Smelting wheel weights using wood fire?

I've seen a lot of threads derailed here on CGN, but honestly, this was one subject I figured would be pretty safe.
My mistake.

SandRoad - Thank you for the correction, your knowledge of metallurgical terminology is staggering. I shall now bend over and kick myself in the ass every time I use the word "smelting" incorrectly. Thank-you for enriching my life. Now please, let us focus on the subject of melting wheel weights, using fire.

Jeez...
 
SandRoad said:
Just trying to save you a whole lot of butt hurt and about $100,000 in legal fees. Using the word smelting instead of melting will cost you that or more. Maybe it makes no difference to YOU, but to tens of thousands of inspectors, investigators and regulatory personal from a number of ministries, the difference is is like telling a CO you are poaching instead of telling them you are actually just legally hunting.

But since you don't care, good luck to you, just make sure you got loads of cash, you'll need it.

(For a couple decades, myself and associates have dealt will various ministries for approvals and defending people for exactly these little types of "misunderstandings". The CFO and firearms people are easy and pleasant to deal with in comparison)

Melting lead is legal without any permits (as far as I'm aware). But smelting is an extremely regulated industry, and without dozens permits and approvals, monitoring and reporting out your ###. They will have a field day with you if you "admit" you are smelting, and without approvals? Their job, and attitude is to lay every charge they can, and let someone else figure it out. I've seen this happen MANY times before, and for no good reason. It's not pleasant, bring lube.
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your fighting a battle you aren't going to win, we all know it's not technically smelting, but that's what it's referred to and likely will be for a very long time.
 
For what it's worth, I've used one of those turkey deep fryer set ups to melt lead wheel weights...
Spent a few hours going through numerous 5 gallon pails of weights, sorting out the zinc ones. Eventually you can sort out the zinc from lead based on looks alone, but I'd recommend using a pair if side cutters to test the weights to begin with: if they pinch easy, lead. If they don't, zinc. Also, the flat, stick on wheel weights are generally zinc, and I think marked with Zc (?).
Anyways, once melted, we fluxed with tea lights (after pulling them from the tin they come in and removing the wicks), then added a bit of beeswax to finish. Scrape the bottom and sides of the pot while you're adding the tea lights and beeswax, it'll stir up all the impurities to the top. We then ladled the liquid lead into cast iron muffin trays, let them cool, and flipped them out to finish cooling on pallets.
I'd highly recommend getting a respirator and proper cartridges. We used MSA respirators and P100 cartridges... Staying upwind is a good idea too
I'd also recommend wearing FR covies, or at least long sleeve shirt and pants, as it tends to splatter a bit...

Hope this helps...
 
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Mr Crazy.

I currently have one of my sources securing me 100-200 lbs of scrap lead, mostly lead flashing.

As soon as I have that in hand I will be in contact. If you are coming from a distance I'll sweeten the pot with some beer and Bambi sausages :)

And we will Schmelt together, knowing that every time we use the word smelt the devil will stick a red hot steel poker in a kittens eye, upsetting Sandbag...
 
yomomma said:
You are a friggin lawyer...that explains soooooo much,f:P:
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I'm not a lawyer, but work with many. And, it's guy's with attitudes like yours that enable us to make a very comfortable living.

I guess you aren't aware that any soil contamination on your property is permanently registered on title. Which means no mortgage company will touch it, and makes your property pretty much worthless. And, that liability for contamination follows you even after you have sold the property. Yep, wonderful system we have. Just misuse a few common words, they will be taken out of context and used against you. I've seen it happen far too many times.

But hey, I don't give a #### what you do. In fact, I like that "invincible, I don't care" attitude. It keeps me in business, and enables me to buy lots of cool toys.
 
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Spawn-Inc said:
your fighting a battle you aren't going to win, we all know it's not technically smelting, but that's what it's referred to and likely will be for a very long time.
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I know, but my post was for information for reasonable people, so they don't get themselves in a whole lot of trouble when all it takes is to use a different/proper word.

Just like we don't say we get our hunting license and go poaching at night with our machine gun, but rather hunting at dawn with our semi auto.
 
SandRoad said:
But hey, I don't give a #### what you do. In fact, I like that "invincible, I don't care" attitude. It keeps me in business, and enables me to buy lots of cool toys.
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Excellent. Keep quiet then. Collect your money and let the rest of us live in sweet oblivion.

Start your own thread if you think you have anything to say that people might want to hear.

Got to go now....got to flush my rad over the ditch.
 
