Price to pay for WW and Linotype

[Rickf1985]

I have a line on fairly large amounts of linotype and WW. I was told the WW are mostly lead "To his knowledge". I am going there to purchase 200 lbs. of Lino at 2.00 a lb. and I will look at the weights while I am there. WW are 1.00 a lb. The lino is 1.50 a lb. if you buy over 500 lbs. but I just don't have 750.00 laying around to put out for linotype! I would rather spend it on the WW. What are your thoughts on the prices. I kind of need to move on this in the next couple days.

[Winger Ed.]

Depending on what you'll be shooting will determine the priority of your needs for the harder stuff.
If it was me, since I mostly shoot slower to mid range stuff, I'd load up on the wheel weights.
They're real handy for pretty much everything. The prices are OK, but not a steal.

[bangerjim]

Verify the WW's he has are actually COWW's and not stick-on's! SOWW's are basically pure lead.

And they are NOT Zn.

Price is about right for today's scarcity markets, especially in "lead-fearing" liberal states.

[BK7saum]

I wouldn't pay $1.00/lb for raw wheelweights and then have to melt them myself into ingots. i would load up on lino and then source some pure lead to obtain a near WW alloy.

[Rickf1985]

Depending on what you'll be shooting will determine the priority of your needs for the harder stuff.
If it was me, since I mostly shoot slower to mid range stuff, I'd load up on the wheel weights.
They're real handy for pretty much everything. The prices are OK, but not a steal.

I am not shooting anything really exotic. I plan on doing some casting for 223 but I can always doctor wheel weights up if need be. Most of my rifle stuff is 30-06 in military rifles and lever action. Some 9mm for my old Camp 9. The rest is 45acp, 38 Special, 9mm and 44 mag.

[Rickf1985]

They are clip on's, I have seen the pics of the trash cans full but I also see a few zincs in the mix so I know right off that they are not all lead. I also noted when I went back to the site that the price has changed to 1.50. So I will go for the lino and when I get there I will discuss the wheel weights. It will probably be one of those take it leave it offers. I will take a half dozen buckets with me. As far as melting them myself, I would much rather do that than buy them that way! This way I know exactly what I have and I know there is no zinc in the mix.

[JonB_in_Glencoe]

Buyer beware! Bring your own scale.


WW are mostly lead "To his knowledge"
I've learned that most often, the seller rarely knows what they are selling.

[fredj338]

That is very cheap for lino. IMO, put your $$ into the lino. You can use it to sweeten range scrap or pure & get you a cheaper alloy than clip ww at the price quoted.

[bangerjim]

They are clip on's, I have seen the pics of the trash cans full but I also see a few zincs in the mix so I know right off that they are not all lead. I also noted when I went back to the site that the price has changed to 1.50. So I will go for the lino and when I get there I will discuss the wheel weights. It will probably be one of those take it leave it offers. I will take a half dozen buckets with me. As far as melting them myself, I would much rather do that than buy them that way! This way I know exactly what I have and I know there is no zinc in the mix.

Sounds like a plan, my man! Get the lino at that price and pass on the questionable COWW's. Those, if in their native state, are a BUNCH of dirty, filthy, stinky re-melting and casting work for you and you will end up with many pounds of steel clips for $1.50/#! Not what you want.

Good luck. Let us know the end story.

banger

[JimB..]

Get the lino, avoid spacers, then trade for anything else you want/need.

Post up a group buy, 60lb MFRB of lino at $140 shipped, and you’ll be over 500lbs in no time. Lot less work to pack and ship than smelting WWs.

[jonp]

If your sure its Lino buy that then trade here for lead. WW if you have the time sort it before buying

[Bird]

Yep, get the lino.

[bangerjim]

I hope the lino is in the "lines-o-type" native strip format. If re-melted into ingots, you could be buying anything!!!!!!!

ONLY buy lino in its native strips of word format and you know you should be close to the real lino formula.

