Removing rubber from lead

[Gatorade]

Last year or so I was given an opportunity to scoop lead out of a local indoor range. I ended up with probably 11-12 gallons. The problem is that the backstop is rubber as you can see from the pics. So when I was melting my first batch the fumes from the rubber were overwhelming and stunk up the neighborhood. I then tried a quart or so in water to float the rubber. It worked but was very slow, I needed to sift through the bottom of the bucket while constantly skimming. Then the lead needed to dry before smelting. It was much improved but still had rubber in the mix. So I left the remaining in buckets for over a year or so.

So can anyone share how to remove the rubber from the lead? I assume there are easy ways that are not as effective or effective ways that are really difficult and time consuming.

Thanks for the replies.

[wilecoyote]

I could say acetone first ?, but I never tried on this rubber_
I would pick some rubber-dirty bullet, and try some little test on what you have at hand at home, from paint thinner to some cleaning acid, etc._
traditionally, hot caustic soda or muriatic acid did not corrode the lead pipes of toilet drains, but acted drastically on everything else...
only my 2c.

[BLAHUT]

will the rubber float in water ? try flushing it out ? last time in had this I slowly powered it all in front of a box fan running on highest setting,
did blow most of the lose parts sideways a bit?

[JimB..]

Separate it like you’re panning for gold. Put the mix in a wide bowl, add water, swirl, dump, repeat.

Lead will be wet, but I’d just put it in a cold smelting pot and once it’s full turn on the fire. The heat will dry it before the lead melts. I use moderate heat to minimize risk, don’t stir until it’s all melted, stand back, and have a cover just in case.

Edit: word from folks that have done it is that the rubber floats much better in salt water. I’d put 5 lbs in a 5 gal bucket of warm water and give it a try, then rinse well to remove salt before melting.

[Huskerguy]

My indoor range is exactly the same way. Over the years I have "heard" but not tried to put the mix in a wheel barrow and float the rubber to the top. Then spread the remains on the driveway for the sun bake.

Unfortunately, I am not sure there is a good way. I don't like the idea of putting the lead in water for one. Pretty much each year when we have range cleaning day I come home with 5-8 buckets of lead. I do it outside and have a fan blowing pretty good over the top, not down at the flame area as that will cool the melting process. I wear old clothes because they stink like you say and I wear a really good painting mask. I also get everything out and watch the weather for wind directions and try to catch a favorable direction and pretty high winds to get it out of there. It does stink up the neighborhood but the higher winds don't keep it around long.

[Gatorade]

Yeah, that’s pretty much what I was doing. I have a large flat tub and will need to just do it on a larger scale than the small buckets I was using. Thanks for the input guys! If the first batch with plain water doesn’t pan out I will try the salt water. Will just need to add a rinse step.

[Brassmonkey]

I worked a range job where we set up a 4' x 16' tray made of plywood and two by fours and we would dump the mix on the tray and blow away the rubber with a leaf blower.

The rubber will float better in salted water.

It will also rise to the top in a vibrating box.

[imashooter2]

You won’t get all the rubber out. Your choices are stink up the neighborhood or send that lead down the road.

[poppy42]

Separate it like you’re panning for gold. Put the mix in a wide bowl, add water, swirl, dump, repeat.

Lead will be wet, but I’d just put it in a cold smelting pot and once it’s full turn on the fire. The heat will dry it before the lead melts. I use moderate heat to minimize risk, don’t stir until it’s all melted, stand back, and have a cover just in case.

Edit: word from folks that have done it is that the rubber floats much better in salt water. I’d put 5 lbs in a 5 gal bucket of warm water and give it a try, then rinse well to remove salt before melting.

This^^^^*

[Outpost75]

The smoke from the rubber will ignite. Flare it off by lighting with a propane torch and let the rubber burn off, leaving carbon dust and a fluxed melt. Do this outdoors.

[wilecoyote]

afterthought: I don't know how much you have, but I wonder if throwing it in a tumbler with corn cob most of the rubber can be removed before the smelting...

[Winger Ed.]

Shake it through a colander with big holes or slots like the plastic grocery store ones have.
It goes pretty fast, is a dry process, and they'll catch anything from .22 rim fire on up.

That'll go a long way towards your cleaning chore.
You'll still have chunks of rubber, but all the small stuff will go through.

[tchepone]

Water is too time consuming and messy and has the potential for a steam expulsion.
We have the same type range and the leaf blower is the best method we have found. Keep the air volume and speed down and blow the rubber away. It is not perfect but at least it ends up reasonably ckean.

