recovered saltwater fishing weights

[oley55]

My brother in-law snagged me 97 pounds of lead fishing weights some recreational diver had collected over the years. Many had been under water so long that the brass eyes had corroded away. I netted 92-93 pounds after melting n fluxing. There was a lot of trash n crud and the three fluxes probably wasn't quite enough. I imagine they would be about equal to outdoor range lead in regards to dirt, trash and oxidation. Initial pencil hardness makes them about equal to SOWW at 10bhn. They will serve me just fine for 50/50 with COWW and will get fluxed a bit more.

[Winger Ed.]

Good going!

I've found that running the heat up, and letting them 'soak' awhile makes the fluxing easier and take less effort.

[oley55]

Well dang, I thought excessive heat accelerated the migration of tin and antimony to the surface. As a consequence I have been trying to keep my fluxing temps below 700 degrees so that I wouldn't end up spooning off the good stuff.

[DougGuy]

Well dang, I thought excessive heat accelerated the migration of tin and antimony to the surface. As a consequence I have been trying to keep my fluxing temps below 700 degrees so that I wouldn't end up spooning off the good stuff.

Well yer gonna mix it right back in with COWW right? There's just something magical about 50/50+2%

[Bmi48219]

Last I checked price of sinkers is 4 X what it was in 2018. Those bank sinkers with the molded eye are $1 each in 4 ounce size. Pyramid ones too, if the wire eye weren’t rotted off. I cast my own. Ain’t like boolits, if they’re a little crinkled who cares.

[Winger Ed.]

Well dang, I thought excessive heat accelerated the migration of tin and antimony to the surface.


Before and as you skim off the trash,,,,, stir the pot like it owes you money.
That'll keep it from stratifying, and mix it all back in.

Do that when pouring ingots too.
And every few minutes while casting.

Also, with that more or less pure Lead, there isn't much to separate anyway.

[JSnover]

Well dang, I thought excessive heat accelerated the migration of tin and antimony to the surface. As a consequence I have been trying to keep my fluxing temps below 700 degrees so that I wouldn't end up spooning off the good stuff.
It does and the oxides form more quickly but the flux reduces them back into the pot. Stir/flux, then skim. And if it really worries you just stir and flux, don't skim if you don't have to.

[Dusty Bannister]

From the LASC site.

[2] It is a common misconception that because they are less dense than lead, antimony and tin may undergo gravity separation from the melt. Nothing could be further from the truth. In the absence of oxygen or oxidizing materials, melted lead alloys will remain stable and mixed virtually forever. And from Lyman, [3]Perhaps the single most significant error in all the bullet casting literature is the misconception that lead-tin-antimony alloy melts gravity segregate.

Some of these old tales just never die.

[smithnframe]

Cool!

[lightman]

Nice Score on those weights. I probably would have done the same thing you did and melt them all together.

[mha]

We get lots of larger fishing weights here at garage sales and such. Some I melt down and some I keep for future fishing use myself. I cast the sizes I regularly use but it is nice to get some of the different sizes without having to buy another fishing weight mold.

When I melt the crummy ones or damaged one I mix them altogether like you did. Typically pretty soft/pure lead. However I do have one batch of weights that I got where the guy cast them from linotype, so I won’t be using those for fishing! I actually did that myself once, had a lino pig, quit reloading for about 15 yrs and did more fishing, ended up using it for weights....then got back into reloading and casting again and wished I hadn’t done that. Oh well, I can tell which are which, and I have lots of lino anyhow...

[RogerDat]

I have often passed on these because I can't tell what alloy they are. Sounds like I may have made a mistake. I did have some 4 oz. egg sinkers I gave to someone who trains and competes with bird dogs. She and her husband tie a line with the weight to their "training" birds so the birds can't fly away but can flush and get out of dogs reach. Was most happy to get them.

Wondering how much hassle is it to cast fishing weights? Thought about those or "tin" solders as a way to use up some lead free alloy I have knocking around. Would need to find the molds but thought it might be worthwhile if it wasn't a major headache.

[dale2242]

Casting fishing weights is easy.
Easier than casting bullets because a few wrinkles are of no consequence.
I have plenty of known lead alloys for casting bullets so if I am given fishing weights that i cannot use I melt them down and cast them into weights I can use.

[45-70 Chevroner]

From the LASC site.

[2] It is a common misconception that because they are less dense than lead, antimony and tin may undergo gravity separation from the melt. Nothing could be further from the truth. In the absence of oxygen or oxidizing materials, melted lead alloys will remain stable and mixed virtually forever. And from Lyman, [3]Perhaps the single most significant error in all the bullet casting literature is the misconception that lead-tin-antimony alloy melts gravity segregate.

Some of these old tales just never die.

I got into trouble on here years ago for saying what you said. I looked up tin lead separation and I got a Chemist response and he wrote, you show me a way to separate tin and lead and we can make a lot of money. Thank you.