And remember.......... those blank strips of Pb people are always trying to sell as lino are only soft Pb "leading" strips that go between the actual type. I know because I own 5 antique presses and over 47 COMPLETE sets (upper/lower/numbers/symbols/ornaments) of mono and foundry type fonts and probably 300# of that soft Pb "leading".

[Rickf1985]

I was a printer for many years and ran linotype machines plus I even hand set type from the galleys. Yup, I know what I am looking at there. The group buy idea is great BUT, I would need to come up with the capital up front. If I were doing that I would just buy all 1500 lbs. that he has. But I have done that with other deals and ended up either burnt in the end because I was not able to sell it or the most common scenario I run into with old vehicle parts is the hassle of people constantly trying to talk you down in price. It wears on you after a while.

[downzero]

I pay 50 cents a pound for a bucket of lead (only) wheel weights and 20 a pound for an unknown bucket of wheel weights. If they turn out to be "lead heavy," I pay more next time.

[Rickf1985]

I think if I can get him down to .50lb. I will be happy as long as I don't look in the trash can and see it half covered in zinc. In this part of the country finding WW is tough. This guy has tons of different kinds of lead scrap from the looks of what I have seen. Just about everything is $2.00lb. with a discount over 500lbs. 2.00 is still cheaper than Roto for soft lead.

[lightman]

The Lino sounds like a fair price but to be truthful I've been sitting on some Lino and Foundry Type for years and just don't seem to ever need it. The wheelweight price sounds high for raw unsorted weights. Even if its all lead you will have 10-12% weight in clips. I agree with your point about melting it yourself, I feel the same way. Good Luck with your purchase.

[oley55]

I think if I can get him down to .50lb. I will be happy as long as I don't look in the trash can and see it half covered in zinc. In this part of the country finding WW is tough. This guy has tons of different kinds of lead scrap from the looks of what I have seen. Just about everything is $2.00lb. with a discount over 500lbs. 2.00 is still cheaper than Roto for soft lead.

Without seeing the pic of the weights it is difficult to offer much help, but if the pic is showing lead and some zinc you should be good (assuming the Fe has been sorted out). In my part of the world I see a LOT of steel compared to zinc.

By weight I regularly get:
steel - 39%
zinc - 8%
lead - 53% (45%-COWW, 8%-SOWW)

[Cosmic_Charlie]

I would get a bucket of the ww just to check the yield of lead. The lino requires a bunch of pure to be useful. A couple hundred pounds of lino would last a very long time. If there are a lot of spacers in the lino you should try to figure about what percent that is and maybe bargain with that.

[Rickf1985]

True on the spacers but you have to remember that spacers could be made on the machine also. It is easy to see the difference. There was a thread on here no long ago where I was trying to point out the difference to someone who really didn't want to hear it. But keep in mind, even if they are normal spacers at soft lead, 2.00lb. right now is still less than the going price at Rotometals. We are not talking scrap dirty lead here. Spacers do not have old ink on them or dirt or anything else, they are clean pure lead. He has already told me the prices on the lino and wheel weights are firm. I did talk to him further on the WW prices and it is settled at .75lb. and .50lb. if I buy over 500. I would like to buy one bucket and go through them to see what the ratio is but this place is a 4 hour round trip for me so other than a fast look through while I am there I am not doing the one bucket thing. It has been suggested that I buy a lot more than I need and resell it here. The problem with that is that most people here want it in the original form, be it lino or WW. It is just to hard to handle and pack that way for me. And I already have too much crap laying around I am trying to clean up so whatever I get is going to be turned into ingots and marked. I fully understand peoples concerns about not knowing what is in the ingots but that is just how I need to do it to keep it orderly around here.

[FISH4BUGS]

I have a line on fairly large amounts of linotype and WW. I was told the WW are mostly lead "To his knowledge". I am going there to purchase 200 lbs. of Lino at 2.00 a lb. and I will look at the weights while I am there. WW are 1.00 a lb. The lino is 1.50 a lb. if you buy over 500 lbs. but I just don't have 750.00 laying around to put out for linotype! I would rather spend it on the WW. What are your thoughts on the prices. I kind of need to move on this in the next couple days.

