First try at melting wheel weights and some "what not to do" tips.
- Thread starter camster
- Start date
I add lead to my pot all the time, and it's always dry because it's stored properly. Regardless - everything should be dried out BEFORE you put it in the pot whether hot or cold. The whole "tinsel fairy" thing is overblown and exaggerated.
There is far greater potential to danger while driving on a public road than there is while casting bullets, and yet most of us don't remind each other daily to obey traffic signals because it's just obvious. If we know what we're doing, and we pay attention - we'll be fine.
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I started out years ago with a Salvation Army hotplate and an old frying pan. And nowhere near as much lead as you have. Keep at it and soon you'll be dumpster diving and scrap yard patrolling, not to mention prowling around truck stops looking to "lighten the load" for truckers by removing weight from their tires. (Kinda hard as some weights are inside the steer tires in sticky style wheel weights)
Keep at it and good luck!!
Keep at it and good luck!!
LOL - I'm guessing you're a truck driver?
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I'm a company driver, and I don't even get a crack at the wheelweights off the equipment we use. Everything is subcontracted out to KalTire, so they're the ones with all of our wheelwieghts. I haven't even tried asking the tire techs for weights. Like a lot of people, I get shot down on a regular basis when asking tire shops for their used wheelweights.
Yeah, it was meant as a joke, but some of those weights can be several ounces each in weight.
Was talking to my safety department last week and a while back we had a load stolen at gunpoint in our nations capital.
So, prowling around a truck stop will probably not end well for somebody who is up to no good.
Good luck to the OP on his search for lead
Yeah, it was meant as a joke, but some of those weights can be several ounces each in weight.
Was talking to my safety department last week and a while back we had a load stolen at gunpoint in our nations capital.
So, prowling around a truck stop will probably not end well for somebody who is up to no good.
Good luck to the OP on his search for lead
Yes, I'm a trucker. I've seen many things happen and I speak from personal experience when I say that truckers don't take lightly any mess around. Company drivers are mild as they have nothing that belongs to them. Owner operators and mostly independent owner operators won't forgive anyone who mess around with their equipment. When you pay around 250K for your equipment you'll do anything to protect it.
The people who are interested in casting their own bullets are probably not the people who would steal ww from a vehicle. You truly need to lighten up a bunch, buddy.
Couldn't help m'self....picked up another bucket yesterday, and will try to find some sorting time this weekend. About 2 hours gets me through a seven gallon bucket. My 2nd attempt used wire cutters on every weight, but that's overkill. All runs since then I've just eyeballed them, and that's good enough. The few that sneak through are very easy to skim off the top in the melter.
I've added "Prying wheel weights from active vehicles" to the not to do list.
I have a little Lee production 4 pot. On the "to do" list I suggest it get filled to the top each time. 20 minutes start up whether one new ingot or three are added to it. Much easier to skim dross from a fuller pot, and startup is faster too. Adding an ingot means 15 minute break, and I don't like like stopping once I'm in rhythm.
I've added "Prying wheel weights from active vehicles" to the not to do list.
I have a little Lee production 4 pot. On the "to do" list I suggest it get filled to the top each time. 20 minutes start up whether one new ingot or three are added to it. Much easier to skim dross from a fuller pot, and startup is faster too. Adding an ingot means 15 minute break, and I don't like like stopping once I'm in rhythm.
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Pick up as many buckets you can and stash them even if you don't use them right away. Casting WW will be soon history as zinc and iron will replace Pb WW. I can barely get 35-40% Pb out of a full bucket. Later on you can even sell WW if you have no use for. If you don't use them right away keep them in their original form as casters are reluctant in buying ingots ready made because nobody knows where the alloy came from and what's in it. I had the opportunity to buy 1000 lbs of WW in ingots already very very cheap but I didn't want to take any chance so I passed. I did it once and I got burned, so for me is either buying WW in their original form or I buy straight from a specialized company who sells ingots with certificate of purity and hardness.
