Lead Weights

[The Dove]

I know this has probably been discussed a zillion times before, but my search didn't turn up anything close to what I wanted. I was wonderin', if I had a 5-gallon bucket of raw wheel weights, how much would that weigh approximately (lbs)? Also, If I smelted that 5-gallon bucket down and removed the clips and krap, approximately how much usable lead would I have (in lbs of course). Sorry if this is a repeat but I tried to search. Not the best 'puter hound, if you know what I mean.

The Dove

[high standard 40]

A lot of variables to consider. What percentage of stick on weights, zinc weights, & iron weights. Also, the more large weights you have the higher the yield, and the more small weights, the lower the yield. I just smelted 3 - 5gal buckets and my ingot total was about 360 lbs. of alloy and 56lbs of pure lead. I had about 4-5 dozen assorted iron & zinc weights that were in the buckets plus some other trash. Your totals could vary. Should give you a rough idea though.

Charlie.....

[redfisherdave]

I smelted a 2-1/2 gallon bucket full of wheelweights a few weeks ago. Ended up with about 40# of ingots.

[high standard 40]

Redfisherdave, my yield was much higher. Did you have a lot of unsuable weights in your 2 1/2 gal bucket?

[redfisherdave]

High Standard

I checked the bucketful 1 weight at a time squeezing w pliers to sort out the zinc & steel. I thought I had a low reject ratio. Weighed my ingots on an old bathroom scale in my garage. Old scale could be off. How many pounds did you get?

Dave

[high standard 40]

Bathroom scale could be the difference. They lie to you sometimes. I know that the bathroom scale I get on every morning lies to me all the time. Anyway,I smelted 3 5gal buckets and got 360 lbs of ingots. I weighed several ingots on a lab quality balance beam scale that reads in grams. Very accurate scale. I averaged the ingots I weighed and multiplied by the number of ingots to get the total of 360 lbs.
That would equate to 60 lbs per 2 1/2 gal bucket. Also, my buckets were full to the brim. As I mentioned in my post above, there are a lot of factors that can affect the yield. No two lots of weights are the same.

Charlie.........

[clintsfolly]

as of late my smelts have run about 80-85% clean but i have work my contacts to Keep them Clean have fun clint

[JFriis]

My 5 gallon bucket, full to the top of unsorted wheel weights came in at 140#'s.

[Elk Country]

I have about a dozen 5 gallon buckets of WW in the garage. I weigh each bucket before setting it aside for smelting. Each bucket weighs 160lbs. I expect to net 120-125lbs of usable lead from each bucket. I use them for bullets as well as making shot for skeet practice.

YMMV, but that's what I get.

Happy casting,

Elk Country

[high standard 40]

I scored 2 more 5 gal bucket of weights today and I'll post my yield when I smelt them down hopefully latter today. I've already sorted the weights by removing stickons, zinc, and steel. These buckets had a large quantity of valve stems in them which reduced the volume of weights. All together, both buckets lost about 20% of their volume to unsuable junk and the stickons. Results latter.

Charlie..........

[sniper7369]

You guys are lucky. Free or cheap lead is so scarce around here I keep the stick ons in the pot and even cut the WW with pure lead to make it go further.

[high standard 40]

Just finished smelting the first bucket. Ingot total was approx. 110 lbs. from a 5 gal bucket excluding the stickons. This bucket had a lot of other trash in it, valve stems etc., but this is about average for me here.

Charlie.......

[FN in MT]

My track record on acquiring WW's is so poor that I had decided to spend a few hundred dollars on the group lead buy! I'm down to less than 300# of assorted plumbers lead,WW's in ingots and a few precious bars of linotype.

Yesterday I do the 50 miles to Town to help a Buddy with a few small jobs..one of those "he helps me...so I should help him too" sort of things. On my way OUT of town I stop at a tire shop and end up with 550 pounds of WW's and stick ons for the sum of $55.

Despite visiting four times in the past three months I've never come up with anything at all. Stopped yesterday,and they had three 7 or 8 Gal sized buckets full to the brim and another 5 gal bucket packed full of tape on wts. When the Manager asked me if $55 was OK I almost broke the sound barrier pulling the bills out of my pocket!!!

I routinely lay WW's out on the garage floor to get rid of any moisture as well as clean up the garbage. TOTAL garbage yield from these four buckets didn't fill a paper 8oz coffee cup!!! Only a single cigarette butt, maybe 10 stems and the top from a magic marker!!! That was it!

I can RELAX now...knowing I at least have enough lead to get me through the next year or so.

Going to go back this next week and either buy the Manager Lunch or drop off something for him to show my appreciation!

Sleeping Soundly in Montana.....

[The Dove]

Thanks guy's.. I appreciate the info. I'm just trying to figure out a rough estimate on what I started with, what I ended with and where I'm at as far as WW's, lead, and boolits. Just interesting to me.

The Dove

[The Dove]

I got 360 lbs of ingots!

I love this site.

The Dove

[georgeld]

Dove:
You came out well.
I seldom get WW's, another guy remakes WW's and give's enough credit on scraped one's the shops around here think their being robbed if I ask for some. he even furnishs the buckets.

Indoor range scrap with lots of jackets generally will produce 110-125ingots. About every 35 buckets full will also produce about a full bucket of jackets that can be sold for brass scrap. Seldom get less than $35-40 for that. Way more than the gas and parts, materials cost to put the tools together. Decent wages that way too.

I'd think unless there's a lot of trash and scrap mixed in you'd come up with about the same results. Looks like you gained some, so that's real good. Bet it's not enough to last very long once you get started casting.