mikez
09-27-2008, 10:56 PM
Here is some good info for you guys that are not up on how to cast ingots and boolits. The fact of the matter is, you do not know what you are buying from somebody. Not to bash, but, if you do not sort and use a lead thermometer you have no idea what you are melting in your ingots. Good luck trying to cast good boolits when you know not what lead you are using. I sort and clean all my WW lead and still miss some Zinc. I clean my melts at 630F or as soon as I get liquid. I attached a pic of some of my melts. As you can see I do melt some WW. Good luck with what you bought..
When processing your wheel weights into ingots you should always separate the clip-on weight from the stick-on weights (the ones with foam tape on the back). Stick-on weights are nearly pure lead and by including them in your alloy you are softening the entire batch by diluting the antimony content. In addition, if your goal is to achieve consistency of your alloy, the quantity and the size of stick-on weights in each batch will vary considerably making it impossible to duplicate the alloy the next time. Plus, it seems such a waste of a good source of soft alloy.
More and more wheel weight manufacturers are using zinc, steel, alloy and even plastic weights in place of lead. Zinc weights can be difficult to detect when processing into ingots (some are painted to match tire rim color) and zinc in your alloy will cause all sorts of casting problems. Wheel weight alloy melting point is under 600oF and zinc melts at 787.15oF. When processing your weights into ingots keep the pot temperature at or only a little above 650o and no hotter, the zinc weights will float before they melt. If you see anything floating, remove it immediately.
• Clip-on wheel weights and stick-on weights should be separated when processing wheel weight into ingots. Clip-on wheel weights are an excellent bullet casting alloy with its percentages of lead/antimony and arsenic. 2% tin can be added for better dross control and thus mould fill out. This alloy runs 10-11 BHN air cooled and can be heat treated to 30+ BHN. Proper fitting bullets of 11 BHN in a properly dimensioned firearm are adequate for all but magnum handgun loads, water quenching or heat treating wheel weight alloy will easily extend its use to magnum handgun loads and mid-range rifle loads. When processing wheel weights into ingots the melt temperature should not be much over 650o and keep a watchful eye for zinc weights.
Stick-on WW, 45 ACP 200 gr. HP @ 800-850 fps fired into water.
• Stick-on wheel weights are an excellent source of very soft alloy (about 6 BHN). This alloy makes very effective HP bullets for light and medium pressure 45 ACP loads and expansion is dramatic. It is fairly close to a pure lead and can be used to alloy with the type metals.
• The alloy should never be fluxed or metal added until it reaches its liquidus (casting temperature.) After alloy is added wait for the temperature to return to its liquidus before fluxing. Don’t skim off the metal oxides, flux them back in. Keep the alloy well fluxed. Don’t run the pot temperature any higher above its liquidus than necessary (about 50o F is fine) to keep oxidation to a minimum. A tip on reducing oxidation of the melt, using a flux that doesn’t burn off (such as sawdust or Marvelux) and leaving it on top of the melt after fluxing and while casting and will help keep air off the surface and reduce oxidation. Try and avoid air flow (an electric fan for example) across the top of the melt.
• It should be obvious by now that a critical piece of casting equipment for maintaining consistent alloy from batch to batch, maintaining the integrity of the alloy and casting bullets of consistent, repeatable quality is a quality lead thermometer
http://i267.photobucket.com/albums/ii307/killdeer1/lead.jpg
When processing your wheel weights into ingots you should always separate the clip-on weight from the stick-on weights (the ones with foam tape on the back). Stick-on weights are nearly pure lead and by including them in your alloy you are softening the entire batch by diluting the antimony content. In addition, if your goal is to achieve consistency of your alloy, the quantity and the size of stick-on weights in each batch will vary considerably making it impossible to duplicate the alloy the next time. Plus, it seems such a waste of a good source of soft alloy.
More and more wheel weight manufacturers are using zinc, steel, alloy and even plastic weights in place of lead. Zinc weights can be difficult to detect when processing into ingots (some are painted to match tire rim color) and zinc in your alloy will cause all sorts of casting problems. Wheel weight alloy melting point is under 600oF and zinc melts at 787.15oF. When processing your weights into ingots keep the pot temperature at or only a little above 650o and no hotter, the zinc weights will float before they melt. If you see anything floating, remove it immediately.
• Clip-on wheel weights and stick-on weights should be separated when processing wheel weight into ingots. Clip-on wheel weights are an excellent bullet casting alloy with its percentages of lead/antimony and arsenic. 2% tin can be added for better dross control and thus mould fill out. This alloy runs 10-11 BHN air cooled and can be heat treated to 30+ BHN. Proper fitting bullets of 11 BHN in a properly dimensioned firearm are adequate for all but magnum handgun loads, water quenching or heat treating wheel weight alloy will easily extend its use to magnum handgun loads and mid-range rifle loads. When processing wheel weights into ingots the melt temperature should not be much over 650o and keep a watchful eye for zinc weights.
Stick-on WW, 45 ACP 200 gr. HP @ 800-850 fps fired into water.
• Stick-on wheel weights are an excellent source of very soft alloy (about 6 BHN). This alloy makes very effective HP bullets for light and medium pressure 45 ACP loads and expansion is dramatic. It is fairly close to a pure lead and can be used to alloy with the type metals.
• The alloy should never be fluxed or metal added until it reaches its liquidus (casting temperature.) After alloy is added wait for the temperature to return to its liquidus before fluxing. Don’t skim off the metal oxides, flux them back in. Keep the alloy well fluxed. Don’t run the pot temperature any higher above its liquidus than necessary (about 50o F is fine) to keep oxidation to a minimum. A tip on reducing oxidation of the melt, using a flux that doesn’t burn off (such as sawdust or Marvelux) and leaving it on top of the melt after fluxing and while casting and will help keep air off the surface and reduce oxidation. Try and avoid air flow (an electric fan for example) across the top of the melt.
• It should be obvious by now that a critical piece of casting equipment for maintaining consistent alloy from batch to batch, maintaining the integrity of the alloy and casting bullets of consistent, repeatable quality is a quality lead thermometer
http://i267.photobucket.com/albums/ii307/killdeer1/lead.jpg