I have no reason to believe that you couldn't use a wood fire to melt lead. I was thinking that it would be a miserable hot job. The size of the fire needed to put out enough BTU's in a decent amount of time would be better spent in the fall or springtime. A good firebox to keep the heat channeled towards the lead container would help, too.
Don't forget to hit up Value Village for supplies: skimming spoons, and at least one spoon with holes in it to scoop out the big stuff but still lets the good lead dribble back into the pot without throwing it away.
And a 5 gallon metal pail or old paint can to contain the skimmings. I always contained the skimmings that way. You can sell it to the scrap yard for a couple of bucks if nothing else.
 
Egg on my face....

I blame my advanced years...

Sandroad, my apologies, got you confused with Sunray. Maybe you can understand my tort answers

I'll still call it schmelting....but your opinion carries a bit more weight now
 
577/450 said:
IBTL simple answer, yes lead can be MELTED over a campfire/ wood fire.
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You are quite right sir!!

After all, this has been the way it was done since firearms were, like, you know, INVENTED!!!!

Until the invention of self-contained cartridges, this is how bullets were made, AND still were made right up until the, oh, 1870's. Frontiersmen would cast bullets by the fire when they camped for the night!!!!

Of course, this is long before alloys were added to pure lead. I don't think I'd use lead wheel weights for melting and recasting into bullets, just because that damned zinc they're often alloyed with really fubars it's castability.
 
Zinc is only a problem to those who are careless.

In close to 700 lbs schmelted I have rescued a small piece of zinc in the mix....no biggy up to 3 % zinc in the mix will affect nada

shredder said:
Of course, this is long before alloys were added to pure lead. I don't think I'd use lead wheel weights for melting and recasting into bullets, just because that damned zinc they're often alloyed with really fubars it's castability.
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I use a drum from a dryer sitting on three bricks and filled with dry ash firewood. The crucible is part of a 25 lb propane tank. It does one pail of weights at a time - About six or eight batches per day. I do it in winter and set the muffin pans in the snow to chill quick.
 
It says it can hold 50 pounds

http://www.leevalley.com/en/garden/page.aspx?cat=2,40725,45454&p=71916

gb304s1.jpg


https://vitalgrill.com/shop/vitalgrill-stove-2/
 
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My RM doesn't recycle paper and cardboard, so I save it and use it as lead melting fuel, about a month's worth of cardboard, boxboard and paper melted down over a 100lbs of lead flashing, lead pipe, fishing weights, plumbers lead and reclaimed shot. The stupid thing was, my pot, an old propane tank, had some lead in the bottom that had gotten wet and rusted the pot, the film of rust had me convinced that it wasn't hot enough, untill I poked it with a stick, totally melted the 10lbs or so left in the bottom of the pot probably in the first 15 minutes, but I kept feeding the fire "cause it wasn't melting" stupid. This was done in a rough "furnace" made from a 60lb propane with the topp cut off and a door cut into the bottom to feed the fire. Free fuel.
 
the harder is to start the lead melting, once you got a little started its good.
electric plate are very slow because you can only get 1000W on the wired one, a small wood fire output way more energy than that.
 
I use a wood fire to melt wheel weights into muffins.

I use an old dryer drum for a firebox - sitting on three bricks so the air can get in under the drum. I use an old round metal table-top under it to build the fire on and to catch drippings.

My crucible is part of an old propane tank cut on an angle - it holds just a little over one pail of weights.

As a lead scoop, I use a little propane tank, cut so the lead can get in a large hole and be poured out a 3/8 inch hole into the muffins. It has a four foot handle.

The dryer drum is sitting with the small hole up - the hole that you would ( okay - the wife would) load the clothes through.

I fill it up with the best wood that I have and use whatever flammable liquids are handy to get it lit up.

After setting the crucible on the top, and filling it with weights, I can go away for an hour or so until the smoke clears and the lead is molten - and come back to make muffins.

Reload with wood and weights and go away again - this isn't maple syrup - there are no nice smells or tastes - it is better not to be there.

I've only used it a few times - doing 3 - 500 lbs a day - I've got more than I need for a long time.

I do it in the winter - the muffin tins sit on snow to chill.

There is no issue with Zinc weights - they just float.

A big day of melting will leave most of a pail of clips and trash.

Anything works as "flux" to coat the trash with carbon so the lead doesn't stick to it. If any rubber valve stems or wood or paper are in the mix, that will do - or stir it with a wooden stick.

If anything wet is pushed into the molten lead, it does nicely decorate anything nearby. If it is done in batches as I describe, a little molten lead can be left in the crucible to accelerate the next melt but be careful not to introduce wet weights into the molten lead.
 
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