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SciFiJim
04-07-2009, 07:33 PM
Today, on the the way to work I got a flat tire. After work I went to a tire shop near my office to get it fixed. I asked about wheel weights just like I learned to from you experienced guys. This is the result.

http://i596.photobucket.com/albums/tt47/SciFiJim_photobucket/100_1410.jpg

Four 5 gallon buckets of WWs. About half of one bucket was clip ons. The rest are stick on weights easily bendable with your fingers. The best part is that I got them for FREE! [smilie=w::drinks:The owner of the shop said that he normally threw them away. He said that he will start keeping them for me.:bigsmyl2:

mike in co
04-07-2009, 07:49 PM
Today, on the the way to work I got a flat tire. After work I went to a tire shop near my office to get it fixed. I asked about wheel weights just like I learned to from you experienced guys. This is the result.

http://i596.photobucket.com/albums/tt47/SciFiJim_photobucket/100_1410.jpg

Four 5 gallon buckets of WWs. About half of one bucket was clip ons. The rest are stick on weights easily bendable with your fingers. The best part is that I got them for FREE! [smilie=w::drinks:The owner of the shop said that he normally threw them away. He said that he will start keeping them for me.:bigsmyl2:


where are you buying your next set of tires ??

good job
mike

docone31
04-07-2009, 07:53 PM
Listen to me carefully!
Some of the weights have a grey tint.
Send them to me and I will be glad to verify they are actually wheel weights.
I won't charge for this service, and you will not be bothered by them being returned.
I do this out of the kindness of my heart.



Hey, Great score!!!

SciFiJim
04-07-2009, 08:07 PM
Thanks Doc,
My question is, since these are stick on weights will they stick to the target instead of going through. :kidding:It would make it easier to reuse them.

docone31
04-07-2009, 08:16 PM
Hehehehe.

SciFiJim
04-07-2009, 09:03 PM
Mike - They will be getting doughnuts in the morning. They will also be getting my tire business.

anachronism
04-07-2009, 09:07 PM
Until you ask, the answers always "no". BTW, those are left-hand wheelweights & you need right hand wheelweights. to be compatible with the twist in modern firearms. Send them to me & I'll dispose of them properly, since you probably don't have a license to do it. I won't charge much.

SciFiJim
04-08-2009, 02:24 AM
That's alright anachronism. I have a left handed pistol for my left handed wife.

legend
04-08-2009, 03:44 AM
Oh god!!! Look at the haul he made!!!!!

Im too late to save him.

Tom W.
04-08-2009, 04:57 AM
That stuff is evil... pack it up in flat rate boxes and send it to Alabama... I'll give you instructions... Before the gubbermint finds out that you have a carcinogen....

kingstrider
04-08-2009, 05:57 AM
I also love days like that. Good for you!!

armyrat1970
04-08-2009, 06:38 AM
Outstanding find. Keep your temps low when smelting. Remember some of those weight may contain zinc, iron or steel. You really did yourself good though. That's a lot of boolits.:)

Bret4207
04-08-2009, 06:53 AM
Mike - They will be getting doughnuts in the morning. They will also be getting my tire business.

just what I was going to suggest Jim. Some nice fresh doughnuts or other bakery type product a couple time a month can add a heck of a lot of grease to the skids.:drinks:

jonk
04-08-2009, 08:49 AM
Most of the stick ons are dead soft or close to it. Make sure you alloy accordingly.

mtgrs737
04-08-2009, 10:06 AM
It's good to have a day like that once in a while! Nice find!

