Pre-Cleaning dirty old wheel weights???

Two Flints · August 22, 2007, 04:55:55 PM

Hello Darksider's Den Members,

I was gifted a 10 pound can of wheel weights

I just finished separating the stick-on wheel weights from the clip-on wheel weights. Should the clip-on wheel weights be pre-cleaned in some way before they are melted down? If this is something that you do...pre-cleaning of wheel weights...what do you use as a cleaning medium?

This is a new venture for me, so I would appreciate SERIOUS RESPONSES

only. I have the Lee Pro 20 LB furnance for any final melting I do.

Thanks,

Two Flints
SSS Moderator

Dick Dastardly · August 22, 2007, 05:11:37 PM

No need to pre-clean. Make sure they are DRY. Don't melt them in your precision casting melter. I use a plumbers furnace, but a good turkey fryer burner or even a Coleman stove will give you the heat you need. Use a cast iron pot to hold the wheel weights. Melt them down, skim off the clips and crud and flux the metal. Skim it again and pour the clean metal into ingots. Use the clean ingots in your 20 pound melter.

Most ww metal makes great SASS match bullets. If you become serious about hardness, look at the Dark Arts board. There's a cheap way to test hardness with pencils.

DD-DLoS

Arcey · August 22, 2007, 07:07:02 PM

Let me add a word of warning. Mine usually come from tire retailers. They use single edge razor blades for a few tasks. There have been times when I've found discarded blades in the buckets of used weights.

rickk · August 22, 2007, 07:28:49 PM

Clean them in an old cast iron frying pan on a propane turkey cooker. If some of the stick-on ones float to the top and don't seem to want to melt easily, they are zinc... pull them out as they will make the lead brittle. The clips on the clip-pn wheel weights will float to the top and can be easily scooped up with an old spoon.

Once the frying pan is clean, pour them into ingots... either a fancy lee/rcbs/lyman/saeco ingot mold or a cast iron biscut mold... they both work fine.

hellgate · August 22, 2007, 07:56:19 PM

I melt my WWs in an old coffee can on a propane burner. Some coffee cans leak at the soldered seam.

For an ingot mold I use an aluminum muffin pan. The mini muffins are about 1 lb. I've not used a cupcake pan but that would also work. Aluminum wont stick to the lead and I hate to ruin a good cast iron cooking utensil. I have engraved my muffin pan with "NOT FOR COOKING" or "NO FOOD USE" due to lead contamination. No telling what someone else might use it for.

Wills Point Pete · August 23, 2007, 12:07:23 AM

About the only cleaning I do is throw out the valve stems that always manage to find their way into the cans. They stink something awful.

RattlesnakeJack · August 23, 2007, 11:42:46 AM

Quote from: Wills Point Pete on August 23, 2007, 12:07:23 AM
About the only cleaning I do is throw out the valve stems that always manage to find their way into the cans. They stink something awful.

AMEN to that!!!

Steel Horse Bailey · August 23, 2007, 03:19:47 PM

Howdy!

I have cleaned the ones I've done before I melted them in my Lee 20 lb'er. That was the original way I did it for my first "adventure - in - casting" but I would second DD's suggestion for smelting in a separate pot rather than using your Lee. No real need to wash them that way. It'll keep your Lee pot much nicer and as grit-free as possible.

Buffalow Red · September 02, 2007, 08:20:48 AM

can i use a stainles steel pot for ww processing hate to give up my cast iron as thats what i cook in got some 2 layer expensive SS pots my ex had to have & i dont use . my dogs eat & drink out of some of this SS set

Wills Point Pete · September 02, 2007, 06:49:35 PM

Sure, stainless will work, so will aluminum. This ain't rocket surgery or brain science. I've melted hundreds of pounds of lead on the kitchen stove in aluminum, cast iron and stainless.
Of course now that my wife is retired and home all the time...Fluxing with a hunk of candle or bullet lube isn't near the fun outside.

subgunner · September 02, 2007, 08:16:32 PM

Just finshed melting some old phone lead cable. Out of the cable, I got 105 lbs of clean lead. Now I can start casting some bp bullets.

Delmonico · September 02, 2007, 08:56:05 PM

One should never use aluminum to melt lead in, the melting point of aluminum is only 1220F. One can reach 850 to 900F in your smelting operations, this is hot enough that a lot of the strength of the aluminum is comprimised. Yes you most likely will get away with it, but if you don't the penalty can be severe.

Buffalow Red · September 03, 2007, 10:08:06 PM

Have any of you noticed the fairly new silver painted ww's marked MC & AT are brittle
i was bending some ww to see witch ones were softer lead & these would break in two
& were tough to bend with bare hands
i tryed the mark on paper but most all would mark not all could i bend

rickk · December 15, 2010, 07:42:48 PM

MC AT seem to describe the shape rather than the material they are made from.

http://www.ammcoats.com/uploadedFiles/Products_and_Solutions/BADA_Wheel_Weights/Bada-Steel-Wheel-Weights-Brochure.pdf

Noz · December 16, 2010, 08:54:10 AM

When I do my initial process of wheel weights, I float about an inch of unused kitty litter on top of the lead. It absorbs the fumes, oils and rubber fragments. You won't have near the amount of noxious fumes from this method. Once the nastyness is melted away, discard the kitty litter, flux and skim as usual.

Mako · December 16, 2010, 09:27:52 AM

Quote from: Noz on December 16, 2010, 08:54:10 AM
When I do my initial process of wheel weights, I float about an inch of unused kitty litter on top of the lead. It absorbs the fumes, oils and rubber fragments. You won't have near the amount of noxious fumes from this method. Once the nastyness is melted away, discard the kitty litter, flux and skim as usual.

Noz,
If you use the "Fresh Step" brand of kitty litter, will it clean itself and leave a "fresh clean odor?"

Actually a very good tip, easy and cheap to implement. Thanks.

Regards,
Mako

Claypipe · December 16, 2010, 10:14:12 AM

Quote from: Noz on December 16, 2010, 08:54:10 AM
When I do my initial process of wheel weights, I float about an inch of unused kitty litter on top of the lead. It absorbs the fumes, oils and rubber fragments. You won't have near the amount of noxious fumes from this method. Once the nastyness is melted away, discard the kitty litter, flux and skim as usual.

That's a new one on me. Definitely will try this soon. I want to try my hand at Rupert shot, as soon as I find a vessel to do it.

Anyways, these days, I use a large Chinese made cast iron pot on a propane boiler burner, with a large heavy stainless steel drainer spoon. I melt down my wheel weights and remove the steel clips. Then, using chunks of wax from candles I pick up at yard sales, I flux the lead thoroughly. After I remove the dross, with the drainer spoon, into a cast iron skillet. I make lead donuts using a soapstone mold I carved out with a dremel tool. Once cooled, I thread the donuts on a braided length of rope and store for later use. Going back to the dross, I slant the skillet over the burner, so I can further drain the dross of any usable lead. Whatever discard is left, I take to a local garage to dispose of.

CP