Zinc Wheelweights

[mold maker]

A magnet will attract the iron weight tips, and lots of the zinc has a Z or Zn on them.
A set of pliers with the wire cutting gap at the jaws will tell you what you have. Good lead WWs will mark easily, while the junk WWs don't mark at all. The pliers work on the stickons also.
The foam rubber and glue will stink to high heaven, but a pot with a lid and some candle wax or a spoonful of used oil, will allow melting of the stickon weights. When you open the pot be ready to ignite the fumes and expect a poooof. Let the flames die and stir well. This brings all the trash and dross to the surface to be removed.
I forgot to mention this MUST be done outside. Burning the smoke really reduces the stink factor, and gets rid of a lot of the smoke.

[PatMarlin]

I need some Zink. If someone would like to trade for some CFF that would be good.

Also- has anyone been following the elimination of zink in new engine oils and possibly potential lubrication problems without it?

I saw a quick note somewheres about that and have not followed up on it.

[2wheelDuke]

I need some Zink. If someone would like to trade for some CFF that would be good.

Also- has anyone been following the elimination of zink in new engine oils and possibly potential lubrication problems without it?

I saw a quick note somewheres about that and have not followed up on it.

I've got a little bit I've been sorting out. I haven't weighed it, but it's probably a couple pounds tops.

[Suo Gan]

The weights I have that have "MC" on them are painted lead. The two in the middle look like they are steel, and the top is probably zinc. I do not think aluminum is used as ww material, at least I have never seen any, seems like it would be too light and cost more to make than steel, which begs the question of its use. Get a big pair of linemans pliers and try to cut into the wieghts you suspect, the zinc weights will dent with a lot of force, the lead of course will cut easily.

As to the guys question asking about rendering in his lead pot, I have done it that way, and so have many others. It will clog up your bottom pour spout eventually. When I did it, I just used a dipper to get the molten lead out rather than the spout which saved the spout getting gummed up for the most part, but if you do enough the entire pot will need to be cleaned. Just flux the melt real good when you are rendering, I only use sawdust these days and it works great. Do not force sawdust under the surface, just let it cook and smolder for awhile and then stir it. You can leave lead in the pot to be left to freeze and then remelt next time, or take it all out and pour into ingots. Just go along by trial and error and get your feet wet, don't be scared, don't worry you are doing it all wrong. You probably will, but there is only so much that can be read and learned, the rest requires you to just do it, over and over. Make sure you are wearing a pair of goggles over your eyeballs.

And keep the immortal words of my shop teacher in mind as you go, "HEY, HEY, HEY!!!! WO, WO, WO!!! WHAT IN GODS GREEN EARTH ARE YOU DOING THERE????!!!!" or my trig teacher, "JUST DO IT! HOW ARE YOU GOING TO LEARN IF YOU DON'T DO IT?" or my drill sergeant "FOR CRIS SAKES DO I HAFTA COME DOWN THERE AND SHOW YOU HOW TO DIDDLE YOURSELF TOO????" or dad, "FOR THE NINE THOUSANDTH TIME, YOU GOTTA LEARN! I AINT GONNA BE AROUND FOREVER TO SHOW YOU THESE THINGS!!!" or .....

[rhoggman]

So I am new to casting, and on my first try, I'm sure I melted some zinc in with my lead. If you get it hot enough it seems to make fine boolits. Just wondering what the big stink is? My boolits are definitely not brittle so I am guessing there is enough lead not to significantly affect it. My 310 grain 44 Mag Lee (C430-310-RF) molds are yielding 303.4 gr boolits. Would that much of a difference be detrimental in any kind of way?

I'll likely be using these for hunting, so I am not really worried if they are a little hard. They could be 100% PURE LEAD and I'm sure they would still blow right through a Virginia whitetail without slowing down a whole lot. As long as they are accurate I'm not sure how much I should care. Perhaps a wise boolit casting sage could school my infantile brain.

I was using an ice cream scooper to get out the dross and clips.... It melted too I can still scratch the boolits with my fingernail.

