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Thread: Range Scrap - How to Remove Wood?

  1. #1
    Boolit Mold
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    Range Scrap - How to Remove Wood?

    Total newb here.

    I have been accumulating a good amount of range scrap via sifting the berms at my range.
    However, there is A LOT of wood pieces mixed in the with the lead from old target stands that got blasted away.

    I have tried submerging in water and skimming the floaters, but there is still a good amount of wood that sinks with the lead (even after shaking the lead in the bucket).

    Any tips on how to separate the two before smelting?

    I live in the burbs, so the least amount of smoke and smell produced with smelting, the better. Otherwise, I suppose I would just leave the wood in there.

  2. #2
    Boolit Master


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    Can you melt/recover the lead at night? Smoke would not be visible, and with a slight breeze (stay upwind!), the smell may not be too bad. If anyone asks, tell them you are smoking some wild game jerky!
    Lead Forever!


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  3. #3
    Boolit Mold
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    Quote Originally Posted by Bloodman14 View Post
    Can you melt/recover the lead at night? Smoke would not be visible, and with a slight breeze (stay upwind!), the smell may not be too bad. If anyone asks, tell them you are smoking some wild game jerky!
    I like that. Melting at night is definitely an option.

  4. #4
    Boolit Mold
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    I came across a thread where a guy had a similar problem with chunks of rubber. He ended up creating a salt solution that was dense enough to float the rubber. That could work for the wood, but would exposing the lead to salt water create a different problem? I would rinse in fresh after, but there will no doubt be some residue

  5. #5
    Boolit Master
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    In the past, some folks living in the city have suggested adding some scrap bacon to the melt. Acts as a flux and produces an aroma that is not objectionable. Same reason I have a bag of mesquite chunks.

  6. #6
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    Not wood, but I've had stick on wheel weights with the foam tape on them.
    I'd melt them late at night during winter or the heat of summer when everyone had their windows closed.

    I'd just melt your stuff with the wood when its a little breezy and it might smell like a fire place going.

    A bit of caution:
    I wouldn't put any of that stuff in a hot or half full pot unless you've done something to boil out any and all the water in it.
    If there is more than about 3 molecules of water trapped in the wood----- it'll get real exciting.
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  7. #7
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    Rcmaveric's Avatar
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    Are you sure the neighbors would even care? The questionable neighbors i just tell i am recycling metal and earns me their tree hugging praises. I live in an apartment. Only time I got in trouble was fluxing with sulfur. Cops showed up on that over complaints of meth cooking.

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  8. #8
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    "I have tried submerging in water and skimming the floaters, but there is still a good amount of wood that sinks with the lead (even after shaking the lead in the bucket)."

    I've previously used this 'method' with mixed results. There would always be those bits that didn't come to the surface. It did help though to get some of the crud out, then it was all set out in the sun to dry. I would go thru it afterwards to check for any steel jackets and other such undesirable 'stuff'. I've never noticed that much smoke coming off of the melt. The pot lid may be limiting that, although when fluxing there is a good bit for a short while. The smell, that's a different matter, but with the temps. dropping and windows being closed ...

    I've never had a neighbor inquire as to what I was doing.
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  9. #9
    Boolit Master


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    Kudos to you for being thoughtful of your neighbors. I like the bacon idea. Everything is better with bacon, even boolets.
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    My setup is from a Weber grill I got on the side of the road. It has a top that drastically cuts the amount of smoke. Can always try a lid. Good luck

  11. #11
    Boolit Master


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    Quote Originally Posted by Rcmaveric View Post
    Are you sure the neighbors would even care? The questionable neighbors i just tell i am recycling metal and earns me their tree hugging praises. I live in an apartment. Only time I got in trouble was fluxing with sulfur. Cops showed up on that over complaints of meth cooking.

    Sent from my SM-N970U using Tapatalk
    How did it go with the cops? I would have loved to be there!
    I am a cop, just interested in their reaction when they found out that you were just melting lead to make boolits!
    I would have been laughing at the neighbors stupidity!

  12. #12
    Boolit Master
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    Wood is a carbon source for reducing oxides, no? If anything you might want to add more carbon in the form of sawdust and wax to really clean up the metal (more ash to skim off, of course). As for the smoke, at least for the sawdust and wax I add to my processing pot, igniting it seems to eliminate most of it.

    I kind of like the animal fat/barbecue wood chips idea; nobody seems put out if they smell what they think is smoke from a grill.

  13. #13
    Boolit Buddy
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    Years ago, a wise forum member advised me to separate dirt from lead shot using a shop vac and a long hose. Make sure the hose dips down and then comes back up. The lead will stay in the low part while other debris flows through. You could use many variations on this theme, maybe instead of a dip you could have a portion which gets wider and makes the lead drop out. Just remember that the whole setup will wind up with lead dust in it and unless you have a HEPA filter in the vacuum it will shoot lead dust out the back. So don't do this in your garden!

  14. #14
    Boolit Buddy The Dove's Avatar
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    Why not set up the grill and bbq some burgers or something that generates a bunch of smoke and good aroma, then work on the lead/wood?

  15. #15
    Boolit Buddy Driver man's Avatar
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    All my range scrap is more wood than lead but is very easy to separate even though the wood is waterlogged. I use several large bucket sized containers and half fill a container and swirl the contents while playing a hose on the scrap. As you swirl the material the lighter stuff separates and comes to the surface. The trick is to hold the bucket/containers at the right angle while swirling with the hose playing water on the mix. The rubbish is ejected from the bucket and you are left with the lead. I can do several hundred pounds in an hour or so .
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  16. #16
    Boolit Master elmacgyver0's Avatar
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    Just do it!

  17. #17
    Boolit Buddy dimaprok's Avatar
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    As it was mentioned the cast iron pot with lid makes a huge difference and bacon grease to flux with. At some point I collected a quart jar thinking I might use it for bullet lube. The wood will char and release wood gas which will escape and burn cleanly and remaining carbon will also act as a flux, just skim if off melted lead.

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  18. #18
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    I just burn wood and target paper when melting. If it’s really a lot, I would try separating it with water. If you leave the wet scrap in the sun to dry before melting, I’ve found it uses less propane.

  19. #19
    Boolit Master

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    I won't lie. I am bad. I dont wait for it to dry. I fill the pot. Light the fire. Apply a lid and sit in a lawn chair listening to music (gotta make sure the neighbor hood kids stay away). The water will all cook off before it melts. I have started with mud before. Drain the pot making ingot and repeat.

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  20. #20
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    Wood scraps old wheel weights and dirty lead and bacon grease , sounds like a recipe , last time I mentioned using bacon grease in melting old wheel weights it brought out those condemning or questioning the practice , bacon grease hamburger grease or any item to make smell of smoke like something else and I always did my rendering scrap in the city after dark . It works to burn off junk and to make lead more fluid less surface tension , gets rid of waste grease , makes smell seem like a BBQ , I never worry about scrap wood which there is plenty in range scrap , but I could care less what neighbors think as they really dont care about their noise and smells .

    And if I do not question the parties they have or the hobbies they do then mine should be of no concern to them , though I would point out I am recycling waste into usable material and if they do not like my freedoms then I could care less for their hug a teddy bear ride a bike ideas as my experiences with the so called liberal green folks show they waste as much and are as big a problem as the rest of us , having said that I do my scrap melting in the evenings outside and try to keep smoke and what I am doing to myself .

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BP Bronze Point IMR Improved Military Rifle PTD Pointed
BR Bench Rest M Magnum RN Round Nose
BT Boat Tail PL Power-Lokt SP Soft Point
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