sorting wheel weights

[Pioneer2]

I have 4-5 5 gallon pails of assorted wheel weights to sort.Problem is most are unmarked to tell what material they are made of .My hearing is poor so the drop on cement test is out the window.Any suggestions.Hate to toss them out.Would setting the temp at 650 F melt everything I want and leave the scarp ? Or get a Brinel tester and do each one will take forever

[Dakota954]

Well if youre just gunna toss them out then ill take em off of your hands! As for sorting them, get some wire cutters and clamp on to the weights. If you can cut into the weight its lead;if you cant get through it or make a dent theyre zinc or steel.

[JonB_in_Glencoe]

I have 4-5 5 gallon pails of assorted wheel weights to sort.Problem is most are unmarked to tell what material they are made of .My hearing is poor so the drop on cement test is out the window.Any suggestions.Hate to toss them out.Would setting the temp at 650 F melt everything I want and leave the scarp ? Or get a Brinel tester and do each one will take forever

Yep, that's what I do, keep the heat as low as possible till all the lead alloy WW have just melted, then skim off the steel clips and other non-lead alloy junk.
Jon

[500MAG]

If you don't want to spend the time with the cutters, get yourself a fryer basket, keep the temp below 700F and melt them in the basket set in your pot. When you pull the basket out, all the junk is in the basket and you are left with the good stuff.

[Pioneer2]

Thanx I''l give it a whirl.Only casting I've done is pure lead for large caliber airguns and muzzle loader balls.

[WILCO]

I have 4-5 5 gallon pails of assorted wheel weights to sort.Problem is most are unmarked to tell what material they are made of .

Here's a great sticky on the subject of WW Identification:

http://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?t=139839&highlight=wheel+weight+identification

[Defcon-One]

I'd use the wire cutters and do the work.

I often get hot spots when melting wheel weights. If you have some Zinc in the bottom of the pile, it might melt before you can get a good read on the temperature.

If you don't want to test them all, test enough to get a good stable pool of lead at the right temp, then ad more a bit at a time and skim off what doesn't melt. Add just enough heat to keep the temp at 650 and the lead melting. (Do not do this if they are wet!)

If you do one big batch, I'll guarantee you melt some Zinc, unless you have an electric pot with really good temp control!

[Patrick L]

I also recommend the wire cutter approach. You know, I just started doing that, and I'm amazed how fast it goes. At the beginning of the summer I too had about 5 buckets to go thru, and was DREADING it. Turns out you can do a bucket in maybe an hour, hour and a half tops if you really want to. I ended up doing it leisurely, maybe a half hour here, 20 minutes there, etc. I got thru the initial 5 buckets in about two weeks, just working casually like that. I subsequently started scrounging up more weights, and I've probably gone thru about 10 buckets this summer. Its really not that bad. And, the bonus is that when you do smelt them down, you know everything is good, so you just have at it, skim off the clips and dirt, and you're good. Also, it gets the zinc and steel sorted so that if scrapping that for $ or more lead is an option for you you're set to do that too.

I did find that setting up to be efficient made it go smoother. I sorted at a workbench in my basement. I would put the bucket on the bench tipped on its side. If its not too full and you lay it down slowly the mass of the weights keep them from spilling out. I would have whatever containers for the good weights to my left, and boxes for zinc, steel, and trash to my right. I also kept the shop vac handy with a little mesh cover on the narrow nozzle to periodically vacuum up the dust that you will see in the bucket and on the floor, etc. in order to keep things cleaner. Wear gloves too. I used inexpensive cotton gloves so that my dexterity was not compromised too much. They last for a bucket or two, but are cheap enough that you really don't care. I actually splurged and spent $14 for a new set of cutters that spring open on their own. I know it sounds nuts but I found that really cuts down on fatigue in your strong hand!

Be sure to wash your hands when you finish a session!

[Gliden07]

When I sorted my first batch of WW I used a set of 8" linesmen pliers. They worked GREAT!! I'll tell you one thing though I did 1 5 gallon bucket that was about 3/4 full and my hand was sore after checking all of them!!

