I gave up on wheel weights

[lightman]

Have so much on hand, COWW, Lino, range lead, and other alloys that I'm done adding to my stash.

I've said this but I can't resist a free or cheap score! Without looking too hard I end up with 400# or so a year. Mostly from contacts going back for years.

[mike69]

I haven't given up completely on ww but i wont pay for them anymore . I got 2 5gal buckets free and when i was done I had a 5gal bucket filled to the top with all the unusable stuff left over .

[white eagle]

I have some ww a bucket and a half or so but I don't actively look for them any more.
I found Isotope cores to be a better substitute for ww these days and have enough of both to last the rest of my time

[bangerjim]

Several years ago I did some messing around with Zn contamination. I found that up to 5% Zn did not really change things much at all! Weight will go down ever sooooooo slightly. This was in a 25# melt.

So don't "throw the whole pot out" if you get just one zinker in there!!!! A total waste. Way too many "olde wive's and caster's tales" exist about a little Zn in boolits.

banger

[Bantou]

I have some ww a bucket and a half or so but I don't actively look for them any more.
I found Isotope cores to be a better substitute for ww these days and have enough of both to last the rest of my time

Where do you get isotope cores from?


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[RogerDat]

Several years ago I did some messing around with Zn contamination. I found that up to 5% Zn did not really change things much at all! Weight will go down ever sooooooo slightly. This was in a 25# melt.

So don't "throw the whole pot out" if you get just one zinker in there!!!! A total waste. Way too many "olde wive's and caster's tales" exist about a little Zn in boolits.

banger

Never tried making bullets from mild zinc contamination but when it comes to pouring ingots it isn't too bad. Need more heat, and I think a bottom pour might work better than ladle casting since it can more easily avoid the mild slush that forms on top of the melt.

Have some pewter that has zinc contamination and it is going into a round ball mold to be used as slingshot ammo. Not a hazard to handle tin & zinc.

[lightman]

I took the Wife's Expedition in for service and a tire rotation this morning and raided the weight bucket. They have me and at least another guy that gets them and the other guy beat me this time. I came away with about a gallon of mixed weights. After sorting, I estimate between 60-40 and 70-30 lead to steel. There was a small handful of stick-ons, a few plastic and composite weights and no Zinc.

I'm seeing less and less Zinc, which I see as a good thing.

[kevin c]

Where do you get isotope cores from?


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Hospitals use them, though many big centers and most smaller ones get their isotopes from a radiopharmacy that serves the area. Radiopharmacies end up with a LOT of different lead containers that they usually scrap if they are too far from the cyclotrons and reactors to return ship them economically (that's most of them). Some are willing to sell them to individuals that save them the hassle of taking the containers and cores (which are called technetium generators or "moly cows" in the trade) to the scrapyard. Very clean metal, though prior analyses that showed 96-3-1 content for the generators hasn't held up for me (consistently 97.5-2.5, with no tin).

Google is your friend here. Enter radiopharmacy and filter to your area. Don't cone down too much geographically; a reference I came across cited just over twenty radiopharmacies in all of California.

[Bantou]

Hospitals use them, though many big centers and most smaller ones get their isotopes from a radiopharmacy that serves the area. Radiopharmacies end up with a LOT of different lead containers that they usually scrap if they are too far from the cyclotrons and reactors to return ship them economically (that's most of them). Some are willing to sell them to individuals that save them the hassle of taking the containers and cores (which are called technetium generators or "moly cows" in the trade) to the scrapyard. Very clean metal, though prior analyses that showed 96-3-1 content for the generators hasn't held up for me (consistently 97.5-2.5, with no tin).

Google is your friend here. Enter radiopharmacy and filter to your area. Don't cone down too much geographically; a reference I came across cited just over twenty radiopharmacies in all of California.

Thanks for the info. I’ll look into it but I live in rural Texas so I doubt that is going to be a viable option for me.


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[Misery-Whip]

I leave 15lbs in my smelter and i melt that first. Get my temps under control, then add 4 or 5lbs at a time, if it floats it gets pulled.

[trapper9260]

I use wood to smelt , that way if there is any zinc in the mix it will float with the rest of the junk and just skim it off. It is how I always done it and was taught by my dad how to melt lead in a wood fire. But what I do is after I skim off the junk on top after flux the mix. I pour in ingots the whole pot and start over. and keep doing the same till I have it all done. You do not want the heat high on the melt that way what ever there is in the mix will not melt on you. That is the good thing with wood if you use it right .