Separateing wheelweights

[olafhardt]

I bought a new set of tires and asked if they had any old wheelweights. The owner said he had 16 5gal buckets that a guy was susposed to pick up but he hadn't done it. I didn't want more than a coffee can full but he gave me a 5gal bucket about 1/3 full. We were talking about separateing out the zinc and steel. He said that one of his customers told him to throw them on the floor one at a time. Lead goes thud and the others go ding. Comments?
BTW the tire stores I buy tires at always seem glad to give me wheel weights, so do the auto repair guys.

[Hickory]

I use to test them with an old knife, when the blade bit into the WW it was lead.
Good way of doing it for a small amount of wheel weights.

[Jeff Michel]

Side cutters, zinc won't readily dent.

[William Yanda]

I don't want to bend over to pick up that many. I use a pair of wire cutters. Zinc and Fe are much much harder than lead, makes them obvious.

[NC_JEFF]

Lead does go "thud", zinc and iron have more of a " ding" to them when dropped on a concrete floor.
Lead weights are molded around the clip
Any weight riveted on is not lead
Zinc and iron are almost always stamped as such.
You'll def start seeing lots of differences as you start scrutinizing various weights.

[fryboy]

Well ...if it doesn't hit the clip part ,yes it goes thud , side cutters are also my preferred way ,
The fact that he had 16 buckets and you only wanted a coffee can full ... Wow ,umm either bravo or what the hades ... I'm not sure which ,most would of tried for more and then looked on the driveway for more when walking out ... Myself I rarely manage to find any ,seems I hear the same story everywhere I ask " we've got some old guy who always gets them..."

[6622729]

I would definitely go back and get as much as he's willing to give you even if YOu can't use it all. There is going to be a point we're all going to be looking back at the good old days when we were allowed to have lead.

[C. Latch]

Wait, where was this at?

[jeepyj]

I've done probably 20 5 gallon pails over the past couple years. I will generally set up and do one pail in an evening. You'll learn the common shape zinc ones pretty quick and if your area is like ours that will make up about 30% then there are the round style steel ones that will make up another 30ish % from there a larger set of side cutters or as I prefer a set of end nippers and you'll cruse through pretty fast. I did 5 pails recently and came up with over 110lbs. Them kind of lead scores make me smile! Good luck
jeepyj

[Pine Baron]

olaf,
There is a sticky on this exact subject. If I knew how to link it I would, but I'm sure you can find it easily . Personally, I sort through my wheel weights by hand and keep a sharp eye on the smelt and as soon as it starts to "slush", skim all the clips and anything I might have missed (there's always a few) Keep the heat below 750 F and you should catch them all. Grab all those buckets you can!

[MrWolf]

Also use side cutters and as stated you learn to recognize which are which. I wear a glove on side cutter hand though as it is a bit much with longer sessions - getting old.

[Possum Lickaa]

Side cutters...It's a no-fail method.

[reddog81]

I'd go back and grab as many as possible. 1/3rd a bucket is a good start, but once you start casting that will go quickly. If casting a 200 grain bullet you only get 35 bullets per pound. 20 pounds will get you 700 bullets. That's about 3 or 4 trips to the range for me.

I was able to get a few partially full buckets last year for dirt cheap. I wish I could get a couple more buckets right now. I picked up 400 lbs of soft lead and need something harder like wheel weights to mix in.

My preferred method of sorting uses a hammer to tap the wheel weight on concrete. The lead will deform and thud. After 5 minutes of sorting you should be able to start visually identifying which ones are lead and which ones are not.

[mold maker]

I'd sure like to have that much serious work to do. Lead is a poor man's gold.

[Mitch]

http://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?139839-Guide-to-Hand-Sorting-Wheel-Weights

[11B-101ABN]

I use the side cutter method. There is no quick and easy short cut. Sorting wheel weights is a PITA but necessary chore. 750 degrees is difficult to maintain with a turkey fryer. My ears are bad (Vietnam) and I cannot tell a "ding" from a "thud". A magnet will pick up lead weights if you try to pick it up near the middle where the steel clip is molded in. So as much as I dislike sorting, I use a side cutter on each and every piece. When I have 20 buckets with 50 pounds each of weights with the tell tale nip that the side cutters leave, I melt it down into ingots. The last batch took nearly two years to accumulate. After all that work, a way to recycle the boolits is a good way to avoid rework.

