Took the bottles & cans down to the recycyler and as usual went & had a look in the lead bin.

Schweet... 90# of lead and a 5# ingot marked "Bell System E Wiping Solder."

A quick search turned up that it's 60/40 tin/lead (approx). Not bad at $.50/lb.

Good find. It seems good casting lead is getting harder and harder to find. I used to go to the local dump when I was a kid, armed with a pair of pliers, and pull wheel weights off of scrap tires / wheels by the bucket full. I doubt many dumps will let you have that access now, and most weights are probably recycled. There used to be a few dive shops on the coast when I lived in CT, and collected quite a bit of lead by just asking if they had any scrap lead weights used on dive belts. Some times you have to get creative to find it.

Larry

For some reason the scrapper I go to gets a lot of dive weights. I understand these are good for lead but care must be taken when smelting as water can be trapped in the pores, forced in by pressure. This can lead to what they call at Castboolits "a visit by the tinsel fairy."

No lead wheel weights here in Kalifornistan anymore. Too dangerous for the chi'drun. All steel & zinc here.

I don't even cast yet. I'm stockpiling lead "just in case." I do know enough that if an ingot says "solder" on it at $.50/pound I grab all they got.

These are all great fund for casting material!

Get em and use em!

Wiping solder is 40/60 to maximize the slush stage. Still a great find!

Congrats on the find. I am having a hard time finding another source for wheel weights. With Maine banning the use of lead wheel weights, even my father-in-law who has been casting for years, and showed me the ropes can't get enough at his garage. We've been buying from a source and the price isn't horrible $0.63/lb, but would love to find another source. Have purchased 500lbs of lead wheel weights this year, and I'd estimate that would only last me 6 years.