Lead Wheel Weights?
- Thread starter johnc
- Start date
Randominator
New Member
The last lead foundry was shut down during the Obama administration. Everything is either steel or zinc now.
Mitty38
Well-Known Member
Several States have banned them from tire shops.
Washington was the first in 2011. The latest is Maryland, which passed a lead wheel weight law in May 2017. The other states with bans are California, Illinois, Maine, Vermont, Minnesota and New York.
In 2009 the US auto industry stopped ordering them for use and went to zinc and steel weights.
You will still find them being used new, in none banned states, and on some foreign cars. But zinc is the same price or less often enough.
So less and less, are showing up in the tire shops scrap buckets.
Washington was the first in 2011. The latest is Maryland, which passed a lead wheel weight law in May 2017. The other states with bans are California, Illinois, Maine, Vermont, Minnesota and New York.
In 2009 the US auto industry stopped ordering them for use and went to zinc and steel weights.
You will still find them being used new, in none banned states, and on some foreign cars. But zinc is the same price or less often enough.
So less and less, are showing up in the tire shops scrap buckets.
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RicinYakima
High Steppes of Eastern Washington
Foundry is not the right word, last refinery of ore was shut down. Many foundries are still working or there would not be car batteries. Even though lead is banned in WA we have a major WW maker in Tacoma.
Non-Ferrous Metals; they have a website and will ship.
Several of us here in the Seattle area have done business with them and they sell good alloys.
Bret4207
At the casting bench in the sky. RIP Bret.
There's several out there using that phrase in their name. Is this the one you mean?- http://nfmetals.com
Sooner or later our nation will figure out that outsourcing EVERYTHING is not a sustainable paradigm. I will probably be a distant memory to my descendants when that happens, but eventually it will.
Part of me wants to try some boughten virgin alloy of a known makeup to see if it's "better" than the 30-50 year old WW I'm still using. Time is the issue!
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Petrol & Powder
Well-Known Member
Several states have banned the sale of new lead WW. (You can guess which states). Several automotive manufacturers have stopped using lead WW on new cars; therefore, they do not buy lead WW. These include some U.S., Asian and European manufacturers. To simplify their logistics, several national tire chains have stopped using lead WW because they don't want to stock different types of WW for individual states.
Lead is generally perceived as a toxic substance. While lead can be dangerous, it is not always dangerous. Years of using tetraethyl lead in gasoline and lead in paint didn’t help those broadly held negative opinions. Unfortunately, a lot of people like to be spoon fed their information and they don’t want to educate themselves about the world around them. So, when somebody suggests we ban lead, they jump on that bandwagon and blindly support that cause- because they are soooooo much smarter that everyone else……..
I suspect as more and more states enact lead WW bans, suppliers will simply drop the lead WW opinion because it is just too difficult to maintain multiple supply chains for various states.
The days of lead WW as a source of bullet casting lead are not completely over but I think they are numbered.
The Good news is the demand for flooded lead-acid batteries is up due to the use in solar and wind systems. While bullet casters cannot readily use lead from batteries, there is at least still a high industrial demand for lead. Which means the tree huggers cannot completely eliminate lead from our society.
Lead is generally perceived as a toxic substance. While lead can be dangerous, it is not always dangerous. Years of using tetraethyl lead in gasoline and lead in paint didn’t help those broadly held negative opinions. Unfortunately, a lot of people like to be spoon fed their information and they don’t want to educate themselves about the world around them. So, when somebody suggests we ban lead, they jump on that bandwagon and blindly support that cause- because they are soooooo much smarter that everyone else……..
I suspect as more and more states enact lead WW bans, suppliers will simply drop the lead WW opinion because it is just too difficult to maintain multiple supply chains for various states.
The days of lead WW as a source of bullet casting lead are not completely over but I think they are numbered.
The Good news is the demand for flooded lead-acid batteries is up due to the use in solar and wind systems. While bullet casters cannot readily use lead from batteries, there is at least still a high industrial demand for lead. Which means the tree huggers cannot completely eliminate lead from our society.
richhodg66
Well-Known Member
Seems like real lead ones are getting scarce, but I think it's still worthwhile to ask at tire places.
Range salvage is the way to go for bulk lead anymore. I occasionally still shoot at a range where I could get a five gallong bucket of it freee everythime I went. The range has been undergoing rennovation for a couple of years now, so it may not be that good a situation now.
Range salvage is the way to go for bulk lead anymore. I occasionally still shoot at a range where I could get a five gallong bucket of it freee everythime I went. The range has been undergoing rennovation for a couple of years now, so it may not be that good a situation now.
L Ross
Well-Known Member
I still have 5 gallon buckets of older wheel weights still to be ingotized, stacked on pallets crushing one another as the buckets get brittle. I always took every damn bit of lead I could find as long as I got it cheap or free.
richhodg66
Well-Known Member
"I always took every damn bit of lead I could find as long as I got it cheap or free."
And this is the mentality one must have as a caster. Guys ask; "where do you get your lead?" and the answer is wherever I find it. I'll stop and ask roofing crews if they have any, tire shops, scrounge ranges, look at yard sales. Saw an estate sale by accident a few months ago and walked out with about 200 pounds of pure lead scrap, pipe and roof flashing in buckets for 15 bucks and also got a few other things with that. Just gotta be constantly looking.
