Zinc Wheelweights

[GONRA]

GONRA believes the really "el Bigo" ("muy largo" to you intellectuals)
thing "Zn boolit castin' " needs is a Proper Plug In Electric Zn melter.

Backyard Redneck cobbled propane Turkey Fryer stuff doesn't count.

>>> IS THERE AN ELECTRIC POT OK FOR Zn MELTING? <<<

[Jim22]

("muy largo" to you intellectuals)

Muy Largo does not mean very big. It means very long - at least in Sapnish.

Jim

[GONRA]

GONRA sez OOPS!

[gifbohane]

I accidentally melted some zinc in with some lead and made them into "lyman Ingots." I have no idea what the percentage is. So now I have about 100+ ingots with some of them mixed. Can I re melt all of them again to a lower temperature to separate out the zinc from the lead? Or can I just go ahead and make bullets?

Accuracy is not a goal with them. Will be casting 9MM.

[psweigle]

What vettepilot said!

[Baltimoreed]

Sold my zinc ww’s when I sold my scrap metal recently. Good riddance.

[SciFiJim]

I accidentally melted some zinc in with some lead and made them into "lyman Ingots." I have no idea what the percentage is. So now I have about 100+ ingots with some of them mixed. Can I re melt all of them again to a lower temperature to separate out the zinc from the lead? Or can I just go ahead and make bullets?

Accuracy is not a goal with them. Will be casting 9MM.

There's a thread around about removing zinc from your melt. If you search for it, you should be able to find it. I think it is a sticky.

Before going to all of the trouble though, try casting some and see what you get. There is another thread about using a small percentage of zinc as a hardener. You might be able to dilute that zinc enough to get it to work for you. You don't know until you try. Make sure to post your results so that we all can learn what did or didn't work for you.

[lightman]

I'll 2nd the suggestion of trying to cast with it before going to any extra work. A small % of Zinc shouldn't hurt anything.

[Vettepilot]

My understanding is that any zinc in a pot will literally contaminate the pot itself, which would then need to be discarded. Apparently this applies to any other tools, such as molds, etc., as well.

I have no direct experience with this problem, but that's what I read, and it causes me to be very cautious about getting any zinc contamination.

My understanding is that zinc must be cast very hot. But be really careful there. If you get it smoking, you're going to get zinc poisoning. I've had that twice from welding, and trust me, you don't ever want to get it

Vettepilot

[62chevy]

One two zinc weights in ten pounds of lead is nothing to worry about. Some are moving to Zink bullets because they can't use lead bullets anymore. Add that Zink melts in the high 700s and it's easy to get some in your melt.

[1903.colt]

For now I do not cast wheel weights most of the Lead I buy is shot with a spectro gun , Although I have always been very careful to keep Zinc out of my melt . Im finding so much zinc now in wheel weights for my liking I pass on wheel weights .

[Defcon-One]

Ten years ago:

100 pound bucket; (12 pounds of Steel, 7 pounds of Zinc, 18 pounds SOWW and 63 pounds COWW.)


Now:

100 pound bucket; (23 pounds of Steel, 35 pounds of Zinc, 9 pounds SOWW and 33 pounds COWW.)

Just not worth the trouble anymore!

DC-1

[jwlegal]

Should have read this thread before I tried using a turkey frier to melt a bunch of scrap lead a friend who does salvage gave me. There were a few steel ww’s and recognized a few zinc ones as well. Had car battery clamps, and lead pipe along with the ww’s and I’m pretty sure I melted some zinc in the mix. Never had a sort of purple color float to the top before, but before panicking I fluxed and tried casting. So far so good. Boolits fill out good and are plenty good for handgun practice rounds. Beside the weird color I don’t notice any real difference. So I’m in the so far so good category. I’ve always had a knack for learning the hard way. Will try a controlled heat to around 675-700 degrees to see if anything floats to the top. Think dumb luck May get me through the greed for the free lead.

[Wal']

Always have the colour purple with my WW melts..........so all good I would say.......

[Defcon-One]

If it casts good, I'd say your OK! Purple is the pure lead from the battery clamps and lead pipes! Heat pure hot and it goes rainbow on you. Yellow, purple and pinkish blue.

Fluxing will blend the alloy together and clear it up. Use a bit of paraffin wax and some pine saw dust for best results.

DC-1



Should have read this thread before I tried using a turkey frier to melt a bunch of scrap lead a friend who does salvage gave me. There were a few steel ww’s and recognized a few zinc ones as well. Had car battery clamps, and lead pipe along with the ww’s and I’m pretty sure I melted some zinc in the mix. Never had a sort of purple color float to the top before, but before panicking I fluxed and tried casting. So far so good. Boolits fill out good and are plenty good for handgun practice rounds. Beside the weird color I don’t notice any real difference. So I’m in the so far so good category. I’ve always had a knack for learning the hard way. Will try a controlled heat to around 675-700 degrees to see if anything floats to the top. Think dumb luck May get me through the greed for the free lead.