The lino price is in line. The WW's are a bit expensive but I would buy as many as you can afford, particularly if they are lead.
Lead ww's are getting more and more scarce as is lino.
Frankly, i would buy everything even if it hurts to do so. At $1.50/lb in today's world, the lino is a good buy. The ww's not so much but if they are lead, go for it!

[Rickf1985]

The lino is only 1.50 if I buy 500lbs or more. That is a 750.00 outlay and I certainly cannot justify that for my needs. If I were going to spend that kind of capital I would buy it all, about 1200 lbs. from the sounds of it. But if I did I would have to make a fast turnover and there is no guarantee of that in this economy. Same with the wheel weights. He is off Friday afternoon and I am going up to buy the 200 lbs. of lino and look at the WW. I will probably buy some WW but how many depends on what I see in the buckets. In his other buckets of scrap I saw some lino pigs I might grab also.

[JimB..]

I’d plan to sort the COWWs on site and then pay his price for the lead ones. Otherwise pass.

Target the lino ingots and any of the smaller replenishment ingots that he has, then the strips.

I’d buy a few hundred pounds, but I’m preparing to move and the last thing I need is more lead, or my wife to know that I’m getting more lead!

[JeepsAndGuns]

Hopefully not to hijack the OP's thread, but since we are talking about lead prices, I thought I would ask.
Found a local small mom and pop fishing, sporting goods, and hardware store. They sell molds and small hand held lead melting pots for casting fishing weights. They have what are roughly 1lb pure lead ingots for 10 cents a ounce, so $1.60 a pound. They weigh them at the counter when you buy them.
Couple weeks ago I bought just a few ounces over 30 pounds (about half what they had on the shelf) and it came to $51 after alabama's high sales tax, but still $1.70 a pound.
Looking around online, that seems to be a pretty decent price for pure lead. Cheapest lead at rotometals is the 26 pound surplus lead brick at $60, or roughly $2.30 a pound.
Starting to wonder if I should go back to the local store and buy them out?

[JimB..]

Hopefully not to hijack the OP's thread, but since we are talking about lead prices, I thought I would ask.
Found a local small mom and pop fishing, sporting goods, and hardware store. They sell molds and small hand held lead melting pots for casting fishing weights. They have what are roughly 1lb pure lead ingots for 10 cents a ounce, so $1.60 a pound. They weigh them at the counter when you buy them.
Couple weeks ago I bought just a few ounces over 30 pounds (about half what they had on the shelf) and it came to $51 after alabama's high sales tax, but still $1.70 a pound.
Looking around online, that seems to be a pretty decent price for pure lead. Cheapest lead at rotometals is the 26 pound surplus lead brick at $60, or roughly $2.30 a pound.
Starting to wonder if I should go back to the local store and buy them out?

Depends on your perspective. I expect lead alloys to decline in price, so wouldn’t make a long-term investment, but others expect them to continue to climb so are making long-term investments. Also depends on your current status, I have more than I can shoot in a decade, so have time to look for bargains while others are on the edge of needing to buy from Roto so they’ll pay more.

[Rickf1985]

Sounds like a good price and should you buy them out? That is a tough question. Do you need it or do you just want or grab it all? The reason I ask is you say it is a mom and pop fishing shop so they cater to local fisherman and if you buy them out then they have nothing to sell to their regular customers. They will then need to buy lead at a much higher price and raise their price to the regulars. I know, ethical ideals. Personally I do not want to be THAT guy that goes in and buys every box of primers on the shelf just because they are there and I can even knowing damn well that two people behind me someone else is going to do just that. But at least it wasn't me, I was

[Rickf1985]

I don't see price going down, lead is being outlawed and the greenies are making all the right moves in the press and government to convince them that lead is a major poisonous hazmat material that needs to be closely regulated. Remember mercury? When was the last time you saw it?

