Buying Lead from Scrap Yard Good Idea or Dumb Idea?

[bbogue1]

A local scrap yard will sell cleaned mixed wheel weights for 50 cents a pound. Since it is mixed I would have to sort out the lead from the steel and zink. In my local area I have collected a small sample of WW and found they are about 60% lead. That makes the final cost about 83 cents per pound of lead WW. They also sell clean lead sheets for $1.00 a pound.

Since I do have some time to sort I am thinking of buying 25 lbs of mixed WW for $12.50. Now what I could do is offer local tire stores 40 cents a pound for their WW since all 3 local scrap yards will buy cleaned WW for 5 cents a pound.

Your thoughts.....

[Bookworm]

If the local yard buys for a nickel a pound, you can double the tire store money by offering a dime.

The scrap yard pays by check. Checks can be tracked. Ponder that.

And, as a business owner, I'm here to say that cash talks. And donuts do too.
Pocket money for the owner can be used for lunch, or a twelve after work. Checks have to be run through the bank.

[Green Frog]

Clean lead sheets @ $1.00/ lb would get my attention quickly. The price on unsorted WW is still pretty attractive compared to what I see around here.

Froggie

[bedbugbilly]

Bookworm . . . I'm shocked! LOL Seriously though . . . if you are looking for casting material, he offers very sage advice . . . and doughnuts go a long way. :-)

I used to buy lead cable sheathing fro a scrap yard until they went out of business. If you need it and they have what you need, then go for it if the price is reasonable . . . if not . . . work on developing some "relationships" with those who are the ones who sell it to the "scrapers" . . . . as Bookworm mentioned . . . . most would be happy to receive double, which would still be a bargain for you . . . and . . ahem! . . . as a businessman myself . . . cash talks . . . you, ah, um don
t have to worry about the check being "bad" . . . . and raised doughnuts are really good with the midmorning coffee break!

[Ballistics in Scotland]

Yes, there is a lot to be said for sheeting or piping scrap. I always reflect that all such savings stack up pretty small against the cost of powder to propel the stuff.

[Solothurn]

.50 cents for wheelweights and .75 for scrap lead is my cutoff. Higher than that and it's more cost effective to buy clean ingots that people sell on here for a Lil over a dollar a pound shipped.

[TexasGrunt]

Around here scrap lead is $0.70 a lb as of last week. The last wheel weights I bought from the scrap yard were $0.20 a lb. If the scrap yard is paying $0.05 a lb for wheel weights then get yourself some buckets, put your name and phone number on them, take them to the local tire shops, with cash in hand, and let them know you'll pay them $0.20 a lb for cleaned wheel weights.

I've got six full buckets of wheel weights I need to pick up. They are going to run me $30 a bucket. That's less than $0.20 a lb.

[lightman]

Buying from a scrap yard is not a dumb idea. Its the only option for some casters. Whether its a good deal depends on where you live and how available lead is from other sources. Personally, the sheet lead would not interest me as I use very little of it. On the other hand, I have found clip-on weights to be a very good alloy for most of my casting needs and thats what I use the most of.

[Guesser]

Buying the mixed WW, sorting them and then resell the undesirables back to the scrap dealer. You can recoup some of your expenditure that way.

[runfiverun]

clean sheets would be weighing my pickup down to the tires rubbing the fender wells.
you can buy roto metals super hard and mix what you want from there and have a really good consistent repeatable alloy.

[mold maker]

Ya gonna regret passing up any reasonably priced lead. The mixed WWs will only get harder to find and more expensive when ya do.
When I built my stash they would pay you to haul WWs and "junk" lead off.
I still can't turn it down, or pass up a WW on the road.
Remember, the current administration won't always be there. Times will change and having a stash will be the difference between, a safe of queens, and shooting.

[Drew P]

Buying from a scrap yard is not a dumb idea. Its the only option for some casters. Whether its a good deal depends on where you live and how available lead is from other sources. Personally, the sheet lead would not interest me as I use very little of it. On the other hand, I have found clip-on weights to be a very good alloy for most of my casting needs and thats what I use the most of.
How is scrap yard buying the only option? I've bought ingots mail order delivered for 1.00$ a lb which makes my local scrap yard price of .60$/lb almost too expensive when you figure in smelting costs and travel time.

[quilbilly]

That is where I get all of mine. Every few weeks I visit and look into the big bin to see what is there then pick out the good stuff like clean isotope lead or clean roofing/plumbing lead. The owners know me now and I get a good price since I give them the best fishing reports (I wholesale fishing gear). My most recent purchase was very clean (very little dross) isotope lead for 60 cents a pound which I almost hated to turn into fishing jigs.

[lightman]

How is scrap yard buying the only option? I've bought ingots mail order delivered for 1.00$ a lb which makes my local scrap yard price of .60$/lb almost too expensive when you figure in smelting costs and travel time.

Your right, I could have worded that a little differently. Not all of the casters that I know are members here and it seems my general comment left some room for interpretation. Back to the regular scheduled program!:-)

Edit to add; I wish the scrap yards here would sell to the public. They won't even let you walk around and look!

[Oklahoma Rebel]

the thought of good lead being made into jigs gives me chills,:kidding:but seriously, is it feasible to make jigs out of the zinc WW's? then when they get snagged you wont feel as bad

[labradigger1]

Another source is barter.
I was at a small gunshow a couple years back and was talking to the vendor about his lead Ingots on his table. He had retired from a tire shop. This man had 3000#'s + of lead. Sheet, pipe, wheelweights and around 300 or so ingots.

I traded him a couple pounds of goex and a 1873 trapdoor for all of it. We both went away happy.

[fredj338]

IF I had a scrap yard that would sell me any lead around here for that I would be a buyer. Not happening in most of Kalif.

[dbosman]

There are online courses in handling hazmat cleaning. Take one, get certified, buy some bunny suits and a respirator. Now you're qualified to clean berms and bullet traps. Help those poor shooting clubs clean up that nasty old lead, and don't over charge them for your services.

[bbogue1]

Versitile payment is a whopping advantage. The owner is always thinking.... "What's in it for me" Cash adds another dimension.

[Hardcast416taylor]

The only lead that I bought from a salvage yard was identifiable lino type pigs and plumber soft lead ingots. I doubt that at the highest I paid $1/lb for any of it. My buddy with a car dealership gave me all the weights that came off a wheel for free.Robert

[Forrest r]

I don't buy ww's anymore too much junk in them and a lot of sorting. For every 100# of ww's I was getting 60#/65# of ingots. That's pretty close to what others have posted. Texasgrunt posted he did 585# of ww's and ended up with 348# of ingots. That's a 60% return.

A couple weeks back a local scrap yard was selling lead for $.25 a pound. I bought everything but the 55 gallon drums of ww's. 300# of lead I bought from them on the 2nd trip.
http://i162.photobucket.com/albums/t242/forrestr-photo/100_3304_zps5nkquwu8.jpg (http://s162.photobucket.com/user/forrestr-photo/media/100_3304_zps5nkquwu8.jpg.html)

They have a sailboat keel there, been thinking about buying it.

[toallmy]

I check in at the local scrap yard once in a while , but when they went up in price last summer I backed off . I was happy at .60 then I could work with .80 for clean stuff , but 1.00 don't work for me . I am conservative but understand they are in business to make money . They are paying .05-.20 depending on how clean it is .

[TexasGrunt]

My local pays $0.35 and sells for $0.70, the prices are posted on a board in the office.