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Thread: Zinc Wheelweights

  1. #21
    Boolit Master
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    Again, The Question: what harm does zinc do? Selous writes in his book about 1880, that they always added zinc to their lead/tin alloy for hardness and to keep it from leading in BP ML rifles. We are talking 10 bore and up.

    Rich

  2. #22
    Boolit Master
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    I have only seen a couple of zinc weights so far. I agree with others that note success with maintaining a more modest smelting temp range. I want to keep my tin, so maybe it is a bit of a balancing act. My set-up is capable of melting zinc, but I let the melt get started slowly until I get a good pool of molten lead in the bottom, then I turn-up the heat and add bulk scrap. Once molten I reduce the heat to where it just stays liquid and I stir the flotsom looking for suspicious "stuff" such as unmelted weights. Once I am confident that no zinc has been missed, I turn it up and let the mix heat to where beeswax will just begin to flame off instead of smoke (it should smoke a bit before bursting into flame and not just flash into flame). Then I flux and skim, holding the pot at about that temp and reflux/skim again after 20 minutes. So far, so good - heaven forbid I should have to purchase a thermometer and keep notes

    prs

  3. #23
    Boolit Master at Heaven's Range 2010

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    zinc

    zinc does not pour as well and needs high heat.if you get good castings you can use it.it wont hurt the gun.the bullets will be light.they used to put zinc washers in special molds as gas checks or scrapers.
    WILDCATT

  4. #24
    Boolit Buddy TexRebel's Avatar
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    if you think you have zinc in your alloy, some can be removed by melting at a temp around 650 deg, the zinc will float to the top and can be cleaned off, it will look crinkely, as for casting alloys with zinc in them, a temp of 800 or higher will do it, just do not over heat your mold, Aluminum molds are bad about warping, the boolits will be a little light but very hard, I do not recomend more than 5 % zinc if possable
    TexRebel

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  5. #25
    Boolit Master Mark Daiute's Avatar
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    Well, I finaly realized something. I had about 40 lbs. of lead go weird on me once. I was melting my lead over a fire in the fireplace when it got all gummy.

    My furnaces are too old and tired to get hot enough to melt zinc. Probably a good thing. Evidently the pot in the fireplace was hot enough (for a while) to melt zinc. That pot is unbelievably heay, probably 50lbs. or more. Now I know that I have to get the fire hot enough to melt that zinc out.

  6. #26
    Boolit Bub ForneyRider's Avatar
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    Has anyone seen this report: Annual_Report_of_the_State_Mineralogist.pdf?

    They discuss a number of ways to separate zinc from lead.

    Not sure any of the procedures are possible at home. One process involved using silver melted in the alloy, the zinc bonds to the silver, and then is removed. Another possibility was using steam, so that one is out. The silver and zinc can be separated through cupellation. yea, it sounded familar, but I still had to look it up. Cupellation is putting the zinc and silver in a clay or bone ash pot and heated. The zinc bonds to the pot and the precious metal, silver, is pure.

    The report does say that zinc bonds to the lead preventing separation from smelting.
    When all is said and done, there is a lot more said than done.

  7. #27
    Boolit Bub
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    I have been buying lead at the local scrap dealer. Sometimes I find ingots. How can I tell if the ingots have zinc in them?
    Kevin

  8. #28
    Boolit Master

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    it depends on what you want to do with the lead. zinc is ok for boolit making not for shotmakers. I you want to get most out it is a temp thing and takes some time to do. This is where you dont want any type of flux. I dont have the temps here now but this will give you an idea lead melts at around 600 tin around 650 zinc 750 -800 antimony 900 so you take a thermometer and heat the melt to 1000. Then start letting it cool down . At about 850 the antimony will float and look gummy skim that off into one batch. let temp drop to around 650 and the zinc will float skim that off . Let temp drop to 600 and the tin will float and dropping more will only be the lead that should keep a blue scum on it I guess that is why the symbol PB pure blue. The temps that i have posted is not perfect but you get the idea. I will get the temps and post . This does NOT make each pure but will get most to seperate. To get pure takes much more controled heat

  9. #29
    Boolit Master

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    Save your zinc WW for putting in your radiator to help stop electrolisis, if you have an engine with cast iron block and aluminum heads they will get eaten up in time, the zinc is a sacraficial
    anode, beats throwing them away.

  10. #30
    Boolit Mold
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    Zinc Wheelweights

    Boolit Master, Thanks for your excellent posting on identifing Zinc & steel wheelweights. Your process works great. I have found a number of Zinc and steel wheelweights in my buckets of wheelweights. I have also passed on your process to friends, some who have been casting for a number of years, everyone agrees that it is a great way to keep Zinc out of the casting pot. Thanks again

  11. #31
    Boolit Buddy
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    Quote Originally Posted by blysmelter View Post
    The zinc ones (and steel) float, just skim them off. Has worked since they first turned up over here some 10years ago.


    +1........Same here!
    NRA Life member since 91
    Retired Guard 20yrs
    Shoot,Shovel,Shut-up

  12. #32
    Boolit Bub
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    Would putting stick on weights help if you have ingots alloyed with zinc? And, how much easier does a lead ww deform than a zinc ww?

  13. #33
    Boolit Mold
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    Quote Originally Posted by Castnshoot View Post
    And, how much easier does a lead ww deform than a zinc ww?
    When nipping it with a pair of side-cutting pliers, the lead-weight is easily marked at the edge. With zinc you really have to put an effort into making a mark.