[bangerjim]

Remember mercury? When was the last time you saw it?

Yesterday..............in my clock shop! Some expensive antique clocks use mercury pendulums for the temp compensation that mercury offers. Usually takes about 7-8# to correctly fill the little glass vials. As temps change, a standard pendulum will shorten and lengthen ever so slightly. In extremely accurate clocks (±1 second per month) That variation is not wanted, so they used either invar gridiron pendulums or the very expensive mercury vial pendulums. I keep a good supply on hand for clock repairs.

It is a common element out there................if you know where to look and have the right connections!

Old home thermometers had glass tube mercury switches in them, as well as most old industry temperature control devices. Check your local junk yards. As a kid, I harvested over 30# of it over 12 months from switches like that.

[Rickf1985]

I have a jar with a pound or so in it somewhere here. If I find it you can have it if you need it. I have no need for it.

[oley55]

speaking hi-jacking a thread, didn't I read somewhere that mercury will dissolve lead out of a barrel or was I having a toxic lead levels induced hallucination?

[JeepsAndGuns]

Sounds like a good price and should you buy them out? That is a tough question. Do you need it or do you just want or grab it all? The reason I ask is you say it is a mom and pop fishing shop so they cater to local fisherman and if you buy them out then they have nothing to sell to their regular customers. They will then need to buy lead at a much higher price and raise their price to the regulars. I know, ethical ideals. Personally I do not want to be THAT guy that goes in and buys every box of primers on the shelf just because they are there and I can even knowing damn well that two people behind me someone else is going to do just that. But at least it wasn't me, I was

I went by there today and they have lots of pre cast sinkers and other lead fishing stuff (I do not fish, so I do not know the terminology). They still had the exact same number of ingots on the shelf as there was when I bought them a few weeks ago. I counted 25 of them.
I carry the box to the counter and one of the guys working there says "if you need that much, I have a better option" and has me follow him back to the shelf. On the floor, tucked up under the shelf was a saran wrapped stack of the ingots. I kneel down and look at it and see there was probably 5-6 more of these same saran wrapped packs of ingots under there. So they are well stocked.
He grabs a bathroom scale and it weighs exactly 50 pounds. So I tell him that will work.
$87 after tax, so $1.74 a pound. I do not feel like that is a bad price, all things considered. Cheaper than prices I have found online. Plus, free scrap lead seems to be scarce around here.

[fredj338]

Sounds like a good price and should you buy them out? That is a tough question. Do you need it or do you just want or grab it all? The reason I ask is you say it is a mom and pop fishing shop so they cater to local fisherman and if you buy them out then they have nothing to sell to their regular customers. They will then need to buy lead at a much higher price and raise their price to the regulars. I know, ethical ideals. Personally I do not want to be THAT guy that goes in and buys every box of primers on the shelf just because they are there and I can even knowing damn well that two people behind me someone else is going to do just that. But at least it wasn't me, I was

Its for sale, doesnt matter who buys it when its all gone. Yeah, I would buy all they had at that price. Fishing sinkers made from lino, pure waste of good bullet material.

[colchester]

speaking hi-jacking a thread, didn't I read somewhere that mercury will dissolve lead out of a barrel or was I having a toxic lead levels induced hallucination?

I have heard the same thing but no first hand experience

[GregLaROCHE]

That sounds like an ok deal on the Lino. It’s getting harder and harder to find.

[Edward]

I have a line on fairly large amounts of linotype and WW. I was told the WW are mostly lead "To his knowledge". I am going there to purchase 200 lbs. of Lino at 2.00 a lb. and I will look at the weights while I am there. WW are 1.00 a lb. The lino is 1.50 a lb. if you buy over 500 lbs. but I just don't have 750.00 laying around to put out for linotype! I would rather spend it on the WW. What are your thoughts on the prices. I kind of need to move on this in the next couple days. GET the W/W for sure , Lino is not needed as WW / water cooled will make as hard or harder than you need!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! /Ed

[Edward]

Depends on your perspective. I expect lead alloys to decline in price, so wouldn’t make a long-term investment, but others expect them to continue to climb so are making long-term investments. Also depends on your current status, I have more than I can shoot in a decade, so have time to look for bargains while others are on the edge of needing to buy from Roto so they’ll pay more.