And this is the mentality one must have as a caster. Guys ask; "where do you get your lead?" and the answer is wherever I find it. I'll stop and ask roofing crews if they have any, tire shops, scrounge ranges, look at yard sales. Saw an estate sale by accident a few months ago and walked out with about 200 pounds of pure lead scrap, pipe and roof flashing in buckets for 15 bucks and also got a few other things with that. Just gotta be constantly looking.
Petrol & Powder
Well-Known Member
There are diminishing returns when acquiring lead.
Fuel is costly and my time is valuable, so one must do the math before purchasing. A large amount of lead, that is priced significantly below market value may be worth acquiring. A small amount is probably not worth it. Everyone must do their own math.
The quality of the alloy is also key. Mystery alloys are seldom bargains.
I think when you start driving 130 miles round-trip for less than 50 pounds of mystery alloy, you would be better served by ordering from Rotometals and paying the going rate.
The market is constantly evolving. Wheel weights were once a fantastic source of casting alloy. Plentiful, cheap or free. Those days are ending.
Lead roofing flashing was once very common but is largely being replaced by other materials. X-ray lead is almost non-existent these days. Technology has changed.
Same holds true for linotype and other printing alloys. Hot metal typesetting is now a page in history and individual type face is even rarer. The days of the local print shop or newspaper using Linotype machines are long over.
Lead pipe is no longer being produced but it IS being replaced frequently, so depending on where you are, that may be a source.
Isotope cores and shielding will likely be around for the foreseeable future. It may not be a constant source, but it is around.
There are still big finds occasionally. Sailboat keels, Historic building renovations, some defunct industrial applications.
Range scrap IS likely the future of lead for bullet casters, IMO.
Fuel is costly and my time is valuable, so one must do the math before purchasing. A large amount of lead, that is priced significantly below market value may be worth acquiring. A small amount is probably not worth it. Everyone must do their own math.
The quality of the alloy is also key. Mystery alloys are seldom bargains.
I think when you start driving 130 miles round-trip for less than 50 pounds of mystery alloy, you would be better served by ordering from Rotometals and paying the going rate.
The market is constantly evolving. Wheel weights were once a fantastic source of casting alloy. Plentiful, cheap or free. Those days are ending.
Lead roofing flashing was once very common but is largely being replaced by other materials. X-ray lead is almost non-existent these days. Technology has changed.
Same holds true for linotype and other printing alloys. Hot metal typesetting is now a page in history and individual type face is even rarer. The days of the local print shop or newspaper using Linotype machines are long over.
Lead pipe is no longer being produced but it IS being replaced frequently, so depending on where you are, that may be a source.
Isotope cores and shielding will likely be around for the foreseeable future. It may not be a constant source, but it is around.
There are still big finds occasionally. Sailboat keels, Historic building renovations, some defunct industrial applications.
Range scrap IS likely the future of lead for bullet casters, IMO.
I can collect range scrap at no charge other than my time. Getting 1K pounds a year is no challenge for me. I don’t sort, smash, wash, or otherwise prep the scrap before melting. Not worth the effort. I find that I get a pretty consistent mix. When you are placing 25# of scrap in a pot at a time it gets mixed well. I also take igots from a couple bins to place in my pot at any one time.
Range scrap is a heck of a way to go, if you have access. I did attempt to melt some scrap from an indoor range with steel plate backstops. It was like heavy black very fine sand. I could barely get it to melt and figured it was going to need a ton of fluxing to reduce the oxides due to the huge surface area. It went into a dumpster.
Range scrap is a heck of a way to go, if you have access. I did attempt to melt some scrap from an indoor range with steel plate backstops. It was like heavy black very fine sand. I could barely get it to melt and figured it was going to need a ton of fluxing to reduce the oxides due to the huge surface area. It went into a dumpster.
Very true, mystery alloys are not bargains.
Commercial ranges are not prone to selling scrap for fear of some obscure governmental regulation.
I've gone to shooting mainly plain-base with breech-seating, thus I buy known alloy from Rotometals (when on sale with free shipping) for this competition. I have an Pb/Sn alloy for Schuetzen and a softer Pb/Sn alloy for black powder cartridge.
Military rifle competition alloy is melting 140 pounds of "hard" scrap alloy ingots at one time and then using this alloy as one source. I have a big cast iron pot that holds 140 pounds. The hardness factor is determined by banging them together and any that ring go in the pot. Not exactly scientific, but it's been working.
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todd
Well-Known Member
i had many pieces of lead water service pipe(1/2" - 1 1/2" OD). i was in a water/sewer main company being a laborer/heavy equipment operator. i would replace the lead service with a copper one. my dad can remember and used lead being used in water mains. today, a rubber gasket is used. i took about a ton of lead 90 degree elbows, y's, tees.....things like that, out of my pap's garage. i melted it down using a 3 1/2" cast iron skillet and an old Coleman stove.
quicksylver
Well-Known Member
try your local hospital and dentist they use an alloy simular to WW for x rays and then sell it