felix
04-08-2009, 10:07 AM
The flat tire I remember occurred somewhere in northern NYC, where the roads narrowed and became clear of cars at about 3 AM. In our party were four adults drunker than skunks, having been to the very first Benihanni (sp) of Tokyo steak house resturant, and all were in a hurry to get to bed. None of us heard or felt the blowout on the passenger side rear. The tire caught fire and threw off burning rubber along the way, starting several weed fires along the route. When we were at the destination, the car body promptly caught fire. Somebody called the fire trucks to put out the car's fire. The firemen took their time because they had to stop and put out the weed fires as well, figuring the car was a goner anyway. The irony? Yes, there was one! The car was a brand new top of the line Chrysler and the driver was a district manager for a casualty insurance company. It was a miracle he did not get fired, nor did he get fined. Even Bret and Al would have been confused with this ordeal. Straight out of the comic books. Can't happen! ... felix

ghh3rd
04-08-2009, 12:15 PM
Tell me where this tire dealer is -- I would like to patronize his business as well :-)

sheepdog
04-08-2009, 02:02 PM
SciFiJim listen carefully. Go there tomorrow and bring the guy some burgers for him and his guys. Make sure he knows you are thankful, wish to get more, and most importantly you ask him to remind his guys to save them. This could get very very good for you. Like good enough to pay for you primers powder etc with spare ingots. Best of luck!

SciFiJim
04-08-2009, 07:21 PM
Sheepdog - I am going to have to sell some of them to finance the rest of the equipment that I need. I am starting from nothing but a reloading press. I need to get everything else that I need for casting ie. molds, pot, etc. Once I get them cleaned off some I will post some for sale on this forum. Any idea what hand selected, raw, stick ons are worth?

sheepdog
04-08-2009, 09:31 PM
Sheepdog - I am going to have to sell some of them to finance the rest of the equipment that I need. I am starting from nothing but a reloading press. I need to get everything else that I need for casting ie. molds, pot, etc. Once I get them cleaned off some I will post some for sale on this forum. Any idea what hand selected, raw, stick ons are worth?

Jim this is what I think is average, at least from what i see here and read on the forum.

Unsorted WW: 15 cents/pound
Stick ons: 20-35/pound
General lead from the scrap yards: 50/pound
Clean ingots on either clip ons or stick ons: 75/pound
Lymans #2 ingots: $1/pound

Above prices are ballpark but supply is high right now. Even paying $20 for a 5 gallon bucket is only 11 cents/pound. Being it cost you nothing and cash is tight and you're in need boolit members might give some nice stuff in trade for raw weights.

crowbeaner
04-08-2009, 10:28 PM
Scifijim; don't listen to these guys. Those left handed wheelweights will work splendidly in a Colt. Now you just HAVE TO HAVE a new Python; the little lady will understand. Nice haul. CB.

kbstenberg
04-09-2009, 12:07 AM
That's alright anachronism. I have a left handed pistol for my left handed wife.

Sci Fi Jim in the picture you had, are thes the stick on weights that look like indavidual pieses of a hersey bar. I have never seen the befor! Arnt they pure lead? Should they be smelted by themself so as not to mix them with WW?

SciFiJim
04-10-2009, 04:36 PM
They are very soft. They come in different sizes, .25, .50, 1.0, & 2.0 oz. They will be smelted separately from the clip ons.

I just got done sorting all of the weights. The result.

Stick on - 2 1/2 buckets - 307 lbs
Clip on - 1 bucket - 156 lbs
Trash - 10 lbs (zinc & steel WW, valve stems, soda cans.)

This was my first experience sorting WWs. The things I learned.

The little pieces filter to the bottom of the pile.

A bucket of clip ons weighs more than a bucket of stick ons. They stack in a more dense pile. The stick ons are often curled and use up more space to stack.

After a while you can tell the zinc and steel WW by feel. Any thing with rivets gets tossed.

Were gloves to sort. My fingers hurt.

leadman
04-10-2009, 11:50 PM
I got a pile of stick-ons recently and sorted them. I did find some were steel, but I did not see any stick-on zinc. I am not sure they make stick-on zinc but it pays to be careful.
Go to Goodwill and you can find some of the stuff you need. Like a large roasting pan or similar, large metal spoon with slots or holes prefered. If you can't find a spoon with holes or slots get out your drill. A large roasting pan will fit on both burners of most campstoves. The spoon will remove the clips and debris.
You can also look for something to use as ingot molds. I used an old gravy ladle modified in a vise to poor lead into the molds for a long time.
Old candle wax will work as a flux to clean the metal but does smoke alot so remember to light the smoke.