Another problem we have is the darn plated bullets, they float on smelt. The plating must be cracked before the lead will melt out. Another time consuming step with a arbor ptress. I long for the old days and good wheel weights. gjh

[turtlezx]

wish ranges would stopped using rubber soo much easier to recover lead if
the boolits smack steel plate back stop and drop into trough

[6mm win lee]

There is always dry panning

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lkw5UotuRbA

[Kosh75287]

I don't have access to your pics, but you might try a "bath chain". Immerse the rubber/lead in salt-saturated water in a rubber container and churn, removing the rubber as it comes to the top. Transfer the "less-rubberized" lead to a METAL, GROUNDED container in a WELL VENTILATED AREA, containing 1 part toluene or xylene, 1 part mineral spirits, and 3 parts acetone or methylethyl ketone (MEK), and stir. The remaining rubber should dissolve into the toluene or xylene solvents, and the acetone or MEK will pull off the water. Put the treated lead/rubber (should be mostly gone) on paper towels in direct sunlight (OUTSIDE!) to dry. All or most of the water should be gone with the solvent, but double check before adding to the lead pot.

[Sasquatch-1]

Build a sluice box. Some plywood, a couple of side boards and cross pieces about 6 to 8 inches apart. An old friend had a commercial range where he used conveyer belt as part of the back stop. This method worked very well for getting the rubber and a lot of other contaminates out.

[405grain]

I wanna say throw it into a concrete mixer with some water, then let it spin and beat on itself until the rubber separates and floats to the top. Dump off the water & rubber through something like a colander that will collect the rubber for disposal, but let the water pass through. Wash, rinse, repeat. Then leave the washed lead out to dry. There will still be some rubber crumbs left in the mix, but as Outpost75 pointed out, it won't smoke nearly as much if you set it on fire. It's going to stink a little bit and there's not much you can do about that, so if it's possible do the inertial smelting away from the neighbors. If Karen Cancelculture comes by to ask what your doing? tell her that you're "recycling". By all means, do not tell people that you are possibly annoying that you are making bullets!

[imashooter2]

Pan, sluice, wash, blow or sit down with a pair of tweezers, you aren’t going to get all the rubber out. Your choices are stink up the neighborhood or send that lead down the road.

[Retumbo]

The smoke from the rubber will ignite. Flare it off by lighting with a propane torch and let the rubber burn off, leaving carbon dust and a fluxed melt. Do this outdoors.

my method, torch it

[Froogal]

If it were me, I would pick a day when the wind is the right direction, set things up on a picnic table, and have at it. My nearest neighbor is a full 1/4 mile away. They might smell the smoke, but it wouldn't be a problem.

[Rapier]

If you have a large cast iron pot with a heavy stand, just bring the alloy pot temperature up to 700 plus degrees, antimony and arsenic, with a gas flame up over the top, it will burn all flammables off. Make sure the stand can take the heat and weight with heat. If the smoke and gases do not burn, toss a small block of bees wax in and light that off. Burn the fumes. Flux, flux, flux, I get paint and rubber all of the time.
Sand will go to the bottom of the pot.

[Geezer in NH]

Big pot, lot's oh heat, light the smoke with a torch.

[Gatorade]

Well I had a chance today to give y’all’s suggestions a try. I used a wheelbarrow, dumped about a quart of the raw material and set my shop vac to blow. I waived the hose over the pile and after a few minutes of sifting with a scoop while blowing, I was able to blow maybe 90%-95% of the rubber either to the end of the wheelbarrow or floated over the side. The stuff that floated outside was small and was sometimes some small lead flakes and jacket material but when I swept it up it really was mostly rubber debris. The lighter lead flakes and some loose jacket material went to the front of the wheelbarrow. The stuff on the back was mostly the larger lead chunks. So I set those aside. The front pile was mostly small lead flakes, jacket material and the majority of the rubber. It was about 15%-20% of the initial quart. I did another batch like that and then dumped the pile with the rubber into a bucket and easily floated the majority of the rubber off while agitating the lead slush at the bottom. I torched some of the dry lead and the fumes were nominal so it was a huge improvement. It may take a while to process it but at least now I have a technique that will be pretty effective to eliminate most of the rubber. I am hoping when I get the melt pot going the jackets and penetrators will float and separate easily. My local scrap yard buys dross but I would love to separate the jackets to try to smelt into a copper ingot. I read that jackets are only 95% copper and 5% zinc. I don’t really have the capability to remove the zinc so it is as good as I can get. If not then the scrap yard buys the jacket fragments but at dross price which is next to nothing.