[cheese1566]

I do mine by seperating out the soft stick on weights from the clip ons. While doing so, I weed out the obvious steel weights and other garbage. I am sure I let some steel and zinc through in the process, but I don't want to spend all day doing it either.

Then when I smelt them down, I keep the heat low enough to melt in a reasonable amount of time. I keep strirring and skim the junk (clips and steel weights) off the top when the pot just becomes liquid. Then I flux and stir then pour ingots.

[ssnow]

The only way you can be 100% certain that there is no zinc in your alloy, is to make sure that you do not put any in the pot. The steel weights are of no concern if you miss one, as they are not going to melt, and will be removed with the clips.


I would also add, that after sorting through a few buckets, you will be able to determine visually (and by feel) the composition of the weights for perhaps 95% or so of the weights. The point being, with a few buckets experience, the sorting will go much faster, and will be physically easier, than it was at first. I also think, that the ability gained to visually identify the weights, in and of itself, is worth the time it takes to do so.


I have found that the easiest method for me to sort them, is to dump them on a table, so that I can sit in a comfortable chair, without bending over for extended lengths of time.

[rmark]

I've also gone to keeping the pot at about 650 degrees, adding a handful at a time and skimming off anything that hasn't melted fairly quickly. At the end of the session I run the skimmed off weights through again, usually a few melt. It's a bit slow but so far I haven't zinced (is that a word?) a batch.

[Suo Gan]

I have 4-5 5 gallon pails of assorted wheel weights to sort.Problem is most are unmarked to tell what material they are made of .My hearing is poor so the drop on cement test is out the window.Any suggestions.Hate to toss them out.Would setting the temp at 650 F melt everything I want and leave the scarp ? Or get a Brinel tester and do each one will take forever

Pioneer, 99.99% of the zinc weights are marked Zn, I have not ever personally seen an unmarked Zinc weight, it will not take you very long to be able to spot a real lead weight from something else...but some WILL slip by no matter how careful you are so you will need to keep your gauge at a cooler temp. For some reason some buckets will not have a high quantity of zinc weights while others zinc will predominate so I don't mix them. What I do is go by the local paint store and get however many gallon paint cans I need used or not with lids. I get two or three 5 gallon buckets and a small sturdy table with a cardboard pop case on it. I just dump the bucket in the box on the table sit down in my chair put on some pansy latex gloves and sort. I throw the zinc weights in one 5 gallon bucket, the steel weights in another, and throw the lead clip ons in a paint can and the lead stick ons in another paint can. When I fill up a can I tap the lid on it and mark what is inside with a sharpie. You can sell the zinc and steel wheel weights. As a matter of fact there is a real racket on ebone for them and they get more than lead weights.

It is a very tedious chore in my book and I would rather muck out the hog pen. Perhaps your area is further behind mine in regards to quantity of lead/non lead. If your area is newly non lead, by all means cruise the tire shops more. I found that in my area when lead weights became illegal to reuse, many of the old tire men just let their horde go and it was really fantastic for about a year. I even had them give me boxes and boxes of brand new weights.

This is my secret for finding as much mostly free lead as I ever wanted I just go to the bad area of a big town if one is close. Usually there are streets with a dozen or so tire shops within a mile. Their names are "Rodriguez and Sons" or "Tres Use Tire." Go there...do not bother with the yuppies if you see a low rider that is a good sign. Five or ten bucks a big bucket is more than enough.

The ratio is over 80% trash here now. I am glad it lasted as long as it did.

Find your pace and go for it. Have fun.

[Patrick L]

Suo Gan,

Careful! I just spent the summer sorting weights, and I most definitely have encountered zinc that is not marked. Not very many, but one particular make was unmarked.

[Suo Gan]

Suo Gan,

Careful! I just spent the summer sorting weights, and I most definitely have encountered zinc that is not marked. Not very many, but one particular make was unmarked.

I have never seen one out of the thousands of pounds I have sorted now. Please post some pictures if you have time. There are some I used to think were zinc, and they were not.

It is best to just be cautious. The only zinc contamination I have had was a batch of fishing sinkers that must have had some zinc alloyed in them.

[dRok]

Id melt it slow and skim the zinkies off the top, Sorting them isnt worth my time.

