Plastic-Coated COWW Sample Marked "T" Is Steel

[Liberty1776]

May not mean anything, but I found a wheelweight on the floor of a repair shop with a "T" and "1.75 oz" on it.

With severe effort, clipped it open with diagonal cutters.

The plastic is thick and the shiny core could barely be nicked. And it is magnetic. So, steel.

285547

Over at https://thewheelweights.com/clip-on-weights/t-coated-lead-weights they state, "T wheel weights are used for light-weight truck rims such as Dodge and GMC. Our T weights are gray coated and comes in boxes of 25 pieces each."

Their wheelweights are lead. This one is steel.

So, apparently "T" is a style/shape, not a composition of its materials.

[farmbif]

those ones with thick plastic I just throw them away. I go though every bucket of wheel weights with a pair of clippers/dikes one piece at a time. if it doesn't knick easily it gets thrown out. I figure in the long run its worth it to pick up and snip each and every piece not to have zinc or plastic to deal with when melting and fluxing a pot to make ingots

[StuBach]

I’m with farmbif, hand sort before melting and than just to be safe, control melt temp below zink melting point. Takes longer but will save you heartache. Also the fumes put off from those plastic coated ones stinks to high heaven so save yourselves the headache.

[lightman]

I'm another that handsorts every bucket of weights that I get. The plastic coated ones go in the same trash can as the valve stems and tire stickers.

[dverna]

It is not worth even trying to use wheel weights around me. I expect in a couple of years only the most frugal folks will be using them as a source for lead.

[dondiego]

It is not worth even trying to use wheel weights around me. I expect in a couple of years only the most frugal folks will be using them as a source for lead.

That is a strange statement???????????

[gwpercle]

those ones with thick plastic I just throw them away. I go though every bucket of wheel weights with a pair of clippers/dikes one piece at a time. if it doesn't knick easily it gets thrown out. I figure in the long run its worth it to pick up and snip each and every piece not to have zinc or plastic to deal with when melting and fluxing a pot to make ingots

Your way is the only way to tell , test each and every one !
.... I see these post where a guy says I'll watch my melt and skim off all the zinc weights before they melt ... the steel ones will never melt so no worry ... those zincers will melt a lot faster than you think ...and when you can't get the stuff out the pot fast enough ... melted zinc in your wheel weights !
Gary

[TyGuy]

I have dissected one of those in the past as well. They don’t like to come apart. We’re seeing more and more of those at our shop. Zinc seems to be on the way out in favor of these and plain old steel. We still use zinc for clip ons and steel for stick ons. Someone did order in a box of lead stick ons recently by mistake though… may have to smuggle those home one at a time when no one is looking. [smilie=1:

[dverna]

That is a strange statement???????????

By the time you drive around trying to find them, pay for gas, pay for them or buy donuts, sort them, get rid of most, and smelt what is left....It does not work for me.

But if it works for you....

[dondiego]

By the time you drive around trying to find them, pay for gas, pay for them or buy donuts, sort them, get rid of most, and smelt what is left....It does not work for me.

But if it works for you....

HA! OK, I misunderstood the meaning of your post.

[lightman]

Wheelweights have always been my "go to" for casting alloy. Fortunately I have always had a good source for them so there is not much time and gas spent looking for them. I just drive across town (its a small town) and pick up a bucket every month or two. Sometimes if I don't get by there the guys will drop them off at my house! I hand sort all of mine as my pot/burner combo will easily melt any Zinc weight that may end up on the bottom of the pot.

I'm seeing steel or plastic coated weights slowly replace Zinc, which I see as a good thing. I'm also seeing more stick-on weights than I used to. I still average between 60 and 70 % lead. When I deduct the weight of the clips I'm still getting 50-60%. Some see sorting as a pain but I'll admit that I rather enjoy it! Not too bad for the cost of a box of donuts or two every so often. I also buy my tires and get my vehicles serviced there.