Where do you buy your casting lead & what's it cost you?

If you poke around tire shops you can usually find it pretty cheap, i seperate my zinc and once i have enough i will try and sell it off for dirt cheap too someone who makes fishing sinkers just to get rid of it (zinc makes fine sinkers according to a buddy i used to dump all mine on)
 
I pay 0.25 per lb for unsorted wheel weights.
At least 65% is usable nice hard lead so that's about 40 cents per clean lb.
Clean yield varies per shop though. I stopped going to one place since they have considerably more steel stick on weights, valves and floor sweeping cr@p in the bucket.

At a scrapyard in the area they give me a good deal (50-65 cents currently) on lead if they have some since i go there more often to buy metal or parts.
 
bertn said:
I pay 0.25 per lb for unsorted wheel weights.
At least 65% is usable nice hard lead so that's about 40 cents per clean lb.
Clean yield varies per shop though. I stopped going to one place since they have considerably more steel stick on weights, valves and floor sweeping cr@p in the bucket.

At a scrapyard in the area they give me a good deal (50-65 cents currently) on lead if they have some since i go there more often to buy metal or parts.
Click to expand...

You'll have to take me one of these days ;)
 
yomomma said:
You'll have to take me one of these days ;)
Click to expand...

Have not bought much lead from the scrap yard the last 6 months and no wheelweights for almost a year since I'm running out of room in my garage, have about 8 full buckets still to melt down.
Really need to fine tune the shotmaker this spring and crank out a few hundred pounds of shot.
 
bertn said:
Have not bought much lead from the scrap yard the last 6 months and no wheelweights for almost a year since I'm running out of room in my garage, have about 8 full buckets still to melt down.
Really need to fine tune the shotmaker this spring and crank out a few hundred pounds of shot.
Click to expand...

I have a 50 gallon barrel full but am getting an itch to go lead hunting again :)
 
most of my ww is free and I have 1500 lb on hand to keep me going for many years to come. it is melted down and put into 1lb bars to make it more compact. I still pick up a few here and there for free, I cannot resist free.
 
I just paid $421 for 1/3 of a bucket of wheel weights. They threw in a search on an engine code and O2 sensor replacement too.

Auggie D.
 
North of Toronto, spent a day going around a bunch of tireshops. Some wanted $60 per bucket, some $20, some were ok with $5 per bucket. But I a few that will give the wheel weights for free. I gave them the homedepot orange buckets with my name/phone to put the scrap weights in and call me when the buckets are full. They say june and december are the times to pick up the buckets after the tire season ends. Some will have a few buckets for me some just half a bucket. But all free. I just done it a few months ago - so it is all there. The stuff I took home was about 30% lead wheel weights, after I sorted them, the rest zinc, steel etc.
Then I went to a marina and spoke to the owner, asked if he had any scrap boats with keels. He said he just got rid of one but has another and I can knock myself out cutting the lead keel from it. That would be lots of lead - all free, just some work needed.

Long story short - its all there, just need to look.
I just started collecting lead and already have all I ever need and a future supply too.
 
I just processed a 3 gallon bucket yesterday while I was burning scrap wood from my workshop, close to 70lbs of clip on wheel weights, about 30 lbs stick-on mixed with maybe 7 lbs of roof lead.
still have two more 5 gallon buckets to go thru and sort. have a bunch of diving weights as well, they are softer than clip on wheel weights, but harder than the stick on ones.

I do process the zinc and questionable wheel weights as well, want to start making fishing weights and cod jiggers for sale. found large hooks cheap, looking for a metal jigger mold, might end up making one soon.
will have to get out and get some more lead soon.
 
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