Zn and Fe can be a pain.

[Slochill]

Just wanted to gripe... I scored 120+ pounds of wheel weights today from two tire shops. I got home and spent the better part of two hours sorting it. In the end I had a bucket with with 58 pounds of Pb WW and a whole lot of Zn and Fe. :groner: Plus a small box of about 10 pounds of Pb t-a-w. Good thing I was only out $5 for the second tire shop (had to grease a palm). Ok I got that off my chest.

Is it true that the t-a-w is pure lead and needs to have some tin and antimony added to make it worth casting?

[454PB]

What does "t-a-w" mean?

The stick on wheelweights are all dead soft lead, and can be considered pure lead.

That can be either used for black powder, or alloyed with some tin and antimony to suit your needs.

[Slochill]

Sorry. The t-a-w means tape a weight. They are the stick on wheel weight.

[Hardcast416taylor]

I guess you should look at it from the stand point you got that much meltable lead WW at all the way things are drying up.Robert

[eldoradolee]

What does "t-a-w" mean?

The stick on wheelweights are all dead soft lead, and can be considered pure lead.

That can be either used for black powder, or alloyed with some tin and antimony to suit your needs.

NEGATIVE to DEAD SOFT,PURE LEAD.Stick=on weights range from 6.0 to 7.6 b.h.n.
Not dead soft,not pure lead.My 2 cents worth.Lee

[cf_coder]

Yeah, the stick ons that I've come across aslo have a little bit of "something else" in them as well... which is probably antimony based on the grain structure of the ingots that I have. There may well be some out there that are pure, but there are a number that aren't and I'm too lazy to sort my stick ons by type (after already sorting from COWW and zinc/steel ones). It will pass for soft pure lead for my purposes. :D

[coloraydo]

There are also zinc and steel SOWW's. I have also noticed there is and some that are almost as hard as COWW's. Check out this thread: http://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?t=139839&highlight=wheel+weights

[frkelly74]

You can sell the zinc and have a profit.

[Roundnoser]

For what its worth, when I sort my WWs, I toss the zinc and steel weights in a bucket. When I smelt my WWs, I throw the steel clips in the bucket as well. It doesn't take long before I have a few hundred pounds of scrap metal. The scrap yard pays me 11 cents per pound for it. Doesn't sound like alot, but 20-30-40 bucks for my junk is free money. I use it to "grease" the palms of future tire shop owners! Isn't recycling wonderful??!!!

[mold maker]

The only way the scrapers will take my Zinc WW is to melt them off the clips, just like I do the good WWs. Then he will pay a full price for the zinc.
I'm finding very few Zinc weights, but the iron (Fe) sure are on the increase. I now have a full bucket of them. The sell price for them is low, but it pays for the gas. I have to go anyway, as I collect, old grills, storm doors, lawn chairs, etc for the aluminum. A pickup load of that stuff trades for lots of lead, with money left over for powder and primers.

[Defcon-One]

For what its worth, when I sort my WWs, I toss the zinc and steel weights in a bucket. When I smelt my WWs, I throw the steel clips in the bucket as well.....

I'd get another bucket and sell the Zinc separately. It is worth more than the steel weights and clips!

Zinc is worth about the same as Lead. While it does not make good bullets, it has other uses and if you can find a market for it, it can pay for a lot of Lead.

On the Stick-on issue, I find that the unpainted SOWWs that are the most common style are very close to pure Lead. Any Stick-on with paint on it goes in with the Clip-ons. The painted ones have the Antimony in them. I don't mix them!

[Roundnoser]

I'd get another bucket and sell the Zinc separately. It is worth more than the steel weights and clips!

Zinc is worth about the same as Lead. While it does not make good bullets, it has other uses and if you can find a market for it, it can pay for a lot of Lead.

On the Stick-on issue, I find that the unpainted SOWWs that are the most common style are very close to pure Lead. Any Stick-on with paint on it goes in with the Clip-ons. The painted ones have the Antimony in them. I don't mix them!

Great information here. Thanks. -- Guess I'll need another bucket handy when sorting!