Seperating Lead WW from Zinc and Steel

[Budmen]

I smelted up about 200# of ww yest. morning. While I was sorting by hand picking out what zinc and steel I found I got thinkin about the amazingly ingenious people on this site. I figure there is someone who has devised a way to seperate that is better than mine so i figure why not ask.

My procedure is to hand sort the best I can then keep my melt temp around 650 skim the clips and whatever doesn't melt.

Anyone have a alternative method they want to share????

:castmine:

[Roundnoser]

Nope! I'm doing what you're doing! Hand-separate, and cook'em down at a low temp. just in case one of those sneaky zinc weights slips past you. -- Its slow, but it works well.

[emrah]

I just throw it all into the pot, crank it up and skim off whatever doesn't melt. Lead is heavier than most anything you're going to throw in there, so everything else just floats. And I mean everything. Weights, clips, tape, dirt, shmutz, whatever. I skim it off with a cheap metal spoon before fluxing. And no, I do not notice all the "gunk" gunking up or ruining the pot.

Emrah

[Dan Cash]

I just throw it all into the pot, crank it up and skim off whatever doesn't melt.
Emrah

+1, just don't get the melt too hot. Keep the flame low enough that the lead is slow to melt. The junk will float.

[clintsfolly]

I use a combo method i sort with the main idea to get Stickons,junk and steel ,zinc that I notice! then melt at 600-650! Goes faster and just works for me. Clint

[Defcon-One]

....My procedure is to hand sort the best I can then keep my melt temp around 650 skim the clips and whatever doesn't melt.....

That is what we all do!

Unfortunately, there is no magic wand that you can wave to make the Steel and Zinc float up and out of the bucket.

So, it turns out that you are a one of "the amazingly ingenious people" on this site!

[fredj338]

Steel are easy to sort out & most zinc. I still just do that & then cook it all down around 650-700 degf & skim off the occasional zinc hanger on. One or two zinc wts in 25#+ of alloy isn't going to kill anything, but I don't want them in my alloy at all.

[Charlie Two Tracks]

The very first batch that I smelted went wrong...... I thought that I had the temp. down low enough, but the bottom of the pot was a lot hotter than the top of the pot. A few of the zinc weights melted. This was my very first time at smelting and then I started to cast with this mix. What a FIT! I had all sorts of problems trying to get a good boolit. The spout on my casting pot dripped after the first half hour and just wouldn't stop. When I realized what had happened, I dumped out the mix in the pot and cleaned the pot out. Where the rod goes into the bottom of the pot, there was a build up of material that almost resembled spring steel around the bottom spout. It was zinc. After that little adventure, I always sort by hand and take a very long time to get the lead up to melting temperature. For me, it just isn't worth the hassle of dealing with a mix with zinc in it.

[WHITETAIL]

+1 On the same method.
I do not get buckets full of
WW.
I get 10 or so at a time and
check them before throwing
them in each bucket.
Ever since they robed a few of
my sources.
They now have camras and no
more giving WW away.:groner:

[w5pv]

I wash my ww's and then take a scribe to test if they are lead or other.I find that lead will scratch very easy and zinc and steel doesn't scratch.If you go directly to the smelting pot use low heat until the dampness flashes off.Then skim off the clips and other trash off before fluxing.

[jeeedbb]

When ZN gets through the sort and into the pot ( temp is low - 500 F) ... How long do the ZN stay solid? I had a WW that failed the cutter test and ZN was on the side of it. After I was done skimming the pot, I through into the pot to test "the melting point". Long story short it did not stay solid very long. I still do not have an explaination. Comment?

[captaint]

Last time I traded pizza for wheelweights I got a bucket and a half. I sorted them all with a pair of side cutters. Every one, except the obvious (you know the ones) lead. Tedious job, but when it comes time to melt em all down, a little peace of mind goes a long way. I should stop by that tire place again. enjoy Mike

[bumpo628]

There is a sticky in this forum on this very subject.
http://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?t=139839

I just put a strong magnet (out of an old hard drive) on the back of a pair of wire cutters and that way I can test for steel or zinc without changing tools.

[gbrown]

I picked up a 3-1/2 gallon of wheel weights at a tire store this morning. About a a third were steel and zinc. Still ended up with about a quarter 5 gallon bucket of good ww. About 25 # of lead after smelting. Disappointed in the amount of steel and zinc, still more than I had, and for free. I set the bucket on my tailgate and put 3 buckets around--stick on, steel/zinc & coww. Usually I'll go back through the coww just to make sure. Not in a hurry. I have posted on other thread--lead is out there, you just have to be creative and use all your resources. I have about 10 people looking for me. I give my steel/zinc to a friend who gives me lead he finds.

[DLCTEX]

Steel is worth about 20 cents lb. for salvage. Zinc is more, but I haven't had a price on it yet as I'm still adding to that bucket. I sell my scrap 100 miles away for the best price, so I only take it when I am going for other reasons.