wheelweights

[exile]

This is such a basic question that I am embarrassed to ask it, but I have not been able to come up with an answer to it. The question is, how do you remove the aluminum clips from wheelweights? While I am at it, what other steps do you take to make cast boolits out of them? Thanks, exile.

[RP]

aluim clips ?? I all the clips in the wheelweights I get are steel after getting the zinc weights out and the stickons out which are more pure lead then the reg car type. I smelt the lead which is melting it the metal clips will float with all of the other trash flux the alloy and dip the clips out. Then you will need to pour the lead into ingots small enough to manage. As far as casting into bullets there are a few different ways to do that . What do you have to work with is the main thing

[imashooter2]

The clips are steel. They are lighter than and melt at a higher temperature than the lead alloy. Melt the lead and the clips will float to the surface and you can skim them off.

[crabo]

Keep the temp around 625-650 and all the stuff you don't want will float to the top and you can skim it off. Get it too hot and you risk melting some of the stuff you don't want in your casting material.

Crabo

[exile]

Thanks guys. Ricky you mentioned "getting the zinc weights out" and "the stickons out". Is this something you take off before you smelt them or do they, the zinc weights, also float to the top? It seems like I read something somewhere about sifting the weights using a window screen to get debris out before smelting. Is this something you guys do, or do you just put the wheelweights in the pot and skim off whatever is left? Sorry if these questions seem redundant, but I want to be sure I have my facts straight. Thanks again.

[imashooter2]

A lot of the guys here sort through their WW and try to pick out the zinc and steel weights, separate the stick on weights, etc.. Not me. I dump it all in the pot and as soon as the bulk of WW melt, I give the mix a stir and skim off whatever weights are sitting on the surface (steel and zinc) and the clips with a wire strainer basket. Then I flux well, skim the dirt and pour ingots.

[Powderpacker]

- - It seems like I read something somewhere about sifting the weights using a window screen to get debris out before smelting. Is this something you guys do, or do you just put the wheelweights in the pot and skim off whatever is left? Sorry if these questions seem redundant, but I want to be sure I have my facts straight. Thanks again.
You may have been reading about processing recovered range lead. Sifting this lead with a coarse screen ( like 1/4" hardware cloth) keeps a lot of dirt and gravel out of your smelting pot.
One advantage of sorting wheel weights is being able to remove the valve stems and other assorted rubber and plastic trash that we always find mixed with the weights. Removing this trash greatly reduces the smoke (probably toxic) and stink produced by the smelting process.
Be very careful when sorting weights as single edge razor blades and other sharp or pointy things are often found mixed in .

[Cherokee]

exile - I'll add, welcome to the forum. You have good responses above.

[DLCTEX]

The stickon weights usually are more pure lead than the cast ones (to make them bendable to conform to the wheel) and some casters separate them to use for softer boolits. The steel and zinc weights will float long after the lead ones have melted. DALE

[Tristan]

The stick ons, as mentioned before, are softer and are useful for low-velocity cast applications such as muzzle-loaders & etc.

They look like a strip of cubes, that are still attached to each other. They usually have some residue of the double-sided sticky tape on the back side.

The WW's have antimony and arsenic, which harden them compared to soft lead. WW's are a great form of casting metal for many loads, and can be water-dropped to harden even further (do a search here for information and safety precautions). Many if not most add a small amount of tin to the WW mix, which is an aid to filling out the fine details in the casting.

Have fun in your new hobby, and be safe.

- Tristan

[exile]

Thanks for the information. I only know one guy personally who had ever cast "boolits" before, and he said he had only done it once with another guy who had purchased lead. So, this very basic stuff is very helpful to me. Exile.

[Jon K]

exile,

No need for embarressment, ask anything you don't understand, lurk and quiz the members here. You will more than likely get several different answers, how to do it...........experiment, til you find what works for you.

Jon

[remy3424]

Not to stray, but when you guys need to "buy" ww, what is a fair price beside "as little as possible". I would guess a 5 gallon bucket full would weight about 100# (2 partial buckets)and one would pull the handle off moving it. Would that yield 80# of clean ingots?? If you paid $20 that would be 25 cents a pound....Is that too much or dirt cheap or about right???? Looking around this week, they are getting hard to come by.

[RP]

20 bucks for a bucket of wws is a ok deal some get them free and I have paid up to 50cents a pound but I resale alot of my lead in the form of birdshot. If you keep the heat low the zinc will float but if you have it to hot the zinc will melt and ruin your alloy.Take it slow and easy and wear eye protection long pants and gloves WWs may have some water trapped inside of them around clip and lead and water are arch ememies. I use cupcake pans to make my ingots in the best ones are 6 holes and get them without nonstick coating because lead likes to stick to it.

[Alchemist]

Not to stray, but when you guys need to "buy" ww, what is a fair price beside "as little as possible". I would guess a 5 gallon bucket full would weight about 100# (2 partial buckets)and one would pull the handle off moving it. Would that yield 80# of clean ingots?? If you paid $20 that would be 25 cents a pound....Is that too much or dirt cheap or about right???? Looking around this week, they are getting hard to come by.


