the search for lead goes on.

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  • Last Post 21 May 2010
Seabee posted this 04 August 2009

Today was a good day. I went to the scrap yard to find lead. They has about 600 lbs of WW and 300 lbs of lead flashing and wire. He was willing to sell it for .55 cents a LB. I talked to the owner and wanted to work something out. Telling him I was willing to go to the source (tire shops) or buy from him. He pays 20$ a bucket that weighs about 140 lbs. I offered him 35$ he said nope. .55 cents a lb.:shock: OK OK I know this is a good price compared to buying lead online. So i went on a run to 3 tire shops. first one was a no go. He re uses them. The next shop said 2- 5 gal buckets a month or so. 20$ a bucket. The next way Discount tire.  They have 30-45 lb boxes full of new and used WW. 5$ each. So I picked up 10 boxes for 50$. weighed it when I got home , It was 374 lbs:shock:  I was told they get about  2 boxes a week.  I now have 2 good suppliers. and about 15 more shops to talk to. May as well stock up. I guess I need to get  some ingot molds and a way to melt this stuff down in volume.

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CB posted this 05 August 2009

Seabee Buddy

You have a treasure trove of scrap almost in your back yard. Soon your back yard will look like his junk yard be careful.

Besides what these pyros with their turkey kettles run here is a safe and sane way to process 50 lb of ww an hour beins you are going to ingot them after your clean up the brew. I use allot of parrafin and big spoon. The parrafin brings the sledge to the top when stirred regularly.

Go down to your local thrift store and look for a Kenmore chicken cooker the round tub with electric cord should be cheap to buy. The key here is the stainless tub that transfers the heat directly to the metal forget the teflon models. This s**ker will melt  ww fill 3/4 full and spoon of the clips and sludge after heated for about 45 minutes. Do this outside forget the lid. Now you have a casting tool you can use over and over again until the element will not melt lead. I used mine for 25 years before poor baby got tired and I had to recycle it with 20 lb lead in it.

Stephen Perry

Angeles BR:fire

 

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Dale53 posted this 05 August 2009

I use a Fish Fryer (same as a Turkey Fryer) and have processed 650 lbs in an afternoon. Here is my set up (pictured while doing LARGE ingots (65-92 lbs):

I bought the Fish Fryer at Bass Pro on sale for $30.00 and the 12” cast iron dutch oven from Harbor Freight for $20.00. I have done 1000 lbs on that tank of propane and have a bit left.

It IS important to use a good thermometer and keep the melt at no higher than 650 degrees. Zinc weights will float at that temperature and can be skimmed off without damaging the melt (one zinc weight in a hundred lbs of alloy just about destroys the casting ability of ALL of that alloy). So, use the thermometer, keep the temperature low (zinc melts at 780 degrees) and you will have NO problems. Obey all of the safety suggestions - cover your body with clothing (no shorts and flipflops, wear a hat and safety glasses. Keep ANY moisture away from the melted alloy. BE SAFE!

Dale53

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Seabee posted this 06 August 2009

Another question is, Are the flat stick on weights pure Lead? I have a bunch of them. If so What bullet uses a pure lead or this soft of lead? I have 3 black pwoder cap and ball guns. I am not sure what they use. My 50 cal BP rifle too? not ball but what mold would I use? Thank you for your help.

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tturner53 posted this 06 August 2009

The stick ons are pure lead, but check 'em anyway for 'Zn', that's zinc, bad, throw away. Use the lead in your muzzleloaders, not an alloy. Keep the pure lead seperate or mark it so it doesn't get mixed up. By muzzleloaders I mean cap and ball pistols and rifles too, unless you use sabots, then I don't know if it matters.  Edit #2 Dale, that's a very nice setup you have there.

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Seabee posted this 06 August 2009

That brings on another question, My muzzleloader. I use lead bullets in it. 405 to 520g. is that lead pure or mixed? I have used saots but don't care what i use. I really like shooting 520g pointed nost with 150g BP. Note max load is 700g with 150g BP.

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tturner53 posted this 06 August 2009

If you mean the stick on ww, yes, they are uaually pure(or close enough) lead. If you have some factory bullets I don't know what they are, but for a muzzleloader they should be pure lead. If you're talking about a .50 cal muzzleloader that sounds like one hell of a load. My .50's get more like 90 gr. of 2f black powder with a patched round ball. Are you sure you got that load right? It sounds way high to me. What kind of gun are you talking about?

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Seabee posted this 06 August 2009

Ya , that kind of reply is always what i get. I have the book and have shown it many times. The most i ever shoot is 520 with 150 load. I shot at a 4x4 with it and it made perfect holes like a drill would do. never seen anything do that before.