[Don Fischer]

At 650*, lead melt's. Zinc and steel float on top if melted lead. Throw them all in a smeltering pot at 650* and remove every thing that float's. easy shmesy!

[RoadBike]

I use the side-cutter method as well. Also, I have a small magnet on the end of a telescoping rod that I use. Steel goes into one box and zinc in another. I check every weight. It is laborious.

I'm learning to recognize the steel ones and will use the magnet and get them out of the bucket.

[kmw1954]

Nice topic. Very informative.

In another topic I have going I asked about acquiring lead from shops, so far no responses there. Guess I will have to go and find out for myself what is out there and what it will cost.

Great score olaf, I think I would have taken as much as they would have given me.

[Hardcast416taylor]

I also use side and end nippers to test every weight. Last Summer I used this activity as a sort of therapy after my medical problems, no I didn`t try lifting any pails onto my sorting bench. When smelting, I use a 1" diameter and 6" long old proximity magnet to lift out the clips a handful at a time. Just sorting thru a pile of weights you soon will recognize any `odd` looking weights from lead ones.Robert

[44man]

Mind blowing to pick up every weight! I dump and take out stick on's and valve stems, etc, all else is sorted by heat.
Thousands of filthy, stinky weights to test? Not on the worst day EVER!
Dedication has limits and some have too much time to waste.

[lightman]

I prefer to test them with side cutters. You can usually detect a difference in the sound of a dropped weight but not always. I also have doubts if I can control the temperature good enough to not melt some zinc. I don't look at it as wasting time, I just don't want any zinc in my melt. And I agree that sorting is a PITA.

This is the way I sort wheelwrights.


http://i788.photobucket.com/albums/yy164/PTheodo/IMG_0274.jpg (http://s788.photobucket.com/user/PTheodo/media/IMG_0274.jpg.html)

I dump them in here and poke through them. Basically I'll pick out the trash, then the stick-ons, then the steel and finally the zinkers. It goes faster if you have a friend over and maybe even share a beer or two!

[mtgrs737]

I have at least 15 buckets to sort thru and more ready to pick up at the tire store. I built a sorting table that I use to sort with. The table is about 3 feet square and has four 3" PVC pipes on the far side that empty down into five gallon buckets. One for trash, one for lead, one for zinc, and one for steel. I dump the five gallon buckets of ww's out on the drive, use a shovel to put them on the table then do a quick sure it is lead sort then start with the others. Most of the fine dirt stays out of the building when you dump it on the driveway. If it were not for the zinc I could use the 700 or less degree pot method but I can't control the temp that well and zinc plugs up my drippers on my shot maker.

[gwpercle]

I need two front tires....what did you say was the shops address . I have my own bucket .

I don't care for picking them up off the floor and just use side cutters . When you get older you find yourself looking for excuses not to pick things up off the floor. Bought a 45 acp revolver because of all the bending and stooping to retrieve fired brass was killing my back. Sad but true .

Gary

[DerekP Houston]

I used wire cutters last time I found ww. Pretty easy to identify once you get to know what they look like, just nip the questionable ones on the corner.

[Mitch]

Gary
I feel your pain.i don't like picking thing up off the floor much either.i set my bucket of ww by a chair at a table.Even if I have to take a hadfull out of the bucket at a time till it is empty enough to get up to the table.it all works

[olafhardt]

Look, I know most of you buy tires or get auto work done. I have been casting for years and EVERY place I bought tires or got a car fixed gave me wheel weights. I usually ask after the work is done and usually I ask a service manager, owner, or supervisor. The boss usually knows that he can hold out some from the recycling contractor. The only way I see lead is going to be banned is if it is banned from bullets period. You won't be able to use lead period. I can't see this happening in my life time. I have enough around here, I don't to hoard ww. Besides somebody else may want some so I am leaving the rest there. I don't think I have ever cast 200 boolits in one session so I just piddle around and I don't want 16 buckets.

[lightman]

I'm with you guys about that bending over stuff! Mgtrs737, that sorting table with the drop tubes is a neat idea. With my sorting box I usually sit on a milk crate and seperate into buckets. Its low enough that I can pick a 3 or 5 gallon bucket of weights up high enough to dump. There is a lot of dirt and trash in the bottom after a sorting session! olafhardt, thats very decent of you to think about others! Most of us are just hoarders! They will probably make a tv show about us some day!:razz:

[Tom W.]

I'll hoard if I can find some. The last 5 gallon bucket cost me $20, and that was a few years back. I still have a few unsmelted and unseparated pounds under my porch.