I am really liking ur channel man. This is an older video but probably one of the better ones I have seen. My father worked in the lead abatement industry and 100% agree's a p100 respiratory is mandatory PPE here especially if you are doing this on a regular basis.
As long as you do not do this in California. My dad made lead fishing weights. His lead levels was so high when he did his blood work, his doctor was OBLIGATED to report him to the state. They showed up at his house to see what he was doing. They did not find anything. ........ BUT......we had a building where he had a huge melting pot from a print shop that used a line a type machine. He managed to secure a nice batch of pure lead.....80,000 pounds worth for his sinkers. Wheel weights are the most dangerous to smelt. You have brake dust which is asbestos, road grim and oils. Regardless of the protection this guy uses, lead will permiate into the skin. You need a full body suit to be safe. This stuff killed my dad, now I am having the same problems. My freedom is everything, but my freedom needs to be done safely. You can fix stupid, and you can’t pay somebody to be smarter. Be careful, be safe, and have fun.
Great video...thank you. Jealous of you 2000lbs... I've got about 200lb. (Just getting started in this lead melting and bullet casting scene.) Lead wheel weights are no longer legal in Washington state so tire stores do not have buckets of them... :( (I'm a fellow Canuck, originally from BC tho...)
I've talked to a few people who do it that way; in addition to the capacity, it's a great option for people who want to make ingots right at the range and don't have access to electricity or propane.
Tried my hand at melting wheel weights, I got all the clips out . But I keep getting a blueish goldish color on the top layer I keep skimming it off but comes back. Any thoughts?? Too hot ?? Not clean?? Thanks
Yes that's oxidation taking place; it happens when the lead gets really, really hot. You can turn your temp down some, as well as flux more frequently.
Thanks for this video. I'm am just starting out and have a few questions. Looks like wheel weights are a thing of the past, am i wrong in this?? I found a local metal salvage where i can buy lead but need to get the harness up for shooting 9mm. I'm told lead free solder contains about 90% tin. that will work won't it?
@@TATVCanada That's good to know. I get free lead from a tire shop near here in exchange for oak firewood for the owner. I've been wanting to make fishing weights for awhile. Thanks for replying.
You should NEVER pour lead directly from a pot or pan. Use a ladle. Also, did you notice that your ingots had a cottage cheese-like surface? You apparently let some zinc slip into the mix. I never use wheel weights. I use roofing and plumbing scrap, and harden to the desired Brinell #. Much easier and I only lose about 15% to dross.
I just use a cheap propane powered crawfush boiler set from walmart or academy if you live in the south has a giant stainless pot that I can melt 100lbs at a time and pour 10 -60 lb blocks for circle track racing asphakt racers abd dirt racers need lead blocks and will pay you 5 dollars a pound if tgey are in thin or small blocks that weight 10 plus lbs for setting up the racecar. The smaller but heavier the better i use cheap foil loaf pans from dollar general fits perfect in the lead boxes on racecars. If you are not gonna relent your ingits paint them with spray paint to protect you and others from tons of raw lead.i paont the racecar ones white cuse that is the rule for every racetrack in the world with car number on it. So if it falls out they can see it on track and your car number to know who to give tge fine to cuse hitting a 20 lb block of lead will hurt or kill spneobe in a race ar going high speeds. The more you flux your rough ingets with wax and refine it the denser your blocks will be smaller but weight same as a bigger one not refined with wax a few times its worth jt promose makes skze half smaller in skze buf same weight
Why not use a fan to blow away the lead dust from you off the top of the pot? I’d put a big fan on a low setting blowing it away from me as well as wear a mask
I was doubtful it would work the first time I tried it, too, but it's been my go-to method for about ten years now. I've never actually measured/weighed it before, I typically just fill it to the top and let it do it's thing.
It really depends heavily on the ambient air temperature; in the Summer when it's 34C here maybe 10-15 minutes tops. In the Spring/Fall when it's maybe more like 18C-20C, it could take as long as half an hour. For me the main advantage to it is I don't have to drag around a bunch of propane canisters and I can leave it 'cooking' unattended without fear of fire from an open flame.
mmmmmmmmmm open flame.... I mean?! Doh! Yeah I can understand how that would be handy. I do like fire though--fireworks, cooking on a fire, fluxing my pot and the flux bursts into flames, etc... I've just always used a propane tank and torch to make ingots from scrap.
