buyers, but it will show you’ve gone the extra mile to provide a genuine product.

If you don’t know the exact alloy of your type metal don’t despair. I suggest you leverage your relationship with your local scrap yard, and ask them to analyze your type metal with an XRF analyzer. You will end up with an analysis like the one above, and it will allow you to represent what you are selling accurately.

If you have a mix of alloys, and you do not want to separate them, you can always sell them together as a big lot. I suggest you still have the type metal analyzed. Pick three random samples of the mixed type metal and have your local scrap lard test each sample. Include the results in your listing, but explain it does not guarantee actual composition.

Step 2. Make A Logistics Plan

A big decision to make when you are making your listing on various services is logistics. Speaking strictly logistically, you want to minimize your costs, maximize your profits, and do so safely. You will want to minimize the “per pound” cost of shipping to make your product more attractive to bulk buyers. (The good thing about selling local is that there is no shipping cost, you can just ask the buyer to come pick it up.)

When selling scrap type metal online, I use flat rate USPS boxes. Flat rate USPS boxes are absolutely the cheapest way to ship this type of material. They have a maximum weight of 70 Lb, more than adequate for our scrap type metal.

It doesn’t matter how much type metal you have: if you want to sell it quickly and make the most profit, you will want to offer it in either 25Lb and 50Lb quantities.

Why 25Lb and 50Lb? 25 Lbs is the maximum that safely fits inside of a medium flat rate USPS box ($14.50), and 50 Lbs is the maximum that safely fits inside a large flat rate USPS box ($19.95). Ideally, you would hope to sell your scrap in 50 Lb lots, because it really minimizes your “per pound” shipping costs.

Step 3. Price And Sell Your Product

This part of the job is really up to personal preference. Like I mentioned before, you can sell for as much as $2 per pound or more, and you can offer free shipping or not. The velocity of this scrap material is not that high, but it does sell. Larger quantities sell better than smaller quantities, but buyers expect a small price advantage in bulk.

There is very little you can do to get a better price for your scrap beyond analyzing what the exact alloy is. That is why I suggest first analyzing your scrap before you list it.

If you search for similar sold items on eBay, you can see how quickly scrap type metal is selling and at what price. This will allow you to make an informed decision about how you want to proceed.

In local markets, meaning somebody comes and picks it up, you should be able to get $2/Lb without much issue, as some people prefer getting something quickly and being able to inspect before they buy. (It just may take longer to sell because there are fewer buyers.)

Step 4. Safely Package And Ship Your Scrap Type Metal

To ship our scrap type metal in 25 Lb and 50 Lb quantities, we will need to have a robust package that will not break and spill. While the USPS is usually very good at what they do, it’s not hard to imagine a disgruntled mail carrier getting angry at a 50 Lb box of lead and throwing it around a bit. So let’s make sure we package the box so that it cannot break open.

As I demonstrate in the picture above, use two USPS flat rate boxes. With a little finesse, you can get one box to slide into another creating a double walled box. This is perfect for something heavy like type metal. To get the outside box to close completely, you will need to use a box cutter to add small cuts to the inner box.

Now you need to weigh the correct portion of scrap type metal with your scale. Before you pour your pre-weighed type metal into the double walled shipping box, line the box with some type of fibrous material. I use left over roofing materials, but you could just as easily use a fiber shopping bag or old rags – something to help make sure the lining of the package is strong. I would avoid using a regular plastic garbage bag, but if you have nothing else you could try double or triple bagging it with some of those. Shoot for something fibrous and strong.

Final Thoughts

And there you have it! Something that was worth as little as $0.20/Lb at the scrap yard is now worth up to 10x as much.

Although I mention it in the beginning of the article, different letterpress techniques make use of different alloys. Another very common metal used in type-founding is brass. Letterpress brass has a standard scrap value at the scrap yard, so I did not consider it when writing this page.

Please share your questions, insights, ideas, and tips in the comments. Happy Scrapping.