[Suo Gan]

Is the flame at the bottom of the pot 450 degrees? Will the unmelted weights on top hold the unmelted ones right at the very bottom?

I look at it like this. You tape off a house before a paint job because it saves a lot of work later. That is wisdom talking. Believe me, if there was a better way I would have found it.

The only way to do what you say and be fairly confident you would need a very large pot. My guess at three or four hundred pound capacity. You would leave a hundred pounds molten and add your 'little bit at a time' to that. You can use the same principal on a hundred pound pot like what I have, but the amount added will be so slow and tedious that you will waste propane, and have to sit around the sickening cauldron. Why not sit under a shade tree and suffer a little rather than work backwards and suffer later, and it might be that you screw up the entire pot? I have read enough around here to know that folks are doing that often enough.

Anyway, the zinc percentage here is too high and I am out of it now.

Good luck

[Patrick L]

Suo Gan,
Regrettably, I can't post a pic because my zinc and steel have all gone to the scrapper. Perhaps if any show up in my next batch and I remember I will post a pic. The weights in question had very rounded edges, very sausage shaped. They were definitely zinc, and they were definitely unmarked. I agree though, 99% of the zinc weights are marked.

[ssnow]

I believe these are the zinc weights to which Patrick is referring. They are Zinc, and unmarked. One needs to keep a careful watch for these, as there are also lead weights from the same type of mold. The color is a bit different from the lead weights, but the shape is the same.

http://i1157.photobucket.com/albums/p599/queenboolynn/025.jpg

[Bad Water Bill]

i have found that if I sit on the concrete apron and spill out a bucket then scrape those that might be, the lead will look like they have been hit with a grinder while the rest will not show any real marks.

It only takes a second to scrape them and after you have done a couple dozen you will not have to look as your hand will tell you THIS AIN'T LEAD.:bigsmyl2:

After that test, a magnet will pull the steel from the zinc ones. Sell both to the highest bidder.

[762 shooter]

SSNOW,

Funny. I had a zinc display just like your picture on my work bench during my last sorting session.

Even though zinc is not written on the weight, they are easy to distinguish after a while.

By the way, the 5 gallons that I was sorting had 80% COWW, 15% SOWW, 3%Cast Iron, and 2% zinc.

Just like the good old days. I was surprised.

762

[GL49]

If you are on good terms with the local tire store, they'll sort the lead and zinc separate for you. I told them I'd pay $5 a bucket more, and took them a bucket with my name and phone number on the side, clearly marked "LEAD". Out of the last two buckets I smelted, I found three zinc weights, two I spotted before they went in the pot, one popped to the top as I stirred in the new batch I was adding. I still look them over as I add them to the smelt pot, but it makes it LOTS faster.

[gideons301]

My smelting pot is on the small side, and I do not like skimming clips! My solution is to use a pair of small bolt cutters or compound leverage wire cutters, cut the clip section from the lead weights and sort out the weights that are not lead because they resist the cutters a lot more. then I have all the clips in a separate bucket from lead without clips.
With the right cutters, the fatigue level is low, for me that is.
And I can smelt at least 3 pots of no clips for every pot requiring clip skimming!

Gideons301

[Patrick L]

ssnow,

Those are the ones in question, particularly the 2nd thru 4th ones from the top. And you're right, there are lead ones that are exactly the same, and they are mostly all painted gray.

Its the wire cutter method for me!

[TrapperXX]

good thread.
It seems to me marks MC and AW, AWW , AL are manufactures marks that show up on lead and zinc?

[Duckiller]

I visual inspect of every WW. At least twice before they make it into the smelting pot. Since Cal. has gone lead free I don't get much anymore. Local garage says it probably isn't worth my time to sort wheel weights and I am retired.

[odinohi]

I keep the temp down. I do smaller batches and stir,stir,stir. That will take care of the hot spots. But then I'm not casting bullets. Making fishing sinkers. A worm doesn't care if he is drowned with lead or zinc. I have smelted enough WW's that I rarely get it hot enough to melt zinc.
I used to hand sort, but it is Monotonous. You will figure the best way for you. Even if you melt a couple of zinc weights the percentage is small. Just remember stir,stir,stir. Good luck and have fun.