dirty job, somebody has to do it

[Digger]

Had a five gallon bucket of radiator drippings sitting around for a long time ..... now I remember why !
could only put about 4 or 5 scoops (trowel) at a time to make sure the heat was efficient for all the trash and mostly dirt ...a lot of dirt ..did I mention dirt?
They must have swept the entire shop floor ....
Boy did it take a long time ..... most of the day , end result was 38 pounds of 60/40 solder and a lot of sweat.. ;-)
you can see the bucket in the lower right hand corner in the first pic.
Mighty glad this is done !

106821106822

[62chevy]

It's done and now you have 38 # of 60/40, you can either fix a radiator of add some tin to the melt. I prefer the later.

[sundog]

Several years ago Felix scored big at a radiator shop that catered to the big trucks. We did well indeed, other than I got to do the heavy lifting and melting. It's mostly used up now, but it was really good stuff. Lots of dirt and **** in the buckets, but all in all it was worth it to get that much solder.

[Digger]

Sounds like Felix had the right connections ! ..

[zuke]

Sell it back to the rad shop!!

[WHITETAIL]

Put it on the driveway and wash with a hose.
Then let it dry in the sun.
You will be better off.

[Digger]

Put it on the driveway and wash with a hose.
Then let it dry in the sun.
You will be better off.
That is the way to go ....works good ,
but I would have upset my neighbor if he found dirt all over his ... no concrete slab around my house .

[ssnow]

Perhaps you can use a sheet of plywood next time....or a sheet of plastic, a large trash bag if nothing else. Anything to save fighting all that dirt in your smelt. Anyway, congrats on getting it done, you should be set for awhile now.

[Digger]

Thanks , appreciate the input ...
Always learning we are ...

[osteodoc08]

Nice score. Solder is always nice to have around. Clean solder is even better. Free clean solder is the best. You have the best.

[Crash_Corrigan]

I had a friend who had a radiator shop a few years back. He was paying serious money to have his drips and spatters of solder hauled away in 5 gallon buckets for years until I came along. I told him I would take all he had for free. He was happy and bought me lunch and a beer. Over a period over two years I hauled away over 30 buckets of his shop floor scrapings and detritus. It was dirty stuff. Radiator valves, pieces of rubber hose, cigarette butts, dirt and a lot of solder. I smelted it over a coleman stove in a cast iron dutch oven and it took a lot of unleaded gas and time but I ended up with a pile of high tin content alloy for my troubles. At the same time I was also scrounging every tire store I could convince for COWW and SOWW. I did however separate the ingots according to the source of the alloy. At one point the pile was 8 feet by 3 feet by 4 feet high. I have no idea of how much it weighed but it made great boolits. The buckets fell apart due to having been out in the Vegas sun for months but I persisted and melted alloy for months. Over 6 years later I still have a substantial pile in my ex's garage. I HAVE HAD TO MOVE THIS PILE 3 TIMES SINCE THE EARLY 90'S AND IT WAS ALWAYS A MAJOR OPERATION. I HAD A PIZZA AND BEER PARTY ONE NIGHT AND I ENDED UP WITH 9 BUDDIES SO WE HAD OURSELVES A CHAIN OF HUMANS MOVING ONE INGOT AT A TIME FROM THE PILE TO THE TRAILER. IT WORKED OUR VERY WELL. A LOT OF ALLOY WAS MOVED AND A LOT OF PIZZA AND BEER WAS CONSUMED AND EVERYONE HAD A VERY NICE EVENING.

I use this stuff to sweeten my coww and sow to make decent boolits. Between scrounged sailboat keels and indoor shooting ranges over the years at age 71 I have a lifetime supply of alloy for making boolits to feed my hungry lead slingers. Smelting is an all day affair that is well lubricated with adult beverages and plenty of protective clothing including a face shield, long sleeves, heavy canvas pants, heavy boots, welders gloves and a decent wind to remove the stink. My neighbors hate me....too bad. My good buddy Blake Stephenson (member here) made up some very nice molds for me and gifted them to me a few Christmases ago and I put them to good work. I also use empty aluminum beer and pop cans with the tops cut off to make molds..

I would hate to have to move this pile at a future date as I would probably have to use a flatbed to move them. I have an indoor shooting range located about two blocks away from me and they pretty much have so much lead that I can only take a fraction of what they have. The sell a lot of it to the car racing fraternity hereabouts as they use it in their race cars. Blake and I took a contract to remove the lead shielding from a series of dental x ray rooms a few years back and that about killed me. This stuff was so soft that I was using a ka-bar to cut it into manageable strips for removal. This is pure soft lead very suitable for BP front stuffers and my ROA revolver. Some of this lead cast via Mihec's Hollow base wadcutter in my Smith Model 57 41 Magnum are perfect as the soft lead obiruates perfectly with the soft lead skirt puffing out to seal off the bore with hot loads leaving a pristine bore and not a mite of lead behind.

The nastiest job is a smelting day. It is hot here in Vegas and I always seem to pick a hot day for those activities. I recently obtained a pedestal fan of 18" diameter which also has three misting fixtures which spray a fine mist into he fast moving air. This immediately cools down the air by at least 20 degrees and makes things very tolerable. By the time the mist has blown 4 feet away from the fan it has evaporated completely and there is no danger of getting water into te alloy at all. It works great. Walmart sells them for about $84 everyday and if you live in a hot dry climate they would even work great inside a home as well. This is a serious fan. Well made and hooks up to your garden hose but make sure you use a filter to keep the nasties from clogging your misting fixtures. I take it inside and use it well when I am casting boolits. When not otherwise being used I have it in my living room running and keeping that room in the low seventies when the best the whole house AC can manage is the mid 80's in that room. Large swamp coolers can work here in Vegas up to about 105 degrees. The big problem with them is the lousy water we have here. It is very high in mineral content and unless you use a good filter the minerals will clog the screens and diminish the effects very quickly. Most folks have given up on those things as they are not ready or willing to commit to the necessary maintenance required to keep them running with efficiency. The best that they can do is lower the temperature of the air by about 20 degrees. So when it is 105 your cool air is 85 degrees. At 110 you get 90 degrees. They are perfect when it is dry outside and the air temps are below 100 or so. With a drop of 20 degrees off 98 your home will be at 78. If you run a standard fan in 78 degrees you would be very comfortable when it is 98 outside. Even at 105 outside 85 is not bad inside. Above that?

[leadbutt]

^^ nice story. imma keep an eye out for that fan next time im in walmart.

L. Bottoms