Just some bragging

AlbertaSheepdog

AlbertaSheepdog

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well,

just wanted to show off a bit! (and see if I can get this photo upload thing working)

Called a local tire shop to see if they had any scrap wheel weights they needed to get rid of. Walked away with about 50 lbs of mixed WW (with about 15 lbs of it being stick on type) for free, the guy was just happy to get rid of it. Now it was dirty stuff (basically just in a big carboard box, mixed in with garbage, covered in dirt) so I dumped the box, took out the garbage, and sorted the WW into a pile of clip-ons and a pile of stick-ons... then proceded to smelt the stick ons down to approx 32 lbs of pure WW lead. In hindsight, I should have given them a wash in a bucket of soap and water to remove the dirst and grime, as it would have made for a lot less spooning of debris. had the odd steel WW mixed in their but had no problems getting them out. It was my first time melting WW down so it was definatley a learning experience, but very gratifying! Still need to work on my process a little, as I had difficulty making uniformed ingots (some were still a bit too soft when I took them out of the mold... I blame this on the mold getting too hot and the lead not cooling fast enough). I tried water quenching with mixed results (again, if the mold got too hot, the ingots would usually bend of split when dumped, even in the water. Sorry I didn't take any pics of that, but I should have).






What sort of prep do you guys do when smelting your WW? I feel like there were a few things I could have done that would have taken a little bit longer, but would have resulted in a more enjoyable experience. But at the end of the day I came out with 32 lbs of WW ingots, and now I have to order and wait for my bullet molds to arrive.
 
just some quick pointers,

if you have the extra money and your going to be processing alot of wheel weights/scrap lead, get a separate "smelting" setup. i use an old compressed air tank cut in half with welded handles on it. for a heat source i use a $50 fish fryer from bass pro with a heat sheild which helps ALOT. doing the "smelting" separately helps keep your casting pot clean and reduce leaks and flow issues. also you can melt in bigger batches and make your ingots more consistent when adding tin and antimony, etc.

if your going to wash the wheel weights (i don't bother as it will help with fluxing as it's usually oily) make dam sure they are dry, let them sit in the sun for a couple days. i just go over them quickly looking for steel and zinc wheel weights, but i don't look at every single one.

you may have to add some tin to the mix once when you start casting if you get poor fill out, but that can be done in your casting pot and a quick fluxing to mix it in better.

if you decide to use water to cool off your ingots, i've had water get sucked into the ingots. when i added them (i used channel locks and slowly dipped it into the molten lead) they started spitting steam and lead out as a result. not a big deal if your in control, but it could splash you with molten lead.



with all that fun stuff out of the way, what are you planning on casting for?
 
1 weeks worth of bugging people I now have 120lbs of processed lead and one more bucket to go.

Hoping to hit 200lbs of processed led by the weekend.

Have invitation to go back and pick up more after the winter tire exchange.


:)
 
Good idea in the larger smelting pot. My little pot was fine for the amount I did, but I can definatley see how in larger amounts it would be a hindrance. Most if my day was spent simply waiting for the WW to melt. If I could just throw 30 lbs into a large pot at once, then wait for them to melt once, more time can be spent casting.

And yes... My little pot is quite dirty now. So you would recommend not cleaning them first? What would you recommend for a cheap flux? And should I have fluxed prior to smelting the weights? I was under the impression that the ingots should just be WW lead, then I can flux when casting boolits.

I plan to cast for 9mm, and eventually .40 and .45, possibly some .308 and .223 in the distant future.

I think some more harrasment of local garages is in order for me this weekend. I only made one phone call as an afterthought and it turned into a great evening of work. Haven't even cast my first boolit yet and I'm already addicted!
 
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I'm in the same shoes

Got into this a couple weeks ago. Donuts and/or beer on top of what you pay works miracles.

Going to cast some this weekend.

We use a double burner and an old pot and do it outside. I flux with some saw dust that I have from cutting firewood before I remove the clips and then a bit of candle after. Keep stirring g lots of crap will come to the top.

I'll take a few picks tonight. Grab a stainless skimmer from the doller store. Cook top and pot from goodwill or the like.
 
fluxing is for mixing the antimony and tin back into the lead because it oxidizes out of it with heat and oxygen. for cheap flux you can use lots of stuff like saw dust, beeswax, paraffin wax, used motor oil, or use a 1/2" or larger dowel (diameter) and stir the pot with it so you not only flux it, but mix it at the same time.

i dump in 25-40 lbs of lead in an empty pot which takes longer (then if i had some melted lead in the pot already), but slowly heats the WW's and evaporates any water if they have any on them. once they are are melted i remove the clips then flux with about 1" of wax from taper candles. i should flux a few more times but i don't unless it's really dirty after the first fluxing.

once your ready to cast, you should flux again, but i generally don't bother as it makes smoke and i cast indoors well under the vaporization point of lead.
 
And any suggestions on what I should do with the stick on type Ww? I understand they are pure lead, but it almost seems too much of a pain to smelt them. That glue/paper stinks something awful, the few that I did were dirtier then the clip on by a long shot. If I do smelt them, is it recommended to go through the trouble of getting the glue off? Or just let it burn off in the pot.
 
The burning glue and other stuff release carbon which is what you are doing when you flux.

The stick on type I have separated and plan on using if I ever get a high tin content lead( which I have)

You can see my set up, and again do all this outside. Not even in the garage, it stinks

The remaining bucket with stick ons in the bags
IMG_20140410_175406_zpsf949238d.jpg


the equipment
IMG_20140410_174210_zps38040a3d.jpg


the stash...everything is separated and marked as to what it is(you can see the pure lead up front which I have not turned into ingots yet)
IMG_20140410_175350_zpsc745b095.jpg


You should be fine with your batch as long as you did not have the temperature up too high
 
not unless you let them sit for hours and hours melting and getting super hot. even then you will likely have to add tin for good fill out, a common mix is clip on wheel wights + 2% tin. good sources for tin are lead free solder or 95/5 sold (95% tin and 5% antimony) or pewter which can range in percentages, but it's typically got 70% tin or more.

for the stick on weights i don't bother cleaning them, just melt them as is and stand up wind. pure lead will be purple/gold in colour.
 
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