Oh who doesn't love a good fire (well, I suppose there's quite a few people right now...) but I would really prefer if my house didn't burn down when I forgot to turn off the propane burner :)
@@TATVCanada There is not much difference in the melting point of lead and zinc. You cannot accurately control the temp. The only thing that will float on the top of the mix is steel wheel weights. If you have zinc in the mix it is garbage.
You should flux your pot . You are skimming off much needed tin. The contaminates will rise to the top and the tin will return to the mix. You did not remove Zinc or pure lead prior to melting.
Wheel weights are not lead. They are not suitable for bullets. They will shrink in the mold and give you a smaller bullet than you desire. They are also very soft and brittle.
Wheel weights are great for pistol plinkers but 20-1 is most accurate in rifles- a mixture of the 2 works for some calibers just make sure u sort out the zinc weights first
I am really liking ur channel man. This is an older video but probably one of the better ones I have seen. My father worked in the lead abatement industry and 100% agree's a p100 respiratory is mandatory PPE here especially if you are doing this on a regular basis.
Hope your dad is doing well. That's a tough gig.
@@TATVCanada haha yeh he got out of that some years back he is in realestate now :)
As long as you do not do this in California. My dad made lead fishing weights. His lead levels was so high when he did his blood work, his doctor was OBLIGATED to report him to the state. They showed up at his house to see what he was doing. They did not find anything. ........ BUT......we had a building where he had a huge melting pot from a print shop that used a line a type machine. He managed to secure a nice batch of pure lead.....80,000 pounds worth for his sinkers. Wheel weights are the most dangerous to smelt. You have brake dust which is asbestos, road grim and oils. Regardless of the protection this guy uses, lead will permiate into the skin. You need a full body suit to be safe. This stuff killed my dad, now I am having the same problems.
My freedom is everything, but my freedom needs to be done safely. You can fix stupid, and you can’t pay somebody to be smarter. Be careful, be safe, and have fun.
Just use bismuth instead. Much safer and just as fun to cast.
use also a antiparticularsuit while you melt lead because the lead particules can penetrate the skin of your body
Great video...thank you. Jealous of you 2000lbs... I've got about 200lb. (Just getting started in this lead melting and bullet casting scene.) Lead wheel weights are no longer legal in Washington state so tire stores do not have buckets of them... :( (I'm a fellow Canuck, originally from BC tho...)
Ugh, they're getting tougher to find here, too.
Great video, i just use a dutch oven from Harbor Freight over a fire, takes a bit longer but i like being able to melt 50/60 lbs at once
I've talked to a few people who do it that way; in addition to the capacity, it's a great option for people who want to make ingots right at the range and don't have access to electricity or propane.
Josue Guzman I use one as well, however, I have it on top of a homemade crawfish boiler my dad made years ago.
Here in Sweden there is no lead wheelweights anymore! ☹️
They're doing the same thing here; pain in the butt.
Tried my hand at melting wheel weights, I got all the clips out . But I keep getting a blueish goldish color on the top layer I keep skimming it off but comes back. Any thoughts?? Too hot ?? Not clean?? Thanks
Yes that's oxidation taking place; it happens when the lead gets really, really hot. You can turn your temp down some, as well as flux more frequently.
You have zinc in the mix.
Thanks for this video. I'm am just starting out and have a few questions. Looks like wheel weights are a thing of the past, am i wrong in this?? I found a local metal salvage where i can buy lead but need to get the harness up for shooting 9mm. I'm told lead free solder contains about 90% tin. that will work won't it?
I use wheelweights exclusively; depending on where you live you may be able to purchase alloys as well, but I don't have much experience with them.
HI good job SAFETY FIRST good explanation, one thing... where can I Find your mask ? i need one
I got mine at Canadian Tire I think.
where do you advertise to pay more and pick up?
I literally just call tire shops out of the phone book.
what ingredients are tin mixed with
My thing is how do you keep the metal out of the melted lead?
Lead is the heaviest metal in the pot so everything else floats on top.
@@TATVCanada That's good to know. I get free lead from a tire shop near here in exchange for oak firewood for the owner. I've been wanting to make fishing weights for awhile. Thanks for replying.
You my friend, are living the dream :)
@MassCityMadman So do I!