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CB posted this 07 August 2009

Dale

Like your set-up looks clean and safe. Goes to show there is more than one way to boil  turkey, chicken, or fish and now lead ingots. Heat source is smart saves on electricity.  Great casting ahead for you.

Stephen Perry

Angeles BR:fire

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GL49 posted this 10 August 2009

Dale, do your ingots ever tend to “stick” in the homemade mold made of angle iron? I have access to a lot of scrap steel to make my own ingot molds, but have been afraid to try it

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Seabee posted this 11 August 2009

I have cut 1 1/2 tubing in half and started to weld a bunch of them together to make 6 ingot per mold. I made mine 4'' long. I used 1'' flat stock to cover the ends. I have not made the handle yet.

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Dicko posted this 12 November 2009

55 Cents a lb is about what I pay in South Africa.   The 15 cents you actually paid is so cheap its a joke.   But you are on the right track buying scrap in substantial quantities.   Which brings me to something that has always puzzled me.   All American sources ( books, magazines, forums ) focus almost entirely on wheelweights as if there is no other usable scrap.   There's nothing special about wheelweights except that they are in small pieces and thus easy to handle, and they contain some antimony.   But don't forget that you get 75lb of alloy from 100lb of wheelweights after the clips are skimmed off, so you are paying 33% more than the dollar cost.

Take all the sheet lead, pipe, or whatever other form it comes in, and set yourself up to melt it in big lots.   Dale53's set up is about the nicest I've seen.  We don't have those big fish/turkey cookers in South Africa.   I made up a pot from steel pipe, with a stand from angle iron, and I fire it with bottled gas like Dale53.   I also made my own ingot moulds from angle like those in his photo, but mine cast one pound ingots for continuous feeding of my casting pot.

The bigger the lots you can melt the more uniform alloy you get.   That's the time to blend in the antimony.   Its the only practical way to handle scrap.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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JetMech posted this 12 November 2009

Dicko,

I think all the references talk about wheel weights because for a long time, they were free. I know we used to have to pay someone to haul them away in the late 70's. If I only knew then what I know now.....

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Dicko posted this 12 November 2009

Thanks, Bill,

That answers the question.  Seems that's changing, right ?   Ten years ago I could get plenty of them for the equivalent of five cents (US) a pound.   Now they cost me as much as other scrap, so I've gotten used to regarding them as no different from other scrap.   But it explains why they get so much attention in books. 

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tturner53 posted this 14 November 2009

I'm parting out (junking) the last of my big boats, it's a Cheoy Lee Frisco Flyer. The specs say the 2300 .lb ballast is cast iron, but guess what I found? Yep, it's lead. I don't know how much yet, these boats are very tough to disassemble, but I do know at least part of the ballast in the keel is lead. It's heartbraking cutting up an old classic, but this helps sooth my pain. I may be done looking for lead, we'll see.

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sart256 posted this 15 November 2009

I get used WWs at tire shops in my area for the asking, 1 time a manager had his guys fill the buckets I brought for me and got me coffee while they put them in my truck for saving him the hazmat fees.

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tturner53 posted this 15 November 2009

Got the boat broke down all the way, there's 7 blocks of lead laid in the keel with mortar. I'm estimating 2,000 + lbs. There's no way two guys can pick up the blocks, tomorrow I'm going to try cutting them up with a 40 lb. electric jackhammer. I keep thinking “be careful what you wish for". It's going to be a lot of work but I think it'll be worth it. I stuck the lead with my pocket knife, it seems harder than pure lead, but who knows? I'll also test for zinc with muriatic acid. Right now I'm thinking I may see what trade value it may have with RotoMetals, I'm only about a two hour drive from them.

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JetMech posted this 15 November 2009

My brother was a boat builder for years down in Florida. I asked him and they always just bought pig lead for keel weights, Tim. So I think you may have a good find there.

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argie1891 posted this 15 November 2009

i was looking for some lead to so i checked in my garage and found about 9,000 lbs. like all cast bullet shooters we treasure our metal supply. some of what i have is lino some stero some prue lead and a bunch of wheel weights. Even so i am still looking for more all the time. It wont spoil or become worthless with age. joe gifford aka joe gifford

if you think you have it figured out then you just dont understand

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tturner53 posted this 15 November 2009

Bill, what is pig lead? I've heard it many times but don't know what it is. Got a little bacon in it? Joe, maybe 9,000 lbs. is getting close to enough? I hope you don't ever have to move it! I guess it's like primers, you can't really have too much. If this ballast lead pans out ok I'll probably stop buying lead, just take whatever comes along for free. It'll put me over two tons, I'll never shoot up all that.B)   Tim

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Ervin posted this 16 November 2009

That large ingot looks like a tractor weight, used to keep the front wheels on the ground. All i have melted down were very close to pure lead.

Ervin

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