I melted zinc into my lead!!

Ruger007

Ruger007

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I was given some 5gal pails of wheel weights (so i thought). there was actually some fishing jigs mixed in the buckets. I would assume there were zinc by the way the ingots almost shatter when dropped!

Is there any practical bullet use for this lead, before i make 10-12 lbs downrigger balls.
 
My understanding is once the zinc is in, you're stuck with it. I believe many try to control the temperature to just below the melting point of Zinc, and skim the zinc wheel weights off with the dross.
 
Apparently it makes it hard as hell to fill in the mould for proper casting, ie: voids in the bullet.

I couldnt tell you for sure because its never happened to me yet!
 
Anchors away that alloy is pretty much toast for bullet making,if you keep you ingot pot temperature no higher than 630 degrees the Zinc want melt and will float on the top and you can skim them off. Lead melts at 620 degrees,Zinc melts at 787 degrees.

It's best to sort your weight or lead alloys before they ever make it to the pot,Zinc weights are hard like steel and clank like steel when dropped on a hard surface instead of a thud like lead weights. You can also check them with a pair of side cutter pliers good lead alloys will be soft and cut or mark easily Zinc alloy will be hard like steel and you want be able to cut or hardly make a mark on them with the pliers.
 
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I have not yet melted zinc in to lead yet

but i have also heard that you almost have to leave it on the burner for a long time ON REAL HIGH

but what i have heard is it will turn lead in to oatmeal like substance (chunks and lumpy)
like when lead is just at melting point but does thin out (and you can not skim it off)

it might not be zinc ---have you tried to remelt it and skim it off

melted 6-7 pices of zinc to try it after dark one day and pot was glowing (made a small zinc bar)
 
Well, I hate to be the bearer of bad news but....... You've now got a nice pile of scrap lead/zinc alloy. You're done-de-done done. There is nothing a home bullet caster can do to get the zinc out. It's junk. If you can make something out of it that can have pock marks all over it, great. If not, find a scrap metal bin and dump it. It's now useless for bullet casting as it will not fill out the mould properly. Sorry man.
 
Ruger007 said:
I was given some 5gal pails of wheel weights (so i thought). there was actually some fishing jigs mixed in the buckets. I would assume there were zinc by the way the ingots almost shatter when dropped!

Is there any practical bullet use for this lead, before i make 10-12 lbs downrigger balls.
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Shatter when dropped from the mold, or when they are cold?

Lead is hot short. Means it does not handle being beaten on or otherwise impacted when it is really hot. If the ingots are breaking up when you dump them from the mold, let them cool longer.

You process these with a gas fired burner or electric?
Less control over the heat on gas fired. Good for fast production, but not so much for allowing the zinc weights to float to the surface where they can be skimmed off. Object lesson in why one should not just load up the pot and go for coffee.

Try casting with the alloy. See what happens. Do some reading on CastBoolits before you give up on the stuff completely. If it casts decent bullets, then, yer in!

But, if all else fails, Cannonball sinkers for downriggers are retailing for $70 for 10 pounds at crappy tire. You should be able to beat that, eh?

Never give up! Chances are that you can find a use for the stuff if you have contaminated it.


Cheers
Trev
 
trevj said:
Shatter when dropped from the mold, or when they are cold?

Lead is hot short. Means it does not handle being beaten on or otherwise impacted when it is really hot. If the ingots are breaking up when you dump them from the mold, let them cool longer.

You process these with a gas fired burner or electric?
Less control over the heat on gas fired. Good for fast production, but not so much for allowing the zinc weights to float to the surface where they can be skimmed off. Object lesson in why one should not just load up the pot and go for coffee.

Try casting with the alloy. See what happens. Do some reading on CastBoolits before you give up on the stuff completely. If it casts decent bullets, then, yer in!

But, if all else fails, Cannonball sinkers for downriggers are retailing for $70 for 10 pounds at crappy tire. You should be able to beat that, eh?

Never give up! Chances are that you can find a use for the stuff if you have contaminated it.
Click to expand...