[Bulltipper]

Rhoggman, Don't sweat it, a little zinc in your boolits isn't a bad thing, they actually shoot a little cleaner if you are having leading issues. If you have a good lube you won't be having leading issues anyway. when zinc gets nasty is when you let the smelt run away with a bunch of zinc WW's in there and they all melt in. Apparently (according to my research and the LAPSC) zinc will only alloy with lead cleanly to about 2% zinc. after that it gets oatmealy and very colorful ( Beautiful blues and purples. The problem is then the different melting temps and the tendancy to clog your bottom pour at lower temps. After a few 5 gal buckets of WW sorting you will get really good at sorting. you can see the ones that are FE by shape and the sound they make. Zinc usually say ZN or have a symbol by the Mfr that will clue you in. They make a different sound too kind of a click (Iron makes a ping) Lead makes a "thock or a thud. I can tell what a WW is by the sound it makes when i fumble it...
Have Fun!

[toddn84]

on thing i noticed about the zinc stickies is that there is a very small, less than 1/32 of an inch, piece if metal connecting them. Whereas the lead stickies had atleast a full 1/16 of metal connecting them.

[Kyrifleman]

I just tried casting some ingots for the first time tonight. I found some zink weights floating on the mix and I pulled them out, but they crumbled and a little bit fell in the mix. I only melted enough to make 2 muffins and a little puck about 1/4" thick. Would a few crumbles in that much lead be enough to ruin my ingots, or not? Should I just try to cast them and find out for myself?

[parrott1969]

You should be fine.

[SciFiJim]

Doing some guestimation, if you have five pounds of lead total in the melt and use Bulltipper's 2% figure, you will be fine with up to 1.5 oz of zinc. If it just a few crumbles, like parrott1696 said, "you should be fine".

[HDS]

Sorted weights today, damned dirty ones, got through a few pounds before I gave up in disgust, really didn't like sitting there with the dust flying from these things.

I think I'll just melt it all down at low heat and sort away the floaters. Seems to be 50% zink or iron weights, the rest is half/half stick-ons/clipon lead.

[fred2892]

In the UK we have had a ban on lead wheel weights since 2005. It was surprising how fast the tyre yards scrap bin levels of lead wheel weghts reduced. A couple of years ago you could hope for at least 50% lead wheel weights in a scrap bucket. I finally gave up looking at the end of last year when a 35lb bucket produced a total of 5oz of lead. Wish i'd hoarded a lot more than i did.

[HDS]

The ban is EU wide so its hitting everyone.

[mold maker]

Pure Zinc sells for over a dollar a pound, same as lead. Are ya sure they aren't worth collecting.
I've been forcasting this in the USA for years. Now that I have 8+ cubic feet of WW in ingot form, I get grief over hoarding.
I still hoard and trade the zinc back for soft lead.

[smokemjoe]

I have 120 Lbs. of bad lead now from bad wts. Learned my lesson the hard way after 50 years, got to sort them now.

[badbob454]

I have 120 Lbs. of bad lead now from bad wts. Learned my lesson the hard way after 50 years, got to sort them now.

hey smokem joe check the lead forum for a de-zincing with sulphur i guess it works from what iv read

[zxcvbob]

I have about 10 pounds of zinc'd lead. I'm thinking of pouring a bunch of silver dollar sized (real silver dollars) mini-ingots and adding them one-per-batch to my 20# boolit pot. It should act as a hardener if I don't use too much. Most of my lead is too soft anyway.

[HDS]

I have 120 Lbs. of bad lead now from bad wts. Learned my lesson the hard way after 50 years, got to sort them now.

Smelted too hot? I hear keeping it to 650 will eliminate that problem. So I'm waiting for my thermometer before I start on this.

[gester01]

I have read through this (as of now) entire 7 pages of postings and I got quite a lot of good information to think about. So, as my very 1st post, I would like to say, "Thanks to all of you!".

[mold maker]

I have read through this (as of now) entire 7 pages of postings and I got quite a lot of good information to think about. So, as my very 1st post, I would like to say, "Thanks to all of you!".

Welcome to Ya gester01
There is more knowledge available on this site, than all the printed matter put together, and it's free. I cast the wrong way for over 3 decades, and struggled to get good bullets. Now with what I've learned here, my BOOLIT'S are simple to make, and near perfect all the time.
Ya do understand that, this is very habit forming? It's an addiction that really grows, with each boolit cast. Most of us here, are firmly in it's grip, and don't even remember, when it enslaved us. ;>)