NEVER HAPPEN ,buy it while you can (take out a loan ) same thing was said about primers /powder/ ammo /UP UP AND GONE !!!!!!!!!!!!! Try and find it now /none / Ed

[JimB..]

NEVER HAPPEN ,buy it while you can (take out a loan ) same thing was said about primers /powder/ ammo /UP UP AND GONE !!!!!!!!!!!!! Try and find it now /none / Ed

See, different perspectives.

I never said that primers and powders would always be cheap, in fact everyone said to stock up while they were cheap. I did, won’t use it all if I live to be 200.

The driver for lead, IMO, is going to be regulation. We’ll end up with one price for industry and a black market price for us little guys. No prediction on timing, but not this year.

[Streetwalker]

See, different perspectives.

I never said that primers and powders would always be cheap, in fact everyone said to stock up while they were cheap. I did, won’t use it all if I live to be 200.

The driver for lead, IMO, is going to be regulation. We’ll end up with one price for industry and a black market price for us little guys. No prediction on timing, but not this year.

I agree with Jim. Regulations from state and local governments regarding lead will drive lead prices in the near future, no question about it. Here in Kalifornia, we cannot use lead for huntng purposes and you can bet that other states will follow suite. Lead is getting harder to find and prices are going up. When it shows up out here at what I feel is an affordable price for me, I grab it up!

[Rickf1985]

Well, I am headed up there tomorrow morning prepared to buy 200lbs. of linotype and 500lbs. of WW. What I actually get will depend on what I see when I get there. The pics of the wheel weights look good, I see some zinc but not a whole lot and I didn't see any steels. He says he has a scale but thanks to some advice on here I am also taking one plus I know exactly what I weigh so I will just get on his scale. I weigh 212 fully dressed so if his scale says that then I feel comfortable that it will read 200 properly. But since this is all going to have to be done by the bucket load the buckets will hit both scales.

[Rickf1985]

Weeeeeel, I went up to get my lead today. Got there and he has a lot of lead and I was looking through the lino bucket he showed me a wood crate with long spacers in it and he said they pulled these out of the lino but left the thicker ones in. I told him the spacers were pure lead and not worth the same as the lino and he was fine with me separating it out. I mentioned I had seen a lino pig in one of his buckets and he had no idea what I was talking about so we went to the buckets and I pulled it out. Oh, I have some more of them in the garage! SCORE! Then he mentions that he got all of this lead from a guy who did reloading!!!!! At this point I am thinking I didn't bring enough money. Sure enough, I look at the wheel weights and I did not find a single zinc weight. He asked me what the difference was so I got a pair of cutters and showed him how to check them but I could not find a single zinc to demonstrate on. SCORE #2! I was looking through the scrap lead ingots he had and he asked how I knew lino from pure lead so I grabbed an ingot and dropped it on the concrete and it rang like a bell! I said THAT is NOT pure lead! I have no idea how much lino or wheel weights he actually has in the scrap pile but he is asking 2:00 lb. up to 500 and 1.50 over that. In addition to the lino pigs and some very large bricks that rang he said I also have these, you will see them in the pics, bars that shine nice and bright that I am thinking may be tin. The guy was a reloader and obviously into casting. SCORE #3! So final tally was 1,000lbs. of wheel weights that will be at bare minimum 95% lead. 100lbs. of linotype and the suspected tin, about 25lbs.