A 5 gallon bucket about 2/3 full will weigh roughly 100 #s...and net about 85 #s of cleaned-up usable ingots.

Alchemist

[chaos]

Not to stray, but when you guys need to "buy" ww, what is a fair price beside "as little as possible". I would guess a 5 gallon bucket full would weight about 100# (2 partial buckets)and one would pull the handle off moving it. Would that yield 80# of clean ingots?? If you paid $20 that would be 25 cents a pound....Is that too much or dirt cheap or about right???? Looking around this week, they are getting hard to come by.

A 5 gal bucket full will weigh closer to 160 or 170lbs in my experience.

[pumpguy]

Exile

Do you live in Goodland or do you just like huge sunflowers?

[exile]

I used to live in Goodland, guess I kind of like the picture. Ricky P, how low do you need to keep the temperature to keep the zinc from contaminating your casting material? Crabo mentioned 625-650 before, is that your recommendation? A guy I know mentioned keeping temperature below 800 degrees when actually casting bullets. What would you guys recommend?

Anybody have any recommendations for a luber/sizer? I was thinking the Lyman 4500, but was going to go with the smallest Lee pot because I plan to move the pot in and out of my garage for fluxing, casting, etc.,. I will probably buy all this stuff gradually due to financial constraints. Thanks.

[Shotgun Luckey]

If you have a turkey fryer and can find an old cast iron pot that you don't want to use for food again, that works really well for cleaning up wheel weights.

[chrisx1]

650 range is good for smelting, Zinc melts around 750, so definately keep it under 700. There are cheap thermometers available here:

http://www.surpluscenter.com/sort.asp?UID=2008061419382748&catname=&byKeyword=yes&search=thermometer

[cubflyer75]

Thanks guys. Ricky you mentioned "getting the zinc weights out" and "the stickons out". Is this something you take off before you smelt them or do they, the zinc weights, also float to the top?

Exile, being fairly new to casting myself, I found that my only source for very soft lead was stick on wheel weights. It is very useful to cast a few pure lead slugs of whatever caliber you are shooting so you can "slug your bore" to measure the diameter of the grooves in your barrel. I've managed to gather around 1000 lbs of ww ingots, but only have around 10 lbs of soft lead from all those wheel weights that I use for measuring bores, and protecting gun barrels in vises and such. I seperate them and smelt them in a stainless steel measuring cup using a propane torch. My cast iron pot / turkey fryer is WAY too big for the amount of stickons that I get from a 5 gal bucket full.
Everything that I've learned about casting I've read on this website. I've never had a bad dealing with any member here, and I think that you'll find them to be a helpful, good bunch of folks. Mike

[exile]

Thanks guys. To all who have taken the time and effort to give information, it is all good and I appreciate it. I have the Lyman Cast Bullet Handbook and am looking for other books, but so much of what I don't know has been filled in here. It has been great. Exile.

[RP]

Heres a new one I got a bucket of WWs from a Volkswagon dealership the other day they are now using zinc stick on WWs . Only giving 5.00 a bucket for them and still getting alot of lead out of the deal selling the zinc to the yard so Iam doing ok . So watch out for stickons made of zinc now.

[HeavyMetal]

Exile:
Save youe pennies and dimes and by a Star sizer. For a good reason see Freakshows sticky with him running his and you'll know why I suggested it.

The Lyman, RCBS and Saeco's are good units all but the ain't a Star! E bay will get you a used one in the $180 to $210 range, usually with a die and a punch, which is about 60.00 lees than a new one which won't have a die or punch.

[Old Ironsights]

A lot of the guys here sort through their WW and try to pick out the zinc and steel weights, separate the stick on weights, etc.. Not me. I dump it all in the pot and as soon as the bulk of WW melt, I give the mix a stir and skim off whatever weights are sitting on the surface (steel and zinc) and the clips with a wire strainer basket. Then I flux well, skim the dirt and pour ingots.

I'm one of the sort sort... mainly because of the new polymer clipons and the newer polymer tape-ons (used by the homeys on their Low Profile Bling Wheels... :roll: Lotsa that 'round here... and they stink to high heaven if melted.

From my last batch of 440lbs raw WW I sorted: 17.5lbs zinc/steel/polymer junk; 2lbs dirt/trash and 35lbs stick-on pb.

(Because I do small smelts, I also seperated all the "biguns" (1.5"+) from the "littleuns" (1.5"-). The "Biguns" make faster/cleaner ingots. I save the "littleuns" for a smelt-day when I have more time to strain clips & dirt. )

Net result: a few blissful hours of mindless tedium without a single spoken word or worry about screwung up a melt/misloading a cartridge and

19.5lbs of unwanted materiel removed from my WW that I won't have to skim off and 35lbs of nearly pure lead for my ML/aloying pile.

Sure, I'll still keep my smelt cold for the few I always miss, but I miss dang few.

385lb clean WW & 35lb pb for $80 isn't too bad... :)

Time for a smelt.