First try at melting wheel weights and some "what not to do" tips.

After that first, failed attempt I've had no issues.

Now have just over 120lbs in muffin-tin ingots, and one more bucket to go. I do sort before melting now, and leave about 1/2" of "known good" remaining in my pot. Once the known good is melted, I continue to add weights. The few zinc that sneak through my sorting obviously float on the surface of the melt. It really is pretty straightforward.

Once I've got some more confidence in my process I'll try purposely adding some zinc for hardness.
 
To each his own I guess. Never hear of melting zinc to harden lead. Everyone has his methods but personally I will never let zinc melt into alloy. I keep the melting temp below the Zn melting temp when I transform COWW into ingots.
If I want to harden lead I use linotype only.
 
^ Part of using ww is the frugal aspect, and the percentage on non-lead ww rises every year (assuming there was a golden age I never new...I've only collected buckets in 2016). It is a viable use of "scrap". As pointed out earlier, it took negligence to ruin a batch with it. A base of useful alloy allows not only for an obvious temp control, but the platform for anything else introduced.

Linotype isn't around everycorner, and th'odds of me getting some are slim. I have almost 150lbs of zinc ww to get rid of, and ifsome of it could be slung through a barrel then so much the better.
 
Another thing to add is that a lot of my casting and melting supplies have come from the thrift store. Big soup spoons and ladles, and a wooden handled strainer thing that I thought would catch fire on the first attempt, but didn't. I use the strainer thing for removing clips and other assorted junk from the initial melt. It looks like an ice fishing strainer, only way smaller, about 3" in diameter.

For my molds I use angle iron ingots. 2x2 by however wide an ammo can is to hold the ingots in crosswise. I also have some larger molds made from channel iron that make a mold the same length as the ammo cans. I welded the ends on at an angle so that the ingots drop out of the molds with little resistance. They're not precise in any way, just eyeballed as to the angle the end pieces should be and then stick welded in place. Handles on the big molds to make handling easier, and vicegrips on the smaller molds.
 
Moose_Master said:
So you're saying that in a 50 lbs pot I can have 2.5 lbs of zinc and will not affect my alloy. Never heard anything like this before.
Click to expand...

I'm not saying it. I'm only passing on info that "yomomma" has posted and he seems to have researched it pretty thoroughly. I do know that through my own negligence I have accidentally melted a few zinc wheel weights into my mix and have noticed no adverse effects in terms of poor mould fill, etc. Therefore, while I can't state a specific acceptable percentage I can tell you that the odd zinc wheel weight in your mix is not going to render the whole thing toxic.
 
Well, then go for it. I'll personally follow the path of absolutely no zinc in the alloy. No exceptions. I ruined once a set of 7 drippers on my shot maker with lead contaminated with zinc and I will never do it again. Original James Stuart drippers may not be valuable for others but for me were very valuable.
 
Up to date no bullet manufacturer advertise zinc alloyed bullets. Rotometals in their section "bullet alloys" don't sell anything that contains zinc. Every bullet casting manual I've read do not recommend having zinc into the mix. I think it's all for a reason.
 
At one time everybody thought the world was flat until some brave soul went out of his way to prove it was round.

http://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?136800-zinc-aluminum-bullets

Elite%20Bullets
 
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Thank you for the link.
The read above strengthen my belief that I should not get zinc into my alloy. But as you said, it is possible. At what expense and for which purpose other than a great experiment I have no idea.
Some companies make bullets out of tungsten and even depleted uranium, they are called armor piercing bullets. But even those are jacketed in order not to damage the barrel. But the point is that it's possible. True.

The great part in the link above is the fact that someone at least tried it. The bad part is the outcome on the long run clearly stated in the last post who kills the whole thread on page 3.
 
Still...a small percentage of zinc in the mix will do nada. Bullets will be a tiny bit lighter and just add a little more tin to get propper fillout.

There is also a wholevother gang that is papper patching zinc to negate barrel wear
 
Lyman cast bullet hand book mentions zinc mixed in alloy to bring up the hardness, not more than 2%.
Once your melt won't stick to the clips, this about the time zinc will float. I try to stir a bit from the start, this speeds up the process and allows the zinc to float. I usually set my ladles, ingot molds and such near or on the pot to let the dry completely. Dissapointment and failure is part of casting once you learn what works best for you it is very rewarding and fun.
Be safe
 
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