Been trying for 20 minutes to upload pics and all get are errors saying cast boolits cannot upload the file number. So have to go with Postimage.

https://i.postimg.cc/ydK2SkcL/IMG-20211231-150942664.jpg (https://postimages.org/)

https://i.postimg.cc/K8d6x9zS/IMG-20211231-150948228.jpg (https://postimages.org/)

https://i.postimg.cc/HLXfxQcJ/IMG-20211231-150956811-HDR.jpg (https://postimages.org/)

https://i.postimg.cc/52YcccfS/IMG-20211231-151006283-HDR.jpg (https://postimages.org/)

[Dusty Bannister]

That golden hue on the surface of the bright and shiny ingots is your clue. Not sure if pure or just high tin content. Bend the little one and listen for a crackle sound. You did very well. Guard that "honey hole" and maybe try to get back for more if the budget will allow it. You have done very well. Very, very well.

[Rickf1985]

Well this sucks, I now have 1,000 lbs. of wheel weights in buckets in the back of my truck that got rained on for three days and now snowed on and going down to 13 degrees tonight. Oh, No holes in most of the buckets either. So much for speed melting my nice dry weights. This is where it is nice to have two burners. One I use for my smelting but the other one just does not get hot enough for some reason and I haven't played with it but it will be perfect for drying a pot load of weights while the other load is melting and being processed. I knew there was a reason I never throw stuff out!

[JimB..]

Well this sucks, I now have 1,000 lbs. of wheel weights in buckets in the back of my truck that got rained on for three days and now snowed on and going down to 13 degrees tonight. Oh, No holes in most of the buckets either. So much for speed melting my nice dry weights. This is where it is nice to have two burners. One I use for my smelting but the other one just does not get hot enough for some reason and I haven't played with it but it will be perfect for drying a pot load of weights while the other load is melting and being processed. I knew there was a reason I never throw stuff out!
I am laughing at your misfortune only because of your recent good fortune!

[oley55]

Congratulations Rick, you done good, real good.

[Rickf1985]

Yea, I think that I can handle the bad with the extreme good. Good almost never happens with me, I am always 5 minutes late to the party with these deals.

[Rickf1985]

Well, I started melting down the weights today and I am glad I was doing it in the garage because my smelting pot made from a Freon tank sprung a leak! a couple of them as a matter of fact. So shut it down and scooped out the unmelted weights and once cool I popped out the chunk that was in there and found out that because this tank had been sitting outside for a long time the three tits on the bottom and the bottom center were rusted through. Funny it did not leak the last time I used it a few weeks ago with a lot more lead in it. So I just rolled it over and cleaned up the areas that were rusted and brazed everything up and back to work. I only did the smallest bucket in the pictures, it had 58lbs. of weights in it and it has yielded 55 lbs. of lead! After sorting I had 2 plastic weights and one valve stem. Period. No zinc, no steel. I am a very happy caster!!!

[Springfield]

Freon tanks are not as thick as propane tanks. Me, I just buy large heavy duty SS stew pots from the Goodwill.

[Rickf1985]

Freon tanks are not as thick as propane tanks. Me, I just buy large heavy duty SS stew pots from the Goodwill.

Yea, but that is just to easy and uncomplicated.[smilie=l: I actually was going to stop at the local goodwill the other day to see if they had a scale and they were PACKED! I didn't need it that bad. I have to go out that way again tomorrow and it is supposed to be snowing so might not be as bad.

[Rickf1985]

Well, I am about 800lbs. into my converting the wheel weights into Cast boolits ingots and to this date I have not found another plastic weight or anything. I did get one more valve stem. I have never seen anything like this. I spread the weights out on steel plating I have on the garage floor because they had gotten water in the buckets in my truck and all I am having to do is scoop them up with a shovel and put them directly in the pot, no sorting!!! I am keeping everything that is left over like the metal clips and what very little dross there is, that is mostly dirt from the floor and the buckets. I am going to weigh everything when I am done just out of curiosity to see how much is lost to clips and such. I weighed it today after 800 lbs. and I weighed the clips. How much do you think I have in metal clips after processing 800 lbs. of weights? I was kind of surprised myself.

