Types of Wheel Weights

[Barr]

Hello all. I am new to bullet casting but have been reloading for several years and am expanding my horizons a bit. I had a few questions that I could not find the answers to on this site or the site "Cast Bullets for Beginners".

1. How do you identify the types of wheel weights? Could anyone provide a few pictures to illustrate? I have started sorting my weights and the ones with Fe or Zn are somewhat self-explanatory but I am unclear on the rest.

2. What is a fair price for a 5 gallon bucket of wheel weights? I recently bought two pails for $20 each and the buckets felt as if they were in the 130 lb range each as listed on the sticky on this forum.

Thanks.

[arjacobson]

I use a diagonal cutter and give each one that is not clearly marked a pinch. You will know right away as the lead ones will mark up easily and a zinc will barely get scratched. I had to do this on my last batch. There were a few that looked exactly alike(marked with a 20) A few were lead and a few WERE zinc.. I have had this before in the past also.. When sorting them look for marks that were made when removed. If the marks are deep they are lead. Squeeze a few that are marked zinc and you will know right away next time.:drinks:

[Barr]

If I am able to bend the weights by hand (no joints such as a segmented weight) can I assume they are a Pb alloy that might be coated?

I will be trying the pliers method this evening.

[Suo Gan]

Somehow or another a zinc weight always sneaks through your system and gets into your pot. What you need to do is go slow and do not overload the pot with too many weights. If you do the top of the pile will push the lower weights down as they melt. If a zinc weight gets trapped in there and forced down to the bottom of the pot it could melt. If you just add a small pot of weights every time it will be easier and you will lessen the chance of melting a zinc weight. Everyone always talks about melting at a low temperature...well, I will ask a question. What is the temperature of the bottom of the pot closest to the heat? It is much higher than the rest as the entire pot of lead is at different temperatures.

If you go slow and add weights they will melt and the top will get the consistency of thick cake frosting. Stir the melt real good to try to evenly distribute heat. And then add your flux. I like to use dried leaves or wood shavings, the clips and any steel or zinc ww will come to the surface and then you need to get them out of the pot quickly. After I removed all the clips and trash, I flux again with beeswax or old candles or boolit lube. I stir it good and then add more wheel weights and do it over until I am ready to pour. My pot hold about 100 pounds of alloy. I takes me four or five sessions of adding clips and fluxing before I am full enough to pour. Then I leave about thirty pounds of molten alloy in the bottom and do it again, until I switch alloys and then empty it completely.

Doing it this way I have not had an issue with zinc. You do not need a thermometer if you know what you are looking at. Kind of like looking at a ribeye on the grill and just knowing. How do you quantify that?

Segregating is tedious and time consuming. I hate doing it that way and try to avoid it at all costs.

Your question about the different types of weights is one of those things. You will need to do like the rest of us and figure it out. I mean no disrespect by telling you to do it on your own but that is the best way to learn. There are too many types of wheel weights anyway. You just need to get your feet wet, and you might mess something up. Do not worry about it too much, all education comes at a price.

[Barr]

Suo Gan,

Thanks for the educational post. I have already started to sort based on additional information I have found. At this point I am trying to minimize the mistakes. I read something on this site today that I liked:

A smart man learns from his mistakes. A wise man learns from the mistakes of a smart man. All education has a price, some has a higher cost than others.

[Revolver]

Here, I tried to make a video showing different types of wheel weights but it came out a little blurry on the close ups...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oeOz63v4eYM

[para45lda]

Good job Junker!! I wish this was here when I first got started.

Wes

[Barr]

Thanks for the link to the video. I sorted about 40 lbs of lead tonight and was finding the things you pointed out in the video. I liked the wood burning stove idea.

[canyon-ghost]

Be very suspicious of the tan epoxy painted ones, a lot of them are Zinc.

[John Boy]

http://www.thehighroad.org/archive/index.php/t-489876.html

[Bullet Caster]

BTW, welcome Barr to the Cast Boolits forum. We hope you will find a place here. There is a wealth of knowledge here with some casting for over 50 years. The only dumb question is the one not asked.

I also am new to boolit casting and have 2 casting sessions. Didn't take all that long to start casting really good boolits. Just need to get in there and get your feet wet, not with lead, of course. BC

[Barr]

I spent a fair amount of time reading about the dreaded tinsel fairy; things like melting from a cold pot and preheating all utensils.

[Suo Gan]

Barr, Get yourself a cheap weed torch. You can preheat your lead in a few seconds. I just hit the top of the five gallon bucket full and the lead sucks up the heat and the sides of the bucket do not melt.

http://www.harborfreight.com/propane-torch-91033.html

Get a hot plate for preheating your mold(s) before you cast.
http://www.walgreens.com/store/c/sylvania-1000-watt-single-burner/ID=prod6047661-product

The most frustrating part when I was first starting was the fact that I did not have my molds degreased before I started. I got bubbles and wrinkles and could not figure it out. Make sure and degrease those molds by boiling them in a pot of dishwasher detergent. Then I was still getting rounded corners and it was the fact that my mold was too cold, and I found the hot plate.

The tinsel fairy is something to be aware of, but not something that should even occur. It is due to operator error, like letting a FMJ get into the mix and having it explode. Really it could rain outside and rain in your alloy and no explosion would happen. Its when you introduce water BELOW the surface.

Have fun!!

[WILCO]

A thread here in the forums complete with pictures and many good posts about this very subject, but I'm not sure where it ended up. Think it was titled "The good, the bad and the ugly".