Do you clean wheel weights before melting?

[Bob Krack]

I'm sorry but I have been lead to believe that lead vapour/fumes are many times more absorptive than solid lead.

the lungs/blood can absorb lead vapour very rapidly, but solid lead can remain in the human body for a long time without causing harm.

I think you guys have it backwards regarding fumes and dust.
Now I have some research to do

==================
update: well I have just done some reading and Wow... I am surprised.

the absorption rate for vapour and dust appears to be pretty much the same (for very fine dust particles)

the reason children are at a higher risk is their exposure can be greater and they absorb it more readily, as so pregnant women.

it seems we don't really absorb lead through the skin by handling it much. ie/ large particles are not that harmful, it is the very fine particles that cause issues. especially inhaled.

this is all fairly new to me. the information on lead that I received during my OSH training years ago is pretty dated I now realize.

Thanks for making this subject an issue, as I just learned important info today. Which will help me recognize risks when my grandson comes to visit.

again, Thanks

Your information is quite correct but in my lack of thinking, I failed to mention that the temperatures we (casters) normally subject lead to does not normally produce lead fumes. Please be aware that the dust and residue from spent primers >CAN< be just as dangerous.

No flame intended as I am pretty certain that yours was not either.

Bob

[Hill Folk]

I have a large old plumbers pot for wheel weights, I fire it up outside with enough ww to get a half inch or so melted in the bottom, then scoop raw wheel wights with a large ladle and start lowering it into the melt. Stir flux stir, skim, and keep adding until I have a pot nearly full of clean alloy , I pay attention to the side walls of the pot with scraping them. Pour into ingot molds of choice and grin. Just make sure things are dry.

Hill Folk

[mpmarty]

I separate out the old valve stems and candy wrappers and return them to the tire shop. I buy wheel weights not garbage. I no longer get as much **** in my wheel weight buckets.

[Jlw6636]

Will try my first batch tomorrow. Thanks you all for the information.

[Rex]

Wear safety glasses AT ALL TIMES! Gloves when needed. And adequate clothing and shoes.

Good advice, I had a bucket full setting on the floor by my reloading bench and a live primer found its way in. That is a surprise when the lead melts.

[gwpercle]

I don't "clean" them but I make dog gone sure to go over every one with a pair of side cutters and get out every steel and every zinc wheel weight.
I usually toss the soft stick on wheel weights in the "scrap lead" pile or have also just melted a few with the COWW's . Doen't seem to hurt anything.
I do get all the paper trash , gum wrappers and such out...but no cleaning .
Gary

[3leggedturtle]

Do it on a breezy day and the fumes and smoke will go away. If its calm, get a fan a point it the way you want smoke to drift. Todd/3leg

[lightman]

When I look at some of these older threads I often wonder about the guys that you don't hear from anymore. I hope they are all doing ok.

I don't clean wheel weights but I do sort them. I also remove all of the junk before I put them in my smelting pot. The brake pads, lug nuts, valve stems, tire stickers, nails, screws, ect. The dirt, paint, grease, road film, ect won't hurt anything except for creating some smoke. I've even melted wet muddy and rusty weights. Just don't add them to a pot with molten lead. As a rule, I won't add anything to molten lead except for flux.

[R Hoskin]

As far as fumes and dust I set up a small fan to blow across the pot I figure by the time it gets to the back of the garage I should be in no danger.

[fredj338]

I usually pick out the stick on WW's and save them to clean separtely later on, I also try to pull out as many of the valve stems that I can. The rest is used for flux.

This is what I do. I have found all kinds of things in a bucket of ww that I really do not want to put high heat to. I had a valve stem blow up my lead once, probably trapped moisture. The smoke from the stick-ons is god awful so those get cleaned first.

[Tom W.]

Don't use an aluminum pot. A stainless steel or a cast iron dutch oven is needed. Aluminum will, not may, give you an unwanted surprise.

[30calflash]

I've sifted through quickly before melting. Get the non useable debris out. In the future I'll be sorting more carefully, especially with newer acquisitions of WW's.

I have a cast pot that gets used for the initial melt down, holds about 30 lbs. I'm pondering on making a larger pot fro a freon tank, to at least double the payload. It would make things go smoother I think.

I've used my casting furnace at times but it does get cruddy pretty fast.

[lightman]

I've sifted through quickly before melting. Get the non useable debris out. In the future I'll be sorting more carefully, especially with newer acquisitions of WW's.

I have a cast pot that gets used for the initial melt down, holds about 30 lbs. I'm pondering on making a larger pot fro a freon tank, to at least double the payload. It would make things go smoother I think.

I've used my casting furnace at times but it does get cruddy pretty fast.

If your heat source is up to it I think you would appreciate smelting in a larger pot. Just be aware that if you increase the size of one thing you will need to increase the size of everything else in order to see the improvements. That is, a bigger ladle, more ingot molds, a larger lay out area, ect. Also be sure that your stand is sturdy enough for the increased weight.

I started with a 10# pot on a Coleman stove and 1 ingot mold and ended up with a 400# pot on a homemade burner and 7 or 8 ingot molds.

[30calflash]

I've a plumbers furnace that can hold a fair size pot. The cast iron one I'm using is from a cattle watering system, round bottom, so it sits on the burner well. The freon tank looks like it will work, maybe a little less curve to the bottom.

I'll not fill it straight away, to make sure it stays put with a load I'll try setting lead into it before melting and test for stability.

And tx for the need to have more of everything to make it work better.

[Hossfly]

I try to seperate the zinc ones out first also steel and all plastic. Then start with good pool in bottom of 50# Freon tank over fish fryer, with propane fire. Keep low and slow anything floating gets skimmed, fluxed with pine chips, at least 2 times then parifin, bees wax saved for casting pot.

Try to get clean ingots to start with to get better boolits later.

[Arkansas Paul]

Heck no.
Ain't nobody got time for that.

And I second the advice about smelting in a different pot than casting out of. It's not necessary, but it's better.
We smelt in an old cast iron dutch oven, and cast boolits out of a Lyman big dipper pot and a Lee bottom pour.

[T_McD]

And don't forget to wash your hands before touching the doorknob that your 3yr old will hang on just before he/she licks their fingers.... there are some real dangers here although many (like "lead fumes") are a little far fetched. Lead ingestion (and it doesn't take much) can cause pretty serious brain and nerve problems in very young children. Not nearly so much danger for teens and adults.

Gear

Agreed