[Budzilla 19]

You have been busy!!!!!

[Dusty Bannister]

I weighed it today after 800 lbs. and I weighed the clips. How much do you think I have in metal clips after processing 800 lbs. of weights?

96 pounds of clips, dross included would be more.

[oley55]

that's not bad getting 12% clips. I have had as low as 10% (just once) and as high as 18%. For cost planning I anticipate 15%.

[lightman]

I want to say I see 12% or so loss to clips. I save them and take them to the scrap yard. 10 cents a pound isn't much but I sell the steel weights, Zinc weights, junk brass, ect at the same time. I sold 628# once.

[Rickf1985]

I kind of worded my weights wrong so it is a little misleading. What I have so far is 800 lbs. of processed lead and roughly 10 lbs. of dross. Dusty guessed 96lbs. and that was so close it was scary. LOL.
Let me start over.
I started with 1,000 lbs. of wheel weights. I now have 800 lbs. of ingots, 90 lbs. of clips and 10 lbs. of dross.
900 lbs. total and a small pile on the floor still to be done.
8 lbs. per hundred loss on wheel weights? I will take that all day long!!!! I will give the final tally when I finish up that last pile, It was wet from the half water filled bucket so had to dry. Now it is 15 degrees out there so may not happen today. But if I get 880 lbs. out of 1,000 I am not going to complain. Then I still have the other 500 lbs. I went back for. They may wait till spring.

[Rickf1985]

I want to say I see 12% or so loss to clips. I save them and take them to the scrap yard. 10 cents a pound isn't much but I sell the steel weights, Zinc weights, junk brass, ect at the same time. I sold 628# once.

I give that kind of stuff to one of neighbors who does scrapping to supplement his Social Security. The few dollars I would get would not pay for the fuel to take it there. Plus they give him "New" tires every time he gets a flat at the yard, which is pretty often apparently. I do not run on junkyard tires so no thanks on that!

[Rickf1985]

Finshed up the 1,000 lb. lot that I got the first run with the exception of some monster truck weights that I tossed aside and they didn't make it in the pot. There are 18 lbs. of them. All of the stick-ons I pulled out but I have a sneaky suspicion that this guy had already gone through and checked whether they were soft or hard because all of the ones I tossed in a box are hard to bend. Not zinc hard but not soft lead by a long shot. I am going to test some to see what the hardness is on them before I melt them down 35lbs of them. So 53 lbs. of weights that did not get melted but I am just going to add that to the total at the end since the stickons will have next to no loss and the huge truck weights will only have about ten clips, so again, loss is negligible. All the rest of the weights are now cast boolits ingots and I ended up with 895lbs. of ingots, 105lbs. of clips and about 11lbs. of dross. Total of everything comes out to 1,064 lbs.
I know the seller was giving me the benefit of the doubt on the weight, but I didn't think it was that much of a benefit! When you figure the other 53 lbs. left to melt that will give me 948 lbs. of clean lead. 52lbs. short of the total purchased.
Total amount of trash mixed in with the weights amounted to two valve stems, one shock bushing, and a couple valve stem cores. Period!! No zincs at all. In the very first pot I got two small plastic composite weights and I have to wonder if they were not tossed in somewhere else along the line.
Yes, I am gloating, This never, EVER happens to me!!!!! I am always the guy that is second or third in line on these deals and all I can do is watch someone else walk off with it. The best part is that I left that 500 lbs. behind because he told me another guy had said he wanted it but he had scheduled the guy for another day since he did not know what I was going to get. So I told him I would let him have a chance at them. A week later he had never called back, GONE!

[Chaparral66]

My local tire guy is my source for $0. My cost is going to be a lead weight for one of his dragsters.

[lightman]

Good deal! It sounds like you came out pretty good!

