What is this wheel weight made of?

[eliduc]

My son gave me a bucket full of wheel weights. The traditional lead ones are easy to identify as are the zinc. When you scratch a zinc weight with a knife or file there is no drag and they don't scratch. There are a bunch mixed in that are brighter than lead and softer than zinc. I can shave them with a knife but they are definitely harder than lead. Are they a an alloy of lead and zinc or something else? The designated weight is in raised letters on the top of the weight like 2.0 on the left AL in the middle and 57 on the right. What does zinc do when you put it in the pot. I threw a few of these in the pot with the lead and then thought better of it. There was a bright skim on top like tin after I fished out the clamps but it was really sticky and stuck to the bottom of the ladle. It also seemed like the lead flowed out of the ladle faster. The bullets came out good and when I weighed them they were within a grain or two of the last ones I cast. I use a Lee 357 6 cavity mold and there is always a small variance in the weight between the bullets.

 

[novalty]

Probably steel. Is it crimped in the center? Never mind just read you are able to shave them with a knife. One online source indicate AL was a painted/coated lead wheel weight.

Zinc won't do anything until you reach it's melting point--780 if I remember correctly. Which is why you need to keep a thermometer in your melt.

 

[SMSgt]

Toss the zinc ones.

That's about all that's used around here, so gather weights for casting is pointless for me.

 

[Skeetr57]

Zinc will ruin your bullet alloy. It keeps the bullet from filling out and won't give sharp edges to the grooves or the bottom of the bullet..

 

[fredj338]

Could just be a harder alloy. WW alloy varies a lot. If it dents, it's castable alloy. Zinc won't dent, steel is easily ID, just slap a magnet on it. There are also plastic wts now, not good. A tiny amount of zinc, won't ruin the entire 20# of alloy, but it doesn't help it either. When in doubt, toss em or just monitor your melt temp, keep it below 700deg, the zinc wts won't melt until above 740 or so.

 

[arjacobson]

I wouldn't risk them at all.. When you smelt them you can do it at a lower temp and skim all the bad stuff(non lead ww included) as soon as the WW become liquid..

 

[rwsmith]

The Heartbreak of Zinc

I'd watch this vid:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1zskn38Ggos

 

[fredj338]

I sort by hand, if I looks funny I try smashing it or use side cutters. Zinc get tossed. Occasionally one or two will get into the 30-35# melt, just keep the temp below 725 & skim them off.
I got some ingots from a friend, 10#ers. I added one to my 30# magma pot & it froze the pot up pretty solid. I fluxed @ 725# with sawdust until I had scooped off about 5# of "oatmeal". Then cranked up the temp & the bottom pour started running again. Moral, don't get zinc in the mix if possible.

 

[eliduc]

Thanks everybody. I was casting bullets and then ingots when I got tired of doing bullets. The bullets were beautiful and the ingots nice and shiny so I guess I didn't get any zinc in the pot. Boy, those were some ugly ingots in that video. That shiny skim on top must have been alloy. I have never had that much before.

 

[novalty]

Do you flux the lead as you are converting from ww to ingot?

 

[fredj338]

Thanks everybody. I was casting bullets and then ingots when I got tired of doing bullets. The bullets were beautiful and the ingots nice and shiny so I guess I didn't get any zinc in the pot. Boy, those were some ugly ingots in that video. That shiny skim on top must have been alloy. I have never had that much before.

Shiny on top, you need to be fluxing it back into the alloy. Any curdled suff, flux it heavily & then skim it off.

 

[Nframeguy]

AL is a coated weight for use with aluminum wheels. Uncoated weights leave stains on the aluminum.

Kevin