/\+1 Words of wisdom. I was going to post similar reply. Try casting bullets first, before jumping to any conclusion.
 
couldn't you just keep the ingots seperate, and drop one in the pot every once in a while to slowly mix with your good stuff? At least that way you wouldn't have to junk the whole lot.

Also, si there anythign wrogn with heating it to the melting point of zinc, and casting at that temperature? Wouldn't that take care fo any voids caused by the zinc beign sluggish when melted?
 
From the above link. He was working with 40 lbs

Trofocals

The idea came from a post from Sciguy

http://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?t=62957

As far as the amount I used 12oz total but I put probably about 3-4oz at a time until the reaction stopped. My experiment was pretty unscientific. I kind of went in to it already convinced it wouldn't work. I did not use a thermometer but I added the first batch when it was slightly slushy. I believe this would have been a temp at which the lead was molten and any zinc over the 1.6 percent soluble amount would still be non-molten. I did not use any resin after but did flux with beef tallow after. (My neighbor thought I was grilling steak) However I believe that step is not crucial to the zinc removal. I believe I could have fluxed with any carbon material at that point. Anyone that is going to try this I would suggest using a 6-8ft long 1x2 to stir with as I did. There did appear to be some moisture in the sulfur but it stayed on the top and did not sink. I did not attempt to stir it in until all of the sizzling stopped. While stirring was when it ignited. The fumes did seem to be pretty toxic so please be careful. As far as the amount of lead I only weighed the skimming so I would assume that was my only loss in weight. As far as tin loss I don't know but the castability dramatically improved so I think it was insignificant. But even if I lost some it was still better compared to the problems casting lead with zinc in it.

Marc
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Ahh zinc, the great Boogeyman of casting, yet soooo easy to prevent it from entering the mix.

Before you jump off the ledge, you think you might have zinc in your alloy. "Almost" shattered? Did it just make a loud metallic sound like wheelweight can? Try casting a few and see how it goes.

If after giving it a good try it seems evident that you can't drop a good (enough) bullet from it, try to improve it, use it for something else, or take it to a scrap yard.
 
I melted the lead/zinc at work with acetelene with direct heat (so no chance of floating zinc). The ingots sound like steel when dropped. The bullets cast with a light grey color and are very hard. I cant scratch with finger nail. They don't quite fill the mold very well, i would say 95% fill. In my lee mold

I'll post pics later.

I could use some downrigger balls anyway.
 
Acetylene will sure melt zinc quickly, but there might still be hope. Was the mold good and hot, and the alloy as well? Even good alloy can produce incomplete fill, especially with molds with fine details. Adding some tin might improve it, but possibly not enough. Add some tin, say 5% 60/40 solder to a small batch, heat things up, and try again.

Pics would be great.
 
Zinc?

My "Zinc bullet" average 222gr
DSC02606.jpg


Known lead bullet average 231gr
DSC02607.jpg


Both side by side
DSC02608.jpg


I made alot:

DSC02612.jpg
 
If melting the zinc out (can be done) be carefull of fumes as a small concentration of burnig zinc can cause poisoning.

You will know right away if you get zinc poisoning as you will get the chills, in other words you will feel like you are freezing to death and no amount of blankets or cranking the furnace will help.

Just letting you know
 
I think the effects of zinc in lead have been greatly overstated. Last year while testing out a new melter my first batch of ingots came out very silvery and with a lumpy surface. Based on what I had read, I had apparently mixed in some zinc.

So I melted everything again and cooled it slowly, and a distinct mushy layer formed on the top. I skimmed it off until no more formed, then I poured the ingots. They poured without the lumpy surface. I have successfully cast several hundred bullets from this batch, usually mixed about 50-50 with other sources of lead.

I don't have one handy, but after this experience I went and pulled a binary phase diagram for lead-zinc. I remember the phase diagram corroborated my experience. Specifically, I believe it shows that zinc is perfectly soluble in lead up to about 1% or so, above that it forms a lead-zinc alloy that solidifies before the lead does, allowing it to be skimmed off.
 
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