You should NEVER pour lead directly from a pot or pan. Use a ladle. Also, did you notice that your ingots had a cottage cheese-like surface? You apparently let some zinc slip into the mix. I never use wheel weights. I use roofing and plumbing scrap, and harden to the desired Brinell #. Much easier and I only lose about 15% to dross.
I just use a cheap propane powered crawfush boiler set from walmart or academy if you live in the south has a giant stainless pot that I can melt 100lbs at a time and pour 10 -60 lb blocks for circle track racing asphakt racers abd dirt racers need lead blocks and will pay you 5 dollars a pound if tgey are in thin or small blocks that weight 10 plus lbs for setting up the racecar. The smaller but heavier the better i use cheap foil loaf pans from dollar general fits perfect in the lead boxes on racecars. If you are not gonna relent your ingits paint them with spray paint to protect you and others from tons of raw lead.i paont the racecar ones white cuse that is the rule for every racetrack in the world with car number on it. So if it falls out they can see it on track and your car number to know who to give tge fine to cuse hitting a 20 lb block of lead will hurt or kill spneobe in a race ar going high speeds. The more you flux your rough ingets with wax and refine it the denser your blocks will be smaller but weight same as a bigger one not refined with wax a few times its worth jt promose makes skze half smaller in skze buf same weight
Why not use a fan to blow away the lead dust from you off the top of the pot? I’d put a big fan on a low setting blowing it away from me as well as wear a mask
I often do.
Interesting, I didn't think you could get enough BTU's from a hotplate to melt lead. How much lead you melting in that pot at a time?
I was doubtful it would work the first time I tried it, too, but it's been my go-to method for about ten years now. I've never actually measured/weighed it before, I typically just fill it to the top and let it do it's thing.
yeah, that's cool. How long does it take for the electric hotplate to melt the lead from a cold start?
It really depends heavily on the ambient air temperature; in the Summer when it's 34C here maybe 10-15 minutes tops. In the Spring/Fall when it's maybe more like 18C-20C, it could take as long as half an hour. For me the main advantage to it is I don't have to drag around a bunch of propane canisters and I can leave it 'cooking' unattended without fear of fire from an open flame.
mmmmmmmmmm open flame.... I mean?! Doh! Yeah I can understand how that would be handy. I do like fire though--fireworks, cooking on a fire, fluxing my pot and the flux bursts into flames, etc... I've just always used a propane tank and torch to make ingots from scrap.
Oh who doesn't love a good fire (well, I suppose there's quite a few people right now...) but I would really prefer if my house didn't burn down when I forgot to turn off the propane burner :)
So you dont sort the wheel weights?!? Ive always thought you have to sort them. Im going to try not sorting them bc that would be such a time saver!
I suppose you could, but it's so much easier just scooping the non-lead ones out.
It may be a time saver but you will have a pot of contaminated mix.Good for nothing. Sort out Zinc and lead prior to melting and flux often.
@@TATVCanada There is not much difference in the melting point of lead and zinc. You cannot accurately control the temp. The only thing that will float on the top of the mix is steel wheel weights. If you have zinc in the mix it is garbage.
@@TATVCanada That's why you have zinc contamination.
I use my propane camp stove and a cast-iron skillet
That'll work fine too, I just hate having to get propane.
what ingredients are lead mixed with
Most lead alloys have some antimony and tin, to increase hardness...
@@gerrymatheson4020 ok,,thank you
You should flux your pot . You are skimming off much needed tin. The contaminates will rise to the top and the tin will return to the mix. You did not remove Zinc or pure lead prior to melting.
It looked rougher than Compton. I would toss that batch, or maybe use it for target practice buck.
lead pirec 1 kg
NOT SMELTING! SMELTING is the chemical/heat break down of ore to extract metals....you freaking Canadian amateur
Wheel weights are not lead. They are not suitable for bullets. They will shrink in the mold and give you a smaller bullet than you desire. They are also very soft and brittle.
nah, wheel weights work great for bullets! Just make sure you are using the lead ones and not the zinc ones.
wheel weights are perfect
I have shot thousands of bullets made from wheel weights and they are great!
Wheel weights are great for pistol plinkers but 20-1 is most accurate in rifles- a mixture of the 2 works for some calibers just make sure u sort out the zinc weights first
Another vote for ww