Identifying wheel weights

Thank you for this! I have discovered that there was a larger than expected amount of zinc in my lead melt. I did have a large number of the EN marked weights which would be the same markings for Lead and Zinc. Lucky I only did about 3/4 of a 5 gallon pail, so now to remove all weights with the EN markings. The older stuff has been easy to sort, but some of the new ones that are coated dont ring the same when dropped.
 
it takes a bit of time to sort but I use a file, if the corner of the file digs in its lead if it slides off it is zinc. this way I make sure there are no zinc in my melt.
 
bertn said:
Or you just get a good thermometer and skim off the zinc and steel ones.
Saves hours of sorting, just saying.
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I have found that as long as you don't go nuts and crank the heat up to 800 degrees F the lead based wheel weights melt quickly and the zinc ones stay solid and can be easily skimmed off. Steel weights are never an issue as you will never get your pot hot enough to melt them. Keep a decent level of liquid in the pot so there is less temperature fluctutation when you add more wheel weights. This is what I've been doing and getting rid of the zinc has been pretty easy.
I would like to sort them as per the method in the above link but when doing hundreds and hundreds of wheel weights it is just too time consuming.
 
Andy said:
The best way to identify lead, zinc and steel wheelweights is to heat them up and once there's a molten mass, skim off what's on top. What's molten is lead alloy, and what you skim off is zinc and/or steel wheelweights, clips from the lead wheelweights, and trash. If you really need to distinguish further, go to the link.
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That's how I do it. The lead is liquid long before the zinc will melt. Just need to pay attention and it works better and faster.
 
I usually just use a pair of side cutters easy enough find zinc ones what way as their much harder there's also steel stick on now the steel and zinc get sorted separate as I used the steel ones for sinkers just got to drill a hole in them
 
mg34 said:
it takes a bit of time to sort but I use a file, if the corner of the file digs in its lead if it slides off it is zinc. this way I make sure there are no zinc in my melt.
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Just squeeze with a pair of side cutters. fast and acurate.
 
I use a pair of wire side cutters. Lead is really soft compared to zinc and steel, and leaves a good cut mark. Really fast to do.
 
HIGHRPM said:
I use a pair of wire side cutters. Lead is really soft compared to zinc and steel, and leaves a good cut mark. Really fast to do.
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Not so fast if you have 4 buckets to do.
By the time it would take checking each ww I could probably have turned it all into ingots:)
 
bertn said:
Not so fast if you have 4 buckets to do.
By the time it would take checking each ww I could probably have turned it all into ingots:)
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To each their own. My casting time and reloading time is my quality time. I have no problem at all sitting down with a couple of beers, classic rock on the radio and testing weights. Never in a rush, so yup, it's fast for some some, except those that are in a hurry. Like I said to each their own.
 
HIGHRPM said:
To each their own. My casting time and reloading time is my quality time. I have no problem at all sitting down with a couple of beers, classic rock on the radio and testing weights. Never in a rush, so yup, it's fast for some some, except those that are in a hurry. Like I said to each their own.
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I do it during my breaks at work, doesnt take long and it saves me using my phone battery watching youtube lol
 
Sorting WW is part of the bullet casting passion. The cutter in one hand and keep pinching. After a while you won't need to pinch but here and there because you'll get so good at knowing by just looking at them it will go really fast.
 
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