Nippin weights

[Recycled bullet]

Use a tip of the nippers and bite the lead if it does not bite into the metal then it is zinc or iron and throw it in the garbage. https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20231123/e350339fa8695d6ddc362fe89d89c1df.jpg

[Froogal]

YEP! Except I will not bite it.

[Winger Ed.]

Yep........ That's how ya do it.

Heating up the pot slowly will let any stow-a-ways float up too.

[oley55]

I nip check every wheel weight even when I'm sure it's lead.

I have found that the anvil type hand pruning nips to be superior to side cutter type nips. Sharper cutting edge and spring loaded return similar to these: https://www.acehardware.com/departments/lawn-and-garden/gardening-tools/pruning-tools/7094501?x429=true&x429=true&gclsrc=3p.ds&gclsrc=ds&gclsrc=ds

[Recycled bullet]

Nice nippers oley55!

Hi wingered I crank the stove up to max gas and it melted it real quick!

I screenshotted the lead alloy calculator output and have included it with this post.

I cast up some MP358-429 HP. I'm going to go select 10 of them and see how much they weigh on my harbor freight digital scale.

The bullets have a geometric Crystal pattern I will try to get a picture.
https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20231123/8078920323f6c0be812fc6bd42fc6b8f.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20231123/6ec9e396fe5a917bb6c9d6c8c3a3f6ae.jpg

[Bazoo]

I nip most weights. The exception is weights that are easily identified visually. I don't always nip those, but if there is any doubt at all, its quicker to verify physically than mentally.

[ebb]

Save yourself some time run a magnet over everything first and take all the steel out then you have to nip way less and the magnet is much quicker.

[RogerDat]

I nip the ww's also. Only way I can be sure. Last bucket I did a year or so ago was only 50% lead. Sigh.

I use a large dutch oven over a fish fryer to melt scap in. It is possible to "trap" a zinc weight against the bottom and have it melt before enough lead has melted for the zinc to float up off the bottom so I continue to nip 100%

Believe it or not my wife used to let me sit in the living room watching tv and sort wheel weights. Had a canvas tarp down for the buckets and used a plastic tray with sides in my lap to have them convenient to pick up nip and toss. Alas daughter bought a nice area rug for us and now I and my wheel weights are banished to the garage.

[lightman]

I only nip the questionable looking ones. But I have sorted enough weights that I am comfortable doing it this way. This seems like it works well for me as I am not finding any floaters in my melts. I use a pair of electrical cutters known as Dykes. But do whatever works for you.

[Land Owner]

WAIT!

Don't throw the zinc WW's in the garbage - if you don't have to.

Keep them segregated and give them to another caster - if you don't want them, or consciously cast them into ingots or boolits - segregated of course. These zinc elements ARE useful, can be bartered or sold, and should not be considered "trash" as they have value. I hope others will weigh in on this too...

[Bigslug]

YEP! Except I will not bite it.

320888

[William Yanda]

As long as you have gone this far, separate the Zn from Fe.

[Recycled bullet]

WAIT!

Don't throw the zinc WW's in the garbage - if you don't have to.

Keep them segregated and give them to another caster - if you don't want them, or consciously cast them into ingots or boolits - segregated of course. These zinc elements ARE useful, can be bartered or sold, and should not be considered "trash" as they have value. I hope others will weigh in on this too...Do you cast zinc bullets?

I have been considering purchasing an iron mold to give it a try.

[Land Owner]

No, I do not. I have cast zinc fishing weights. Zinc can be cast as boat motor anodes too.

There are others on this site that cast zinc boolits. They will not be in the reloading book. You will be a Wildcatter and on your own in that.

[Recycled bullet]

No, I do not. I have cast zinc fishing weights. Zinc can be cast as boat motor anodes too.

There are others on this site that cast zinc boolits. They will not be in the reloading book. You will be a Wildcatter and on your own in that.What equiptment and processes did you use when making zinc fishing weights?

[Land Owner]

Same steel melting pot (20-gal propane tank cut in two), loaded to about 10-pounds of zinc, ladle, and pyramid fishing weight mold. Same basic setup as if I had poured straight lead, except it was zinc- (rich). The propane burner produces a ton of heat, turned the sides of the pot red hot very quickly, and melted the contents equally quickly (> 790*F).

[RogerDat]

worth noting that one will want to clean the zinc out very thoroughly before using with lead again. It takes very little zinc contamination to make lead/tin alloy start to pour like oatmeal.

Although members have reported with a hot enough melt one can get zinc contaminated lead to flow well enough cast up to a couple percent or more. Still easier to avoid zinc contamination than it is to deal with it.

[Recycled bullet]

I've been reading that zinc is reactive with stainless steel is that correct?

[WILCO]

320888

One of my favorite characters!

Thanks Bigslug!

[Recycled bullet]

Oh hello WILCO!

[steveu]

I pre sort ww by dropping them on a steel plate. Steel and Zinc make a ping noise while lead makes a dull thud. Then I melt at no higher than 600 to catch anything that I have missed. I get my ww a pound or two at a time so it’s not too time consuming.

Cheers,
Steve

[Castingcoot]

Ended up with 2 5 gallon buckets about 200 lbs. I think I bite off more than I wanted LOL Tried to start sorting last night, was at best a poke and a guess. Any one know the comp of zinc ww are they pure or an alloy????

[lightman]

Ended up with 2 5 gallon buckets about 200 lbs. I think I bite off more than I wanted LOL Tried to start sorting last night, was at best a poke and a guess. Any one know the comp of zinc ww are they pure or an alloy????

Don't get discouraged! It gets faster after you have done a few. I've gotten where I sort sitting down. I'll sit with the bucket between my feet, raised up somewhat where its comfortable. Then I'll start "cherry picking" the most obvious. Usually the trash and then the next most obvious. Thats usually the steel weights. An ammo can under the bucket to raise it up works well for me. Hang in there, 2 buckets is a problem a lot of us would like to have!

[Rickf1985]

The zinc weights are pure zinc so don't even think about it. Most of the zinc weight over about 1.25 oz have a ZN on them, as soon as you see that toss it in the zinc buck for trading material. And a five gallon buck full of weights is well over a hundred pounds unless your were not full. The last load of wheel weights I got was nine buckets and when I was done smelting I had 1950 pounds of ingots. A couple of those buckets wer the really tall 5 gallon buckets but the rest were full sheetrock buckets. A bit over 200 lbs. each.