Many lessons to be learned

[Charlie Two Tracks]

There is quite a bit I need to learn and hopefully not all of it from the school of hard knocks. Today I went around town and got about 30 lbs of wheel weights from two different places. Neither one had too much but it was free. That is the good part. I didn't think to bring a pail with me so I dumped the weights in the back of the truck w/topper and carpeted liner. As I got to the bottom of the pail I found that it had about 2 qts of oil in the bottom. Yup. Onto the carpet it went. I get home and just rake the stuff out by hand into a pail. On the 2nd grab I almost grabbed a razor blade! My! Now I have to sort these weights. I can figure out what is steel, the rest I don't know. It is fun though. I just have to watch what I am doing and remember to bring a pail with me!

[462]

Charlie,
You're on your way, what with free weights. Yes, you have to be careful sorting through the weights -- I've found razor blades, too.

Zinc clip-on weights, many times, but not always, are marked Zn. Cutters are helpful, as zinc weights won't cut while lead will. Reject any weight that is riveted to the clip. Stick-on weights are generally easier to tell apart. Don't worry, in no time you will be able to discern the good from the bad with just a glance.

Seperate the clip-ons from the stick-ons, and smelt and store seperately. When smelting, keep the temperature as low as possible, that way any zinc weights you may have missed will float to the top of the melt. Smelt the stick-ons when the neighbors are away, as they smoke and stink a lot. Stay up-wind.

[fredj338]

Keep in mind "free" cost you gas money to drive to all these places. At some point, buying your alloy will be a better bet, especially for 30#, less crud & non lead, maybe you get 20# of alloy? IF you spend more than 2gal of gas getting it, well, you see my point.

[462]

Fred,
Point taken. I get my weights while doing other errands and the stores are along the route, so the cost of gas is inconsequential.

[fredj338]

Fred,
Point taken. I get my weights while doing other errands and the stores are along the route, so the cost of gas is inconsequential.
That's how I "shop" for ww too. If I am having work done in a shop or nearby, I'll stop & ask. SHops will readily part w/ ww to paying customers, vs the guy driving around all day trying to score some lead. Personaly, I would rather mine the bern @ my club range twice a year. I am there anyway & can get 100# of useable metal out in about 15min of sifting.[smilie=s: Lead WW around these parts are getting very scarce. You are likely to get only 60% useable now days. Over the coming year or so, I expect that to be down to 50%. So free or at least very cheap is almost a must.

[mtgrs737]

Don't break your ties with the tire shops when they go to leadless weights, you can sell the steel and zinc back to recyclers and then use the money to buy alloy from Rotometals etc.