Smelting Wheel Weights

I have a friend that is a metallurgist, I will see him this week and see what his take is on this. It seems to me that there should be a sure fire way to do this that is fairly simple.

I did a little reading and found what may be the crux for determining the material makeup of ww.

“A steel wheel weight is 10% larger than a lead wheel weight, and zinc is 10% larger than steel,” he said. “As the weight gets longer, the center of gravity changes, something that would call for more re-spins in the balancing process.

Above is an excerpt from an article I found that gives some insight into one method.

And below is a copy of a post made on Cast Boolits..

"In the past two weeks, I have smelted five 5gal buckets of wheel weights. At least as it applies with the weights being used locally here, I have learned to identify zinc weight visually for the most part. My procedure is to dump out the weights and sort through them to remove trash etc first. As I go through them, I look for any riveted weights which are usually the steel weights. Some steel weights are not riveted though. Doesn't matter if you miss these because you're not gonna melt those. The markings on the weights indicated what they are made of. Zinc weights usually have Zn on them but not always. Some here have posted about using cutting pliers to check each weight. That is very time consuming and tuff on the hands but very accurate. Pure lead will only be found in your stick-ons. Check one of those with the pliers. Lead will mark very easily. That's your benchmark. Stick-ons are also made in zinc & steel. I have learned to identify them visually. Using your benchmark lead stick-on, check some clip-ons. Lead will mark fairly easy, but will be noticably harder than the stick-on. Any thing that is hard to mark with the pliers, throw it out. If you go through enough, you will learn to identify most if not all by sight. Then keep your melt temps on the low side and the zinc will float with the clips. Another good idea is not to start with a full pot of weights. Start with the pot only 1/4 full. When those melt, skim the clips then add more. I have found this gives you more control at a lower heat and gives you the ability to remove the bad stuff before it can melt if the temps get too high. Using this method, you can keep your temps on the low side. With a pot full to the brim with weights, it take quite a while to get them all to melt. I find it is faster to add a little at a time as they melt. Heat transfer to the added weights is faster because of the melt already in the pot. Try it. Smoke and smell is better managed also this way because your can remove floaters as you go. Hope this helps.

Charlie........."