    Try it, once you've done it in real life, you'll never be in doubt.
    (Find one marked "Zn" and use it as a reference)

  14. #34
    Boolit Bub
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    yea we ran about 160# of ww on saturday,didnt find any zinc ones. Me and the guys wish we had some so we would KNOW what they look like. Ended up with about 115# of wwand stickons and scrap yeilded about another 100#

  15. #35
    Boolit Master

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    Exclamation

    I bought 100 pound bucket of WW's from the junk man two weeks ago. They have quite a few stick-on weights mixed it, which I thought were always pure lead. I picked a bunch of stick-ons out to melt down; put them in the stainless steel pot that I use for melting, then put them on the little burner. I went back to check on them 20 minutes later and there was a nice puddle of lead at the bottom, but they weren't melting very well. I gave 'em a stir and left them alone for another 20 minutes and they still weren't melting. I pulled a strip of weights out and tested them with a magnet and they stuck. Stick-on iron weights! The weights weren't melting down because half of them were iron. So I skimmed out all the weights that wouldn't melt, and I noticed that the puddle of lead looked like it had another small puddle of light metal floating on top. Zinc? Uh-oh. I turned off the heat and let it solidify in the pot.

    After the Superbowl, I melted the lead again slowly. When it was just melted good, I was able to lift out that lighter piece that seemed to be floating on top. I thought maybe I was OK and it hadn't gotten hot enough to mix together. I let the rest get a little hotter to make sure it was melted thru and then gave it a stir -- cottage cheese. The stuff is definitely contaminated with zinc. The lead is useless for making bullets; maybe I can use if for ballast in a little Trebuchet I've been planning to build. I've got to clean all my equipment now to get every trace of zinc out of it. At least it was only about 6 or 8 pounds and not the whole 100 like it could have been if I melted it all together. And none of it got in my caster.

    So not only are a lot of stick-on weights made of iron now, some of them were obviously zinc. I'm always on the watch for zinc clip-on weights, but this was something new.

  16. #36
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    I do the same as Andy P does, just keep the temp down and the zinc will float to the top for skimming off with the clips. I know where to set my gas valve but I also have a thermometer, and I keep the melt under 700 degrees.
    Attached Thumbnails Attached Thumbnails 100_0737 (Small).jpg  
    Mtgrs737
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  17. #37
    Boolit Master FN in MT's Avatar
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    Had a buddy over today who has a 100+# plumbers pot. I had about 800#'s of WW's I wanted to alloy out into ingots.

    Despite being careful the first pot was totally contaminated by zinc. Tough to watch the temperature once that pot starts to heat up!

    So the rest of it I let the heat come up slow,imediately fluxed and skimmed as soon as it went from oatmeal to liquid. STILL found a few more zinc weights!

    We found about 15#'s of ZINC in the first 500#'s. Screwed around so much looking for the zinc that I never got it all smelted out. What a Pain in the Ass! Didn't even get into the stick on wt's. Have about 150#'s of those.

    Between running all over creation to find WW's, all the waste from the clips, NOW the zinc, then add in the TIME involved ......WW's are fast becoming.......hardly worth it.

    FN in MT

  18. #38
    Boolit Master

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    I smelted down 4 buckets today and got about 400 shiney ingots, it takes longer the way I do it but I don't get any zinc contamination. The zinc and steel weights just float to the top with the clips. Keep your temps down to 700 degrees or less and zinc is not a problem.
    Mtgrs737
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    Personality type: Compulsive/Excessive - I don't know what that means, all I know is, if I like something, I want a lot of it!

    Pray to put "One nation, Under God" back in our country! We will never be a Great Nation without HIM!

    SOCIALISM is a PHILOSOPHY of FAILURE, the CREED of IGNORANCE and the GOSPEL of ENVY, It's inherent value is the EQUAL SHARING of MISERY. -Winston Churchill

  19. #39
    Boolit Master

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    Attachment 11378
    Some of the "bad guys" to look out for. I turn on the radio and sort "ww's". 2 buckets and a box, Pb ww's in one, stick on Pb in another, steel and zinc in a box.
    Last edited by 10-x; 10-17-2009 at 05:57 PM.
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  20. #40
    Boolit Mold
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    Hy everyone. I just scored my first bucket of WW. The good news is I got it for free. I was so excited. My girl thought I found gold or something. Any way before I start to melt these down I seperated all the steel ones out. Now that I have done that my question is what are the sticky WW made of and can I melt them down with the rest. Also I am planning on useing candle wax to flux with. How much do I use and do I have to cut it down in small pieces or just throw it in in big chunks.

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Abbreviations used in Reloading

BP Bronze Point IMR Improved Military Rifle PTD Pointed
BR Bench Rest M Magnum RN Round Nose
BT Boat Tail PL Power-Lokt SP Soft Point
C Compressed Charge PR Primer SPCL Soft Point "Core-Lokt"
HP Hollow Point PSPCL Pointed Soft Point "Core Lokt" C.O.L. Cartridge Overall Length
PSP Pointed Soft Point Spz Spitzer Point SBT Spitzer Boat Tail
LRN Lead Round Nose LWC Lead Wad Cutter LSWC Lead Semi Wad Cutter
GC Gas Check