Author Topic: Wheel Weights? (Read 1430 times)

Steve in Michigan · « **on:** January 02, 2005, 11:40:46 AM »

Are wheel weights still okay to use as a source for casting metal? I heard that some of the new ones have zinc in them and I don't know what this would do as far as casting or health concerns. Anybody have information on this?

Lloyd Smale · « **Reply #1 on:** January 03, 2005, 12:11:27 AM »

wheelweights are great for casting. dont worry about the zinc ive been picking up ww up here in the UP for years and have never ran into any of them.

joeb33050 · « **Reply #2 on:** January 03, 2005, 12:33:12 AM »

I spent Thursday and Friday melting and cleaning 5 gallons of WW into ingots. There were a lot of stick-on weights in the bucket, the glue is particularly offensive. I found a dozen or so funny-looking weights that wouldn't melt, and one normal-looking weight that wouldn't melt. I saved samples. Maybe it's me, but turning wheelweights into ingots seems to be getting more difficult, there's tire stems and cigar butts and trash in the bucket, and the threat of screwing the whole mess up with zinc. I must have had 25 pounds of clips and trash and dirt that I threw away, maybe more. I'm starting to wonder if buying alloy from the CA or AZ guys wouldn't make more sense. Or maybe it's just me.
joe b.

jgalar · « **Reply #3 on:** January 03, 2005, 04:28:36 AM »

If I see any wheel weights that don't appear to be melting the same as others I pull them out and discard them. I use a magnet to remove the steel clips it makes cleaning much faster than scooping them out.

Leftoverdj · « **Reply #4 on:** January 03, 2005, 06:48:45 AM »

Joe. those funny looking weights that won't melt were likely zinc and fishing them out when you noticed they wouldn't melt was all that you needed to do about them.

I can see why you are disgusted if you spent two days cleaning up a bucket of ww, but bought alloy is gonna cost awful close to $2 a pound by the time you pay freight. I use a big dutch oven (Harbor Freight $14) and a turkey fryer I had anyway to do a bucket at a time. I can do three or four buckets in one day while doing yardwork. The smell don't bother me because I am off mowing the lawn while the junk is burning off.

It's worth thinking about because you will be money ahead on your first bucket even if you have to buy the burner and the propane tank.

harley45 · « **Reply #5 on:** January 03, 2005, 11:18:01 AM »

Where are the CA and AZ sources mentioned above? I've done several internet searches and have come up empty. WW is very hard to come by for me and I would be willing to pay for alloy no more that I cast every year.
Thanks

Duffy · « **Reply #6 on:** January 03, 2005, 07:45:33 PM »

I've noticed many of the new zinc weights are painted if that helps.

Dusty Miller · « **Reply #7 on:** January 03, 2005, 09:35:20 PM »

I'm one of those types who wants to know EXACTLY what is in my alloy, so I buy #2 alloy from: Art Green
Suite 5, 485 S. Robertson Blvd.
Beverly Hills, CA 90211

Black Jaque Janaviac · « **Reply #8 on:** January 04, 2005, 06:19:00 AM »

Yep I sift through my WW. I discard the stick-on types and the non-plumbus ones. There are many lead WW that are painted, I ignorantly discarded those at first but ended up discarding so many that I had to research if this is what everyone else was doing.

I have no idea if the non-plumbus ones are really zinc or what. I just know that they won't melt, they're less dense than lead, and you can spot them before putting 'em in the pot, which is nice.

The non-plumbus ones are more "rectangular" in shape and are riveted to the clips. They make are light tinkling sound in your hand when you rattle a handfull of weights. I just pick up a handfull and dump them from one hand into the next looking for trash. I spot 99% of the unwanted weights this way. It's more time consuming but not too bad and still worth the wait in lead (pun intended).

The Cast Bullet Kid · « **Reply #9 on:** January 04, 2005, 10:04:32 AM »

I have been experimenting heat treating WW lately and getting it harder than linotype and shooting like a house on fire.
WW is great stuff and in my case FREE.

harley45 · « **Reply #10 on:** January 04, 2005, 10:35:12 AM »

Dusty any idea on a price for around 100# from your source? Or perhaps a phone #?
Thanks Eric

Will52100 · « **Reply #11 on:** January 17, 2005, 06:41:27 PM »

Just a note on the stick on WW's, I tried a bunch of them and worked great for cap & ball revolvers, it's pretty soft and while it may not be pure lead it seems close enough. Now I sort the WW into regular WW and stick ons, save the stick ons for round balls and hollow base black powder loads, mixed with recovered round balls and hollow base bullets, the straight WW for smokless loads and big bore stuff.
I've found a couple of WW that wouldn't melt too, glad I wasn't the only one.

S.B. · « **Reply #12 on:** January 22, 2005, 05:22:57 PM »

For me at least, wheel weights have work fine. Just as long as I drop them into water when dumping the mold. "Tempering" the bullets is what Lyman suggests and works for me.

charlie45 · « **Reply #13 on:** January 30, 2005, 03:42:34 AM »

wheel weight work for me cheep or no cost. i use them in .44 mag and 30-30 win. model94.
a fellow i work with has an interesting way of dealing with this. he has his sons thread them on a copper wire and just pulls the wire out after the ww melt. personally i do not see them as that big of a problem.