Duckbutter100 Posted January 25, 2014 Posted January 25, 2014 I have a tire shop near me who will sell wheel weights buy the bucket full. Is there any issue anyone can think of using them to melt down? Quote
moguy1973 Posted January 25, 2014 Posted January 25, 2014 That's what I've seen people melting down. Do a youtube search for melting down wheel weights. I know you do have to skim off all the crud that is attached to the weights, and you have to pull out all the steel pieces that are left after the lead melts. 1 Quote
Super User 00 mod Posted January 25, 2014 Super User Posted January 25, 2014 Also make sure they are 100% dry when melting them! Jeff 1 Quote
Global Moderator Bluebasser86 Posted January 25, 2014 Global Moderator Posted January 25, 2014 I use wheel weights occasionally and they work alright. They're always really dirty tough so you have to make sure to flux the lead really well and get all the junk out. I usually just use wire cutters and cut the metal pieces out by cutting right along the edges on both sides of the mounting bracket. You miss a little bit of lead that is stuck to the bracket but for me it's too much of a hassle to deal with melting the lead off the brackets. Quote
Super User S Hovanec Posted January 25, 2014 Super User Posted January 25, 2014 I mix a few wheel weights in with my 100% lead when I'm making my ingots. IMO, wheel weights are too hard of am alloy to just use them alone. Quote
Super User smalljaw67 Posted January 25, 2014 Super User Posted January 25, 2014 I used to use them but right now I would suggest you not use them, especially if you have a bottom pour pot. I see more and more people ruining pots to the point LEE has put a warning in with the new pots saying not to use them and I'll explain why. The newer wheel weights have a large amount of zinc in them, they used to be mostly lead and antimony which all you had to do was melt them down, scrape the slag off, flux and scrape again and you could make some good ingots from them but not anymore. What happens to the lead when you have zinc contamination is the lead gets a goo like consistency and it will not pour out a bottom pour and it will clog it up real quick and they really isn't anyway to tell the difference unless you know wheel weights that you can tell which ones have a lot of zinc. What you want is linotype, sheet, or plumbers lead but if you decide to use the wheel weights be very careful because fluxing doesn't fix zinc contamination. 1 Quote
Super User Oregon Native Posted January 27, 2014 Super User Posted January 27, 2014 Agree with Kicker...pain to melt. Got some sheet lead a number of years ago and luckly have not had to get any more. It's pure and does the job. Sometimes too soft a lead I believe will dent easier around rock on some jig heads thus causing paint to chip easier but most jig heads life span is pretty short around rock. Good luck Quote
Super User Hi Salenity Posted January 27, 2014 Super User Posted January 27, 2014 What about melting down bullets? Quote
Super User Jig Man Posted January 27, 2014 Super User Posted January 27, 2014 What about melting down bullets? Lead in bullets is fine. I know guys who used to get some from berms at the gun club firing range. Quote
Kirk Bonanny Posted January 29, 2014 Posted January 29, 2014 I use old wheel weights for the majority of my pouring projects with no issues. The only time I've ever had a problem with this is with very small gated molds, such as a split shot mold. Pure soft lead resolves that problem, but being that 27 of my 28 molds work fine with the scrap lead, that is what I primarily use. To make life simple I use an old pot to melt the scrap and skim all of the slag off. Some wheel weight shave paint on them, they're all dirty and some use inferior metal. Once I "clean up" the scrap lead, I pour it into a home made ingot mold and it is ready to go into my big pot when I need to add more lead to it. I've been pouring for close to 30 years for myself and friends. If you have any questions...feel free to ask. Kirk Quote
Koofy Smacker Posted January 29, 2014 Posted January 29, 2014 Wow ^^ thats the longest profile I have seen. And the wheel weights alone are too hard and can cause problems after using them solely as other allows can slowly build up and clog stuff and it can get really messy and dangerous with melted lead around. It is alright to use one or two per batch but not pure. Quote
Naterwedge Posted January 29, 2014 Posted January 29, 2014 I don't cast sinkers but I've been reloading and casting ammo for years. If you've got a lead thermometer keep your pot at 650degrees and zinc won't be a problem. However, I sort my wheel weights prior to casting. You can eliminate the bulk of non lead weights by looking at how the clip is on them. Most iron, and zinc look like the clip is riveted on instead of cast in. Just be safe I take a pair of cutters and squeeze every wheel weight, you will not be able to cut into iron or zinc. Lead will cut, synthetic will cut in half. Some wheel weights are marked "fe" for iron, and "zn" for zinc, but the only confident way to make sure you don't contaminate your pot is to cut them in the sorting process. Good luck, and flux often Quote
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.