Hard stick on W/Ws?

[Big Boomer]

Hard stick on W/Ws?


I posted this same info and question on Casting Equipment and haven't had an answer to my question yet. Anybody had any experience with these hard, stick-on, gray painted W/Ws? In the past I smelted some pure lead stick-on W/Wts along with clip on W/Wts, but decided I would try to keep them separate and have as much of each as I could accumulate for whatever purposes I may decide on. In the last few buckets I have come upon more and more hard stick-on W/Wts that are painted a light gray. With pliers or side cutters they are as difficult or perhaps more so to cut as most regular clip-on W/Wts. They are tough and hard but obviously not zinc because you can with difficulty cut them with wire cutters, which I have not been able to do with any zinc W/Wts. Anyone else finding this to be the case? I'm thinking of smelting a large coffee can I have of these hard stick-on W/Wts and compare them with some regular clip-on WWs and see what gives. Big Boomer

[Strtspdlx]

Watch because they do make stick ons that are zinc and steel. The steel is usually labeled and zinc is usually but not always. And I can cut them with a good pair of dikes. Usually if 5-6 of them are still tied together and I can't easily bend or twist them they do not go into the pot.

[RogerDat]

You might find more of the lead types and alloy folks to answer this type of question over in this part of the forum. http://castboolits.gunloads.com/forumdisplay.php?57-Lead-and-Lead-Alloys Lead and Lead Alloys.

I too think that you probably have some steel or zinc stick on WW's. Easy way to tell is try a magnet, if they are not magnetic then not steel, then try melting them on their own, watching to see how they melt or using a thermometer. Zinc will melt but requires a higher temp than lead. You can also just set them aside and try dipping them in some molten lead that is at 700 degrees. If they are lead they will just liquefy, if not they will just float on the molten lead where you can scoop them back out and toss them aside.

You just want to avoid trapping zinc right against bottom of un-melted pot by piling lead WW's on top of it, the zinc can get hot enough to melt before the lead in that situation.

[Yodogsandman]

Check out BNE's sticky on SOWW's, very informative with photos of what to look for.

http://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?229666-Stick-On-WW-XrF-Data

[MrWolf]

I ran across those also and as you stated they are as hard as the coww's. I just smelted them with the ww's due to their hardness and kept the soft sows seperate. Good luck.

[Big Boomer]

Yodogsandman: That answers my question. The bottom line of stick-ons has the hard ones to which I was referring. Have checked all my W/Wts and have never missed any zinc - if any questionable one comes by, I get the magnet and then use pliers to check the hardness in case they aren't marked with a Z, Zn or TZn. These have no marking except an oval with another something-or-other beside it to identify them but they can be cut with difficulty by really squeezing hard with wire or side cutters. Have not been able to do that with any zinc W/Wts. Perhaps I'm just getting old and weak. The pic of the gray stick-ons with 96.2% Pb, 0.62% Sn, and 3.14 % Sb are what I have. Thanks. Big Boomer

P. S. As someone suggested, today while smelting I took a string of these gray painted hard stick-on W/Wts & stuck the bottom one down into the melted lead. It disappeared ... melted right off. With this last haul I got more of these than ever. Seem to be as hard or harder than clip-on W/Wts.

[Yodogsandman]

When separated and rendered down, the ingots of those painted ones will "clink" when dropped onto concrete and the others will "thunk". I think they're powder coated grey or black.

[runfiverun]

as things go along many of the stick-on weights are getting harder and harder, and many of the clip-ons are getting a bit softer.
I think they are just all going back to the refinery's and are being recycled into whatever shape the next order calls for.

[44man]

I believe they just toss all in when they recycle.
What I do is keep the smelt at 600° and remove anything that does not melt. Don't flux until all the junk is out. Paint will slow melting so instead of raising the temp, let them float some.
The last batch I did, I kept all SO's separate and melting them I had oatmeal, must have been 90% zinc.

[blackthorn]

For the ultimate zinc test---scrape off a bit of the coating and put a drop of Muriatic acid on the exposed metal. If it bubbles/foams, it is zinc. You can get the Muriatic acid from a pool supply store or maybe the local hardware store. Likely the smallest amount you can buy will be 1 quart/litre, which for us is about enough to last 100 years, so maybe you have a friend with a pool???

[Yodogsandman]

Zinc stick on wheel weights weigh less and are bigger in size, about 3/4" x 1". Normally painted or PC'd grey in color. The snips will still tell you which is lead and which are steel or zinc.

Some guys that are making lead-free fishing weights or cannon balls will pay you for the zinc ones.

[Gtek]

Would not keeping the pot at 700 or less work?

[Yodogsandman]

Would not keeping the pot at 700 or less work?

Yes, but it's still best to remove as many zinkers as you can find. If zinkers are trapped under the pile that's being rendered down, they could be melted if on the sides nearest to the heat source, before the thermometer can register the correct temp.

[jimb16]

I do all my initial melting at 675 degrees. Clip on zinc and stick on zinc all float to the top without melting. I do sort first, but you always miss a few. It takes a bit longer melting at the lower temp, but I think it's worth the extra time.