Rodfac
05-12-2013, 03:59 PM
I smelted down my last two weeks supply of used wheel weights. The local tire guys say that the days of the lead alloy wheel weight are numbered and that I'd better get 'em while they last. Here are the results.
Before smelting:
Gross wt. in raw wheel weights = 105.0 lbs
After Smelting:
Dross, Clips, Fe, Zn, Al etc, = 28.1 lbs
Usable WW Lead-alloy Ingots = 67.7 lbs
Usable Pure Lead Alloy Ingots = 9.2 lbs
A few weeks ago, I found a bucket of weights from ten years ago, that I'd forgotten. The breakdown for that nearly 100% usable. I found zero Zn, Al, or Fe weights and lost only the weight of the clips. The pure lead stick-on weights from that melt plus the ones from today's efforts brought me up to almost 100 lbs of pure lead...plenty for my muzzle loaders, with enough left over to make up some of the old Lyman #2 alloy for hunting bullets.
Best Regards, Rod
Before smelting:
Gross wt. in raw wheel weights = 105.0 lbs
After Smelting:
Dross, Clips, Fe, Zn, Al etc, = 28.1 lbs
Usable WW Lead-alloy Ingots = 67.7 lbs
Usable Pure Lead Alloy Ingots = 9.2 lbs
A few weeks ago, I found a bucket of weights from ten years ago, that I'd forgotten. The breakdown for that nearly 100% usable. I found zero Zn, Al, or Fe weights and lost only the weight of the clips. The pure lead stick-on weights from that melt plus the ones from today's efforts brought me up to almost 100 lbs of pure lead...plenty for my muzzle loaders, with enough left over to make up some of the old Lyman #2 alloy for hunting bullets.
Best Regards, Rod