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

camster

camster

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Been some keen to get casting. Have been collecting required paraphernalia for a few months, and ready set melt...
Lazy by nature, I didn't sort m'weights thinking the lead would melt out before Zn, and I could just scoop off the detritus, steel, and zinc before temps got hot enough. Sound theory, and it may have worked (and may still) with a more refined beginning.
Not a glowing success for first attempt, but hey I make the mistakes so other folks don't have too.

-Issues start with the buckets 'o' wheel weights. After not achieving the goal I looked a little closer at what I was working with. looks to be about 65-75% Zinc! Will sort next batch.

-Pot too big for my heat source. I have a pretty large (12" diameter) steel pot for melting, and it's on an older white gas burning Coleman stove. The base got hot enough to melt zinc, before the upper levels of weights got hot enough to melt paint. I put some known soft lead near the top so I could see when I got hot enough, but was busy melting zinc lower in the pot way before soft lead further from the heat.

-Wrong thermometer! I'll probably invest in a probe style, as the laser/IR didn't really report temps where I needed to know them.

Once everything cools down, and I've cleaned up the current fiasco will try again. I will put a bit more effort into sorting prior this time, and use a smaller pot.
 
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I sorted mine and slowly added them. Once the first handful was melted I added another until the pot was full it worked well for me
 
Keep at it cam. It will be a bit of try as you go along. But like most of us you will figure things out and enjoy. I have not cast any bullets for some time. But over the years I was able to accumulate allot of ingots. Now to decide if I should convert it to shot or most pistol bullets. Not shooting allot of cast boolits these days. But maybe time to re evaluate.......

It is a rewarding process.
 
Casting is not for everyone. If you do it right is rewarding from many stand points. If not, it will all transform into frustration and disappointment. Take your time and follow the rules.
A bad smelting session is way more precious and worth way more than a session of watching TV and learn absolutely nothing. You learned from your experience and that's the most important and positive thing. Keep doing it and never give up.
One small observation tho. If you know you smelted zinc into the lead alloy do not reuse that thing . Just throw it away. Start fresh and you will not regret.
Don't quit. Never quit.
 
i do a rough sort through of my wheel weights then melt them in 25ish lb batches. once i get a better place I'd like to build a 300lb pot and burner setup so i can then mix everything together for a more consistent lead batch.

I currently use a cheap ($50) bass pro fish fryer burner for my melting which can be set pretty low to avoid melting the zinc.
 
The fish fryer burner works great. Or if you have firewood melt it over fire to save gas.

In worst case if zinc melted in DON'T throw it away, make fishing weights. 4oz betties, 10oz banana uses up lead quick.
 
First batch of shiny muffins are cooling in th'yard.

EDIT/ADD-ON:
Good things to know:
-Once I fluxed my spoon, and th'pot got all black n' grimy. Looks nasty, but nothing sticks to them anymore. Hot lead rolls right off.
-"Slushy feeling" doesn't automatically mean Zn contamination. I added a fairly large scoop, and that cooled the works down enough to feel slushy. Once the mix was back up to temp it was all nice again. I know no ZN was in this batch as I hit every single one with wire cutters.
 
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I built a small furnace style oven from brick used in fireplaces, its about 1 foot cube, in the back have a electric element running 220v thro a temperature controller, the frame was 1 inch angle same for the door with hinges, I use stainless pan with the handle cut short which a piece of 1 inch square tube fits, using the control I can mix lead, zinc weights and let it sit for a half hour plus, first time I scoop zinc and steel clips, if needed add another bunch till half full, then with the tube grab the pot and pour into the ingot mold, after all lead is done we up the temperature and cast the zinc into ingots, got a few hundred pounds of zinc ingots I need a project for, using the temperature control and make shift furnace holds a steady temperature to eliminate the sorting or zinc contamination
 
Thanks for all the insider info folks. Since 2nd try: I have been sorting weights(less than half are usable), adding only a few until melted and topping up a few at a time. Managed to get 19 and 2/3 lead-muffins (no scale but just a bit over 2lbs each). Sorted my second bucket of weights, and later this afternoon will melt (not smelt) what I recovered. I found that leaving about 1cm of "known good" lead in the bottom of my pot makes startup, and temperature control a bit easier. I cover my pot when heating, but it's with a fry-pan and next bunch of weights in it...I'm paranoid about water/tinsel fairy visits so figure pre-heating wouldn't hurt anyone.

Today cast about eighty 6.5mm 140gr, and twenty five or so .311 180gr "keepers". My 6.5 went dead easy, and exactly as hoped in a Lyman mould. The .311 in a Lee single cavity took a while to form up nicely, but am in the swing now.

More for the "don't do" list...straw-gold through blue means things are too hot! (L'il Lee 10lb production pot)

Like many of these sorts of things, it seems fairly straight-forward after a bit of practice. I do find a zen-like calm once routine is established.
 
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Dogleg said:
It is sort of mesmerizing. :)
Click to expand...

I am reloading due a frugal nature, and a serious need of more shooting practice. I never knew that I would actually come to love rolling m'own almost as much as trigger squeezing. If I could capture the tranquilty that comes with processing ammo while shooting I might actually hit stuff!
 
Moose_Master said:
C'mon show some pictures. I love images with lead.
Click to expand...

Lead from second 7 gallon bucket (Less but the bucket had 4 empty brake cleaner cans in th'bottom) sorted.

Fancy schmancy melting rig

Hot fresh lead muffins. Aprox 2lbs each (I poured these a little lighter than my first batch to better fit tiny 10lb melting pot)


Fate of a few of my first muffin batch, 6.5mm 140gr on th'left, .311 180gr on the right.
 
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