[Rickf1985]

Weeeeeel, I went up to get my lead today. Got there and he has a lot of lead and I was looking through the lino bucket he showed me a wood crate with long spacers in it and he said they pulled these out of the lino but left the thicker ones in. I told him the spacers were pure lead and not worth the same as the lino and he was fine with me separating it out. I mentioned I had seen a lino pig in one of his buckets and he had no idea what I was talking about so we went to the buckets and I pulled it out. Oh, I have some more of them in the garage! SCORE! Then he mentions that he got all of this lead from a guy who did reloading!!!!! At this point I am thinking I didn't bring enough money. Sure enough, I look at the wheel weights and I did not find a single zinc weight. He asked me what the difference was so I got a pair of cutters and showed him how to check them but I could not find a single zinc to demonstrate on. SCORE #2! I was looking through the scrap lead ingots he had and he asked how I knew lino from pure lead so I grabbed an ingot and dropped it on the concrete and it rang like a bell! I said THAT is NOT pure lead! I have no idea how much lino or wheel weights he actually has in the scrap pile but he is asking 2:00 lb. up to 500 and 1.50 over that. In addition to the lino pigs and some very large bricks that rang he said I also have these, you will see them in the pics, bars that shine nice and bright that I am thinking may be tin. The guy was a reloader and obviously into casting. SCORE #3! So final tally was 1,000lbs. of wheel weights that will be at bare minimum 95% lead. 100lbs. of linotype and the suspected tin, about 25lbs.

Been trying for 20 minutes to upload pics and all get are errors saying cast boolits cannot upload the file number. So have to go with Postimage.

https://i.postimg.cc/ydK2SkcL/IMG-20211231-150942664.jpg (https://postimages.org/)

https://i.postimg.cc/K8d6x9zS/IMG-20211231-150948228.jpg (https://postimages.org/)

https://i.postimg.cc/HLXfxQcJ/IMG-20211231-150956811-HDR.jpg (https://postimages.org/)

https://i.postimg.cc/52YcccfS/IMG-20211231-151006283-HDR.jpg (https://postimages.org/)

I realized while looking for this thread to get a link that I never updated the final tally and the end results. I hate leaving a story unfinished.
I ended up going back up to the guys house a week later to buy the remaining 500 lbs. of wheel weights when the other person never showed up. I also picked out some more goodies from the scrap buckets. Anyone know anything about the Rochester lead works Extra wiping? I got 13 of those ingots at about 3 lbs. each. So here is what I ended up going back for, like the first group of weights these had no zinc or steel in them. They were rusty because they had been stored outside in a barrel with no holes in it and the clips rusted. This surprisingly did not give me as much dross as I thought it would.

299759

299757

299758

And here is the end result of the smelting of those wheel weights. I ended up with 1350 lbs. out of the 1500 lbs. I bought at $.50 lb. I am pretty sure he was very generous on the counts as far as weight goes. All told with some that I had from before there is about 2200 lbs. of wheel weight ingots there. I moved all of that in a 3 hour period from the garage over a couple building to where it is now neatly stacked on the pallet! By hand!!!


299762

299763

[quack1]

I have heard the same thing but no first hand experience

Yes, it does remove leading.
My dad worked maintenance in a steel mill and had close to a quart that he salvaged from mercury switches. He and his buddies would use it to take the lead out of shotgun barrels which was common before plastic wads and shot cups became available. I used it a couple of times when I first starting casting and was learning, the hard way, about velocity limits for various alloys. Forgot all about it for at least 50 years, and re-discovered it when cleaning out his house after he died. I hopefully will never need it again and would be happy to pass it on (free) if someone wants it and lives close enough to Butler Pa. to pick it up. No way I'd try to mail it.

[leadbutt]

BS. Youll be able to flip it. Metals will always be worth what they are worth. Thats like saying you cant sell gold for what its worth. Id just buy all the lino and call it a day. Blessings.

[Rickf1985]

Um, Ok, That thread was quite a while ago. I have since followed up on that one with this one from a couple weeks ago. I have bought a total of roughly 3,000 lbs from him.

https://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?448675-Lead-haul-2-from-favorite-seller