Processed my very first bucket of wheel weights

[Don1357]

Here in Alaska lead weights are still legal. The shop I got this from still uses lead but they service cars that are shipped from all over the place. The 5 gallon bucket was not full to the top, maybe 2 inches bellow the rim. Initial weight was 111 pounds net weight.

Lead: 52# wheel weights, 13# stick ons.

Steel wheel weights: 13#

Zinc: 11.5# (a few stick ons, not enough to sort)

Flat steel stick ons: 18#

While more than half of the weight was lead, the lead wheel weights and stick ons fit on a one gallon bucket.

As nasty as it was I'm looking forward to do it again. The next time I'll wash them first at the self service car wash, keeping all that fine dust contaminants away from my house.

[Smoke4320]

don washing is not an issue but make sure you dry them VERY well before melting otherwise you will get a visit from the tinsel fairy

[lightman]

Congratulations on the score! Sorting gets easier after you do it for a while. Wet weights will be ok if you start from a cold pot. The moisture will be gone before the weights melt. Just don't drop a wet weight in molten lead. It's a good practice to not add anything to molten lead.

[Don1357]

This would be washing before I get the bucket home. I'm sure by the time I'm done sorting them into lead/steel/zinc that they will be dry, and if not by the time I get around actually smelting them that they would.

[Yodogsandman]

I thought so too with a bucket of range scrap that I washed one year and smelted the next. Lost about #75 with the explosion. I was very lucky to not be injured "badly". The bottom had about a cup of water I didn't see when I dumped the rest of the bucket in.

[Grmps]

Don1357 , welcome to CB (castboolits.gunloads.com) and the addiction:)

That's the key. You can load up a cold or empty smelting pot with wet lead and not have a problem BUT you must be extremely careful adding lead to melted lead. I will not put any lead into molten lead that I have not processed and stored myself. Water on top of molten lead is not a problem plumbers used to melt lead for caulking pipe joints in the rain. It's getting water trapped under molten lead that is dangerous.

[BNE]

A wet wheel weight can store a little bit of water inbetween the lead and the steal clip. If dropped into molten lead, that water will almost instantly vaporize and expand something like 700 times its liquid state size.

Welcome to the addiction. Start from a cold pot!

[Dusty Bannister]

Your location is also a reason to use extra care in melting and casting.

"Here in Alaska". If you have cold then you can have condensed moisture on any metal you put in the pot. The skimming spoon, the dipping ladle, the casting ladle, whatever you might add as you cast.

If you bring in those casting ingots from a cold shed to a warmer area to add while casting, they will collect moisture on the surface and that will be there when you put them in the pot. If you are lucky, that little bit of moisture with make a sort of a "bump" sound when the moisture leaves the pot. If you are unlucky, you will hear a bang and feel the sting of the tinsel fairy.

Preheating of all ingots being added, all utensils, and tools and molds to be absolutely certain there is no moisture, or pay the price and wear the scars. This is not a fairy tale. Dusty

[Don1357]

The type of cold we get here, that sort of moisture is more of an abstract concept ;)

[lightman]

Cold or not, please be cautious when adding anything to molten lead. We consider that a no no for a reason. Just don't want to see a fellow caster get hurt!

Your yield in lead weights was not bad. It's still holding up well around here too but many are not seeing what we are. Try to cultivate that shop as a regular source, maybe with some donuts or beer!

[Rcmaveric]

When i sort i just don a pair of nitril gloves. Those buckests of wheel weights and various scraps and trash gets nasty.

[Tripplebeards]

Just heat them on a low temp, not enough to melt them till all the water evaporates before melting.

[gwpercle]

Don't bother washing , drops of water in small crevices is more of a hazard.
Flux and skim 3 or 4 times , dirt comes out easily.
Getting them totally dry is a big pain and a drop of water in a pot is not a nice experience.
Think explosion and you get to meet the Tinsel Fairy !
Water and melting lead DO NOT mix....avoid it at all costs !

Welcome to the addiction !
Gary

[fortrenokid]

You'll never forget your first bucket of wheel weights.

I wish you many happy more!

Fort Reno Kid

[RogerDat]

Not a bad haul. Be nice to your source! WW or scrap yard a relationship goes a long way. Some donuts, a pizza, or some beer can make a world of difference.

Start with a cold pot if you wash, that allows the pot to warm and dry the WW's as they heat up and before they melt. Dumping any lead into molten lead without pre-heating can have explosively bad consequences. Set ingots on edge of pot to pre-heat when casting, melt scrap from a cold pot and don't add any scrap or WW's to molten lead. Condensation from cold item brought to warm pot can be enough. I had a ladle once thump backwards with a recoil like a .38 special just from sitting in cold garage and then being stuck in a pot of molten lead without pre-warming. People have had their sweat from hands that touch lead ingots or drips from head cause a tinsel fairy visit. Be safe.

Oh and have fun you can make an awesome amount of bullets from 50# of lead :-)

[Don1357]

Again folks, days will go by between me washing it and sitting down to sort it. Then more days between sorting it and getting around to smelt it. If it is still humid, it ain't water because water doesn't last that long ;)

[dondiego]

Some people just have to learn by pissin on the electric fence.