[jonp]

Should have read this thread before I tried using a turkey frier to melt a bunch of scrap lead a friend who does salvage gave me. There were a few steel ww’s and recognized a few zinc ones as well. Had car battery clamps, and lead pipe along with the ww’s and I’m pretty sure I melted some zinc in the mix. Never had a sort of purple color float to the top before, but before panicking I fluxed and tried casting. So far so good. Boolits fill out good and are plenty good for handgun practice rounds. Beside the weird color I don’t notice any real difference. So I’m in the so far so good category. I’ve always had a knack for learning the hard way. Will try a controlled heat to around 675-700 degrees to see if anything floats to the top. Think dumb luck May get me through the greed for the free lead.

Be as greedy as you can get when someone offers you free lead.

[GuyKickinit]

Nice to see this topic active as I just cast a bunch of .308 RFN for my 30-30, and then I added 4 pounds of ingot from WW and cast some 250g .452. When it was at about 500 it was looking like runny oatmeal. Once up to 680 degrees it was filling out great but had a frosty look. I started casting 185g .311 or the 303 brit today and was have a hard time getting it to pour right until it was almost 700. I'm pretty sure there must be some ZN in the alloy. They are all plinking rounds. So good enough for me.
I have about 15 buckets of unsorted ww yet to go.

[Edward]

I get purple /blue/gold tones from (PURE) /Ed

[Vettepilot]

When melting new lead, I keep the thermometer in there and religiously keep the temp well below 700 degrees. Then scoop any unmelted zinc out of the mix. (It floats.) Zinc melts at 787 degrees.

I do sort the wheel weights of course, but this has saved me when a Zinker slips through...

Vettepilot

[Mandoair]

My last batch of cww was 2/3 rds Zn Fe. I was pertty sure I got Zn into the mix. Fluxed with sulfur and hoped for the best seems to cast okay but I haven’t been at this long enough to know much about anything. What does having Zn look like when casting. My scrounged range lead plus tin casts nicer looking and heavier boolits. Thanks

[WRideout]

In my experience, zinc in a pot of lead turns into something resembling oatmeal, which does not go away, no matter how hot you get it. One zinc WW in a pot is usually easy to spot, since it will float on top of the lead.

You don't say how much weight difference there is. Any other metals added to lead will tend to make the resulting alloy lighter in density. If the difference in weight is minimal, it could be that your range scrap simply has a higher percentage of pure lead.

If the questionable WW lead just doesn't work for you, consider adding small amounts to you range lead, to stretch the supply. Lead alloys are incredibly forgiving, as long as you don't add too much of any one thing, i.e antimony, arsenic, tin, etc.

Wayne

[JMN]

I'm surprised there is so much concern over zink WW. I smelt in an old pot on a propane camping stove and the zink doesn't melt even if it sits in the pot of melt for a good while. Yes, the proportion of lead in a bucket of WWs has gone way down but it's still worth it to me. I keep a 5 gallon bucket in my car and hit up the smaller repair shops. They don't do a lot of tires and usually don't recycle used weights. Most often they'll give me what they have if I tell them up front I'm mooching and show them one of my cast boolits. I keep all the unusable steel and zink weights and sell them to the local scrap yard for the WW price of 8 cents a pound.

[Mandoair]

I'm surprised there is so much concern over zink WW. I smelt in an old pot on a propane camping stove and the zink doesn't melt even if it sits in the pot of melt for a good while. Yes, the proportion of lead in a bucket of WWs has gone way down but it's still worth it to me. I keep a 5 gallon bucket in my car and hit up the smaller repair shops. They don't do a lot of tires and usually don't recycle used weights. Most often they'll give me what they have if I tell them up front I'm mooching and show
them one of my cast boolits. I keep all the unusable steel and zink weights and sell them to the local scrap yard for the WW price of 8 cents a pound.

I use a massive home made burner with a cast iron Dutch oven. I have cast aluminum ingots out of it and have found zinc ww floating partially melted. I also have learned to raise the temperature much slower with my cww. 307076 307077

[imashooter2]

I'm surprised there is so much concern over zink WW. I smelt in an old pot on a propane camping stove and the zink doesn't melt even if it sits in the pot of melt for a good while. Yes, the proportion of lead in a bucket of WWs has gone way down but it's still worth it to me. I keep a 5 gallon bucket in my car and hit up the smaller repair shops. They don't do a lot of tires and usually don't recycle used weights. Most often they'll give me what they have if I tell them up front I'm mooching and show them one of my cast boolits. I keep all the unusable steel and zink weights and sell them to the local scrap yard for the WW price of 8 cents a pound.

You use a very weak burner under a very small pot. If you step up to a large pot on a significant heat source, you would be wise to be more careful.

[lightman]

You use a very weak burner under a very small pot. If you step up to a large pot on a significant heat source, you would be wise to be more careful.

True words of wisdom! My homemade jet burner produces somewhere around 500,000 BTU's and will easily melt any Zinc weight that gets trapped on the bottom.