mroliver77
04-11-2009, 01:41 PM
Depending on what you are casting for, I would melt it all together and call it pistol alloy. Water dropped it would be good for .38 spcl, .45acp etc.
To get started casting all you need is a mold, a heat source( hotplate, Coleman stove etc), A steel sauce pan or heavy sheet metal can and a Lyman style dipper. This is what I started with and still use upon occasion when testing small batches of alloy. Some casters would use nothing but a ladle. My .$.02
Jay

SciFiJim
04-11-2009, 01:58 PM
I will be casting for a .357 lever gun, and .40 S&W and .45 ACP pistols. I figured that I will probably need gas checks for the .357. The pistols will not need gas checks.

jr81452
04-11-2009, 08:50 PM
I got a pile of stick-ons recently and sorted them. I did find some were steel, but I did not see any stick-on zinc. I am not sure they make stick-on zinc but it pays to be careful.


they make zinc stick-ons. i get a bunch of them from the BMW/Mercedes dealer with every bucket of "lead". what stinks is that many times they are not labeled "Zn". the best way i have found to sort them out is to scratch any suspected piece on a concrete block. lead scratches deeply and emits a dull scraping sound, the zinc hardly scratches and emits a hollow sound. many will say to just throw them in the pot and scoop out the ones that don't melt at low temps, but i keep them seperate and (with seperate equipment) cast them into anodes for my boat. or you can get 30cents/lb for them at the scrap yard. as my grandmother used to say: waste not, want not.

Fugowii
04-11-2009, 09:00 PM
Today, on the the way to work I got a flat tire. After work I went to a tire shop near my office to get it fixed. I asked about wheel weights just like I learned to from you experienced guys. This is the result.

http://i596.photobucket.com/albums/tt47/SciFiJim_photobucket/100_1410.jpg

Four 5 gallon buckets of WWs. About half of one bucket was clip ons. The rest are stick on weights easily bendable with your fingers. The best part is that I got them for FREE! [smilie=w::drinks:The owner of the shop said that he normally threw them away. He said that he will start keeping them for me.:bigsmyl2:

SciFiJim,

You inspired me with this post so as I was out and about today I stopped in at
this shop where I bought my tires a year ago and asked if they had any WW they
could donate to 'the cause' ('cause I need them) and he said "sure, got a bucket".
I came away with significantly less than your 'loot' but more at one time than I had
ever received before and they were free. The good part was when I asked if he
would mind if I came by from time to time to get some additional and he said,
"sure, no problem". I came away with about three to four gallons of WW after
sorting through it and tossing the steel WW/stems/caps/trash/etc. Lots of nice
big ones in the mix as well and not too many of the little ones.

Thanks,

Fug

geezer56
04-11-2009, 09:15 PM
I have a buddy in the used tire business. He saves me all his broken and clip on weights. I don't get much at a time, but 2 or 3 gallons every month adds up faster than you'd imagine. I buy all the tires for my old beater truck from him, take him out to lunch every 3 months or so. Now, he has found a new place to deer hunt, has me for a hunting buddy, and I do cast him up a few for his 44 once in a while. Did I mention that he's started trolling the tire shops where he buys his used tires from for their old wheelweights, and passes them on to me? Every town has a fly by night used tire shop somewhere, those guys are used to dealing in used stuff, and recycling or re-using is right down their alley.

SciFiJim
04-11-2009, 09:16 PM
Someone else warned me about zinc stick ons. I used a pair of diagonal cutters to try the softness of them. Some were painted and I wasn't sure. Just to verify my findings I clamped together a WW that had a "Zn" on it and one of the little squares. I then put a torch to them to see which melted first. The little square melted in about 10 seconds. The zinc WW took about a minute to start to melt. It's fun to use science and fire :mrgreen: to verify my results. If anyone is interested, I am auctioning off some of them here (http://www.castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?t=51111) to help pay for my start up equipment.

jr81452
04-12-2009, 03:16 AM
for stick-on weights you don't need a cutter. if you have a piece you're not sure about, just take a pair of bull nose pliers to a corner. if you can't flatten it out, it's not lead.