Stick-on Wheel Weights

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  • Last Post 12 January 2010
JD Yellowhammer posted this 04 December 2009

Howdy,

I've been going through the forums here and in other groups, trying to find a simple answer, but not having any luck.  (I usually try to find answers on my own, before “going to the boards.")

I know that clip-on wheel weights are often made of zinc, and I've read a lot about how to cull them when smelting, but I can't find out whether stick-on WW's also come in zinc (or steel or anything else)? 

I have about 60 lbs of stick-ons and as I'm going through them I've found a bunch of shiny ones. That might be because they were scraped and the surface metal hasn't oxidized, yet. But if there are metals other than the almost-pure lead you find in stick-ons, I'd like to seperate it as soon as it's discovered.

Thanks! JD

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Edubya posted this 04 December 2009

I gave up on trying to sort them Too much time and then you're liable to get over confident and turn the heat up too high. I'll start off a pot with just a couple of pounds, keeping the heat just enough that they will start melting in 20 mins or so, I'll ad only enough to cover the molten lead and a little more. This allows the iorn, zinc and whatever to show itself on the surface where I can scoop it out. EW

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ubetcha posted this 04 December 2009

Stick on ww can be any of the above.The Zinc ones I have found are very wide , because Zinc is lighter in weight than lead,so to compensate for the difference, their bigger.The best way I have found to tell the difference other then their melting point is to try cut then a side cutters.The lead ones will cut easily while the Zinc and steel won't cut hardly at all.You might what to hang on to them and when you have enough,see if you can trade for lead ww at a scrape yard

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biddulph posted this 05 December 2009

flat lead stick on's will bend and when scrapped along concrete will leave lead marks and visibly deform.

Zinc and steel stick ons won't. They also have a high resonence 'ring' when you drop them on concrete.

Easy to separate, I've found the main drama is the stink of the adhesive when you melt them.

Next time I get a good supply of them I'm thinking of taking my melting pot and heading up into the local bush (lots close to Darwin, middle of nowhere here!) and heating them up with a wood fire.

Be a hassle to melt in a nice electric pot though.

cheers

James

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JD Yellowhammer posted this 05 December 2009

Many thanks for the tips, folks!  :)

Yesterday I went to Harbor Freight and bought a cheap iron dutch oven ($20) to use for smelting. 

I saw on a thread that some folks use gasoline to clean them up (and get rid of adhesives), so I've got a few pounds soaking in gas, just to see how it works.  Anybody try brake cleaner?  It's kind of expensive, so it might not be a good idea.  But it's fast and easy for other stuff.

I don't really mind the extra time it takes to sort, but I'm also not gonna go nuts, looking at them piece by piece.  Moderation, right? :P  I'll go after the obvious looking ones to see if I can cut them. 

Again, thanks, folks. This is a great forum. :D

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hunterspistol posted this 05 December 2009

     Brake cleaner also comes with a warning about phosgene gas, ignite one drop of liquid brake cleaner and you may have serious health problems that there is no cure for.  Even the emergency room can't help you, according to some reports.

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JD Yellowhammer posted this 05 December 2009

hunterspistol wrote:      Brake cleaner also comes with a warning about phosgene gas, ignite one drop of liquid brake cleaner and you may have serious health problems that there is no cure for.  Even the emergency room can't help you, according to some reports. Thanks for the warning.  The gasoline I'm using doesn't do too well around sparks, either. :P  But I just went out and cleaned off the gas and it took the adhesive right off the stick-ons.  Messy but effective.

Forum note: someone sent me a PM asking why I think it's okay to mix zinc with the melt.  Just to be clear, and in case I didn't make it plain, I don't.  This thread is about getting the zinc out.  What I didn't say, but should have, is that after I do the sorting and start the smelting, I'll rely on the temperature to get the zinc floating where I can pick it out.

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JD Yellowhammer posted this 05 December 2009

This is my final step. From another post by someone here or a different forum:

Wheel weight is molten at 505F, pure lead at 621F and zinc at 787F. By keeping the alloy temperature in the wheel weight/lead range the zinc will not melt into the alloy but instead float to the surface on fluxing, presenting itself for skimming off.

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curator posted this 08 January 2010

Stick-on weights are mostly pure lead with about 1/2% antimony. They melt at a little over 600 degrees on my Lyman thermometer. Even at this temperature the occasional zinc or steel one that got past my screening process simply floats to the surface and is skimmed off with the stinking globs of adhesive. I keep stick-on alloy for low velocity pistol bullets, occasionaly mixing with range scrap to harden it slightly.

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ubetcha posted this 08 January 2010

Once you try cutting them with a side cutters,you will begin to see which ones are good and bad and probably won't need to cut anymore unless you have one that your in doubt with

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runfiverun posted this 08 January 2010

since zinc will alloy with lead alloys to about 1-1/2% before it gives you problems, missing a ww or two is not gonna ruin your entire day.

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CB posted this 12 January 2010

I stopped try to find useable WWs and start with lead, antimony and tin.

It's easier, the last batch of WWs that I tried to smelt down, it had cadnium some where in the lead.

Jerry

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