Givat Posted June 17, 2012 Posted June 17, 2012 (edited) Hi all,I'm making myself some new lead filled brass tube medias for a new ball mill I'm making.The last time I made ball mill media my friend was in charge on buying the lead. I was looking for some cheap lead and thought on using the "tire balance weight" on cars. the only problem is that there is about 2-20% iron in them. Do you think I can you a strong magnet when the weights will melt and pull most of the iron to make it spark safe? is this sounds to much risky? any other ideas where to buy some cheap lead? msds of tire weight:http://www.winzerusa.com/ecat/msds/824_0000_7.pdf Edited June 17, 2012 by Givat
Anarchy08 Posted June 17, 2012 Posted June 17, 2012 gday mate, just went through all this recently, and looking at melting points I didn't think it were possible to alloy lead with iron.when melting wheel weights on the stove top I can only get to around 400 Celsius more then enough for the lead to melt away from any alloyed metal Zinc for example alloys well because of melting temps. processed 17 kilos (final weight) of lead wheel weights and had maybe 40 grams of Zinc scum on the surface, you could tell by the metal wont stay liquid very well and sets quickly when taken from the lead mass momentarily. Go to a tyre shop and ask for the dead weights they rip of wheels, guarantee you will get them for free, if not offer 20 bucks for the lot sure you'll walk away happy. I have a mate that works at one and got me 20L of weights, sorted through them with a magnet, but recommend just melting it all down, whatever doesn't melt is iron, whatever floats to the surface zinc. good luck and have fun, I did behind the respirator, lead fumes are nasty
taiwanluthiers Posted June 17, 2012 Posted June 17, 2012 Is it safe to melt lead in the kitchen? I mean lead is poisonous..
bob Posted June 17, 2012 Posted June 17, 2012 (edited) I just melt them done and then using a spoon scoop up what does not melt and dump that into a pail with cold water in it I would not melt it in the kitchine my self but it depends on what you feel is ok for your self of course if there is other people in the house then you should not melt it in the kitchin as you are hurting more then your selfbob Edited June 17, 2012 by bob
FrankRizzo Posted June 17, 2012 Posted June 17, 2012 Wheel weights are getting harder to find in larger cities. Most tire services are now required to recycle them, and have contracts with the recycler. There's paperwork involved, and if the amount of weