is this worth it 60 cents a pound plus tax for lead wheel weights ?

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nova_scotian_guy

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so is 60 cents a pound plus tax worth it for lead wheel weights ... found a spot that has over 500 pounds of lead wheel weights (told there could be some zinc but not likely ) they still have their steel clipy things attached... is this worth it or is this too much or the going rate?
 
I would go .30 to .40 cents/lb! It is hard to know up front how much actual lead you will wind up with after you smelt it down. Then there may be costs in fuel to smelt into ingots, gas for the truck to go somewhere to do it if you are like me living in an apt.

I purchased a couple of hundred lbs of wheel weight alloy in 1 lb ingots from a CGN member here not long ago for $1.10/lb. which was a heck of a deal, mind you he lives in my town! I'm not trying to deter you from buying wheel weights, but there are other costs involved once you have the them to smelt....

Good luck & have fun!:cool:
 
ruffbird said:
I would go .30 to .40 cents/lb! It is hard to know up front how much actual lead you will wind up with after you smelt it down. Then there may be costs in fuel to smelt into ingots, gas for the truck to go somewhere to do it if you are like me living in an apt.

I purchased a couple of hundred lbs of wheel weight alloy in 1 lb ingots from a CGN member here not long ago for $1.10/lb. which was a heck of a deal, mind you he lives in my town! I'm not trying to deter you from buying wheel weights, but there are other costs involved once you have the them to smelt....

Good luck & have fun!:cool:
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no one around here is into casting bullets and they ones that are only have lead for them self no one else
for gas i drive past the place atleast once a week or 1 every 2 weeks
for the gas .. propain 20$ plus tax for a 20 pound tank to get it filled
 
60 cents is a bit high
if you get 50% lead and 50% junk =$1.20 a pound plus your work/time
smaller ww = less lead = more junk
the best recovery was about 65% about 5 years ago when you only got a handfull of Zinc ww in a bucket

Last bucket had lots of steel and zinc and lots of trash

last pot i did 2 years ago was small ww lots of junk lots of Zinc =45/50% lead at the end
 
Maybe worth 60 cents if you sort it onsite but no way would I pay that for unknown amount of junk with it. If they said there might be Zinc, then they know there is some and there was enough for them to notice. You could always buy a bit of it say 50 lbs and see what you get out of it.
 
Next time I get a bunch of zinc I'm going to smelt them seperate and pour into ingot's and return them and see what I get for them
 
I'm with Seagull. If you can sort on-site or guarantee 80%+ lead then $.60/lbs isn't that bad. Last batch of mixed WW's I got was probably 50-60% steel and zinc.

zuke said:
Next time I get a bunch of zinc I'm going to smelt them seperate and pour into ingot's and return them and see what I get for them
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Generally unless they are purified and verified by a licensed foundry/metallurgist/etc. they count exactly the same as scrap.
If you bring in polished, deprimed, sorted brass cases you will usually get the same price as dirty, unsorted brass with maybe a few steel or aluminum cases in there.
The smaller the operation, the more likely you are to get a better price as they are more likely to negotiate.
 
If they are the only and nearest source for WW or even lead it's not a bad deal as shipping in other lead could be so expensive that it would cost you way more. When I lived in Alberta it was a 50 mile trip to even find a tire shop let alone buy wheel weights so took what I could get.
 
zuke said:
Next time I get a bunch of zinc I'm going to smelt them seperate and pour into ingot's and return them and see what I get for them
Click to expand...

depends on the metal buyer... Some buy it as scrap iron, others buy it as zinc... Be very careful melting zinc. It becomes vapor at a much lower temperature than you'd think and the poisoning from it is not fun....
 
No because the bucket has anywhere from 10 to up to 40% steel and zinc weights in it. If you sorted it right there and then paid whatever for it, then your sure your getting what you paid for.
I bought 2000 lbs of them for a lot less. (couple of 2 4s of beer) and no there not for sale.
 
amosfella: melting point 420 celsius, boiling 910 celsius(we aren't to likely to achieve either). I believe kids toys used to be made of a zinc alloy. Compounds of zinc may be more prevalent, and wise to avoid(ie skimming your pot).
 
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