It was a joke and no need to tell anyone they shouldn't steal.
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Wheel weights aren't the only source of lead, just the one I started with. My brother-in-law popped by yesterday with about 40lbs of lead he'd found at a yardsale. One is a bar at about 20lb, and a lump/ball about the same weight with an eye in it. Got 'em both for 5 bucks, and left some there not knowing if I'd want them... I do, and will sneak by today to see if still available. A neighbour has a hardness tester, but I'm guessing they are pure/soft being they came from a boat builder's.
Back to buckets 'o' wheel weights... I guess like th'ol bits & bites commercial: "Every handfull is different". My most recent 7 gallon bucket is at least 55%+ more lead than useless. 36+ lbs muffin-tin ingots and still 1/3 of original bucket left to sort. Haven't touched the yard-sale lead yet.
More for the "don't do" list...after water dropping fresh bullets: if you mould is making hissing noises DO NOT pour... My mould must have gotten splashed when I water dropped. I was in my rhythm, and was still wondering what the hiss could be when I started filling. L'il burp of lead popped back out of second hole faster than it went in. No major tinsel fairy thing, but a l'il burp just th same.
More for the "do" list... Scrape bottom and sides of pot thoroughly when fluxing/skimming...the amount of detritus (dross-to-be) that adheres to pot bottom and sides is serious! I had only been using rounded objects stolen from my kitchen. Ladle, spoon, round perforated thingy (looks like the same tool to clear ice from fishing holes). I've now a dedicated scraper (egg-flipper) with flat bottom end side edges just to get at th'stuff when fluxing.
More for the "don't do" list...after water dropping fresh bullets: if you mould is making hissing noises DO NOT pour... My mould must have gotten splashed when I water dropped. I was in my rhythm, and was still wondering what the hiss could be when I started filling. L'il burp of lead popped back out of second hole faster than it went in. No major tinsel fairy thing, but a l'il burp just th same.
More for the "do" list... Scrape bottom and sides of pot thoroughly when fluxing/skimming...the amount of detritus (dross-to-be) that adheres to pot bottom and sides is serious! I had only been using rounded objects stolen from my kitchen. Ladle, spoon, round perforated thingy (looks like the same tool to clear ice from fishing holes). I've now a dedicated scraper (egg-flipper) with flat bottom end side edges just to get at th'stuff when fluxing.
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He's not posting as regularly now but CGN member yomomma has a lot of casting experience and he maintained that up to 5% zinc in the mix will not adversely affect cast bullet quality (actually may help to increase hardness). I would keep your original pour and add those ingots to your new pours that you know are pure wheel weights. Keep the ratio at 20:1 to avoid going over the 5% level. BTW instead of using muffin trays for your ingots try a mini muffin tray. Each cavity produces about a 1/2 pound ngot and they melt far quicker than muffin size ingots.
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It requires extreme negligence to melt zinc into the mix, as its meting temperature is high enough above lead that if you simply watch the melt and once it's in the "slush" stage you ladle off the waste (zinc included) immediately, you'll have no problems. I've done over two tons this way, with no sorting except for paper, rubber, other wastes and obvious zinc and steel wheelweights. In fact I have on several occasions tried to melt zinc in the same pot and I had to crank up the heat and wait, and wait. It took five minutes at the highest setting (and I have a very high BTU setup) to melt three zinc wheelweights into 2 1/2 lbs of lead. I poured it into an ingot and I could not tell it from the others.
That said, it's nonsense that even traces of zinc are melted in that the entire pot is ruined, so if it does happen, that's a bit of insurance if you are for some reason extremely negligent.
Of course you can feel free to choose to sort fastidiously, employ thermometers and the like, I'm just saying it's not required.
Zinc is the Great Satan of casting and I know that in some circles what I've said goes against Dogma and is considered heresy, but this has been my experience.
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