Home Forums Reloading Bullet Casting Best way to sort wheel weights ?

I'm not sure I'm able to IDentify all the bad ones and want to make sure I'm not screwing up the ones I am melting that are good.

Any recommendations? How do you sort them out?

any that are stamped with the letters Fe, Zn, or Mg or AL need to be removed.

Any that you suspect are zinc, try to crimp it with a set of pliers. Zinc is harder than lead.

And keep your melt temp as low as possible to make ingots first.

Typically, the crap metal will float and you can skim it off.

What about MC stamps ... what is that..

I mean weights that say MC

I stand corrected on the AL. AL and MC refer to the rim types they attach to. It may be lead or other material.

I bought 7 buckets of wheel weights and use a pair of lineman's pliers to sort. If they score easily they're lead...if zinc it's like cutting iron. Tedious but it's the way I do it.

Lead melts @ 621 deg, zinc @ 787. The zinc weights will float in the molten lead.

Here is a good video on the sorting process.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rZxa43_9C9M

That.

Thanks Mickey I didn't know that one, and I can confirm that is you use a lower heat source the zinc ones float. That's what they did on my Coleman stove melt session. Now my turkey fryer .... Not so much.

Turkey fryers got a throttle too. Melting lead w/o a thermometer over gas fire is...well, there's better ideas out there.

I cheat with an RCBS pot set at 650.

Only one Zn contamination, and that was by my own fault.


If in doubt, without a thermometer, just get the alloy "sludge" molten, flux and skim. Keep in "sludge" mode, add paraffin, light the smoke, stir, then pull the dross.

HawkI It not recommended to clean in your pouring pot you Never get all the crud out of the pot and it get in the pouring orifice and causes it to drip and leak. Clint

I usually don't, but will add odds n ends on occasion.

Never have had any issues in the RCBS.

I hand sort wheel weights. Did another 1200 lbs a month ago.

FE's go in one bucket, Lead stick on's in one bucket, Zn's go in another bucket, AL's MC's etc. go in another bucket.

When I am ready to smelt I keep the pot below 650 using a thermometer. Sometimes find a floater that got past me during sorting.

heat to 700 degrees no hotter, if it floats out it comes, if it melts, it's good to go.

I don't have a thermometer yet but the 9:00 position on my lyman pot leaves the zinc and steel ones floating.

Thanks Craigster,we will deal with what is,is.We melt it down + throw away the chaff.We cast a few in ANY abstract mould + then use the Saeco /Brinell hardness testing tool.Then we go to work. Don't worry about the WW contents,it will become apparent.People,don't worry about problems that don't exist.You can make any molten solution to your own specs with very little effort.