sorting wheel weights

[rokefert]

Do you guys sort your wheel weights?  I spoke to the guy that makes the littleton shotmaker, and he said you have to sort your wheel weights and know which ones to discard.  He said ones with paint, and ones with blunt ends(which most I found were painted) should not be used.  He said they can ruin casting equiptment and is hard to remove if at all.  I sorted one of the 6 pails of ww's I just got.  Do I need to do this for bullet casting or using sinker molds?  If I do which weights need to not be used from your experiences (shape, markings, etc).  I would hate to ruin a mold.  Any help would be much appreciated.

[kitchawan kid]

I have run across zinc ones and a few plastic spacers,some stick on were rubber coated also.

[Wiking]

I sort out the zinc ones, mostly because they are so easy recognizeable. They could ruin the melt, its melting point is not that far from lead. Can't see what the problem should be with blunt ends! If they are steel no need to sort them out as they will just float on top off the melt due to its very high melting point. The secret lies in the weight of lead. What won't smoke off it and leave ashes will float on top of it 
Paint will just smoke off the smelt.

Man what did that guy tell you?? Keep an eye on the smelt flux it a few times, stir it often and remove the dross. That's it. As a flux you can just throw an old candle in it. To aviod smoke just ignite the smoke with a match. No need to make a big fuzz about it. Just make sure that no water or moist finds its way into the molten lead and your pot is cast iron as aluminum will melt away.

Enjoy it... you're gonna love it 

[beerbelly]

I sort out the zinc ones, mostly because they are so easy recognizeable.

How do you recognize them? I just started using wheel weights and have melted down two five gallon buckets so far. I picked out the small stick on ones that appear to be pure lead. I have had a few that just didn't melt and I dipped them out and tossed them. Don't have a clue what was with those.
                                Beerbelly

[kitchawan kid]

Same with me,zinc ones look just the same as all the rest,till they don't melt.Have had some stick-on's that should be clean lead not melt also.

[Wiking]

The zinc ones are much brighter than steel and lead weights (unfortunately I don't have a picture). Steel and lead weights are often covered in brake dust.

Zinc is marked "Zn"
Lead is marked "Pb"
Steel... dunno sorry 

The stick-ons are easy to sort. The Zinc are very bright much like silver and will not bend. Lead stick-ons you can easily bend between your fingers. All lead weight scratch easy with a screwdriver.

Hopes this helps. Check this forum, maybe there's a picture thread on WW.

If not, you can find one here: http://castboolits.gunloads.com/forumdisplay.php?f=8

[kitchawan kid]

Thanks Wiking,it doe's take time to sort out W.W.'s but you can beat the Price,thanks also for the link.(old valve stems don't help the cast at all).

[Lloyd Smale]

I dont bother. Theres not enough pure lead stickons in a bucket full to really effect the alloy and zinc will float to the top as they take higher temps to melt. what i do is fill my smelting pot and fire it up and when most of the wws are melted stir the pot good and take the zinc out then. As long as you dont walk away with the burner cranked up you can get them out easily like this.

[Wiking]

Yeah I know, I just like to be able to place it in the pot, and walk away untill everything i melted, without having to keep an eye on it all the time limiting my exposure to all that rubber, plastic, oil and what else is in there. But i guess when you been doing it for as long (and as often) as you have, you probably know exactly how long it takes for xx lbs to melt 

[Old Fart]

I don't remember for sure but I think Lead melts at about 450 degrees and Zinc is like 500 or 550 degrees.
Just melt your ww at the lowest temp you can get Lead to melt at and the Zinc will float to the top.

You really need to get a melting thermometer. They're are only like $10 or $15 bucks.

OF

[Wiking]

Not quite, lead melts at 621 degrees and zinc at 785 degrees.

I never bothered to get a thermometer... mostly because they're about $100 on these parts

[Lloyd Smale]

I bought a thermometer when i first started casting. It sat unused for years till the old lady took it for cooking.

[mechanic]

Some of the stick on's are made of tungsten.  Very heavy but very high melt point, so if you drop one in by accident, it should just float up.

[troy_mclure]

where do you get wheel weights?

[mechanic]

where do you get wheel weights?

If you are lucky, a local tire store might sell them to you.  Some of the larger ones are hooked up with recycling centers.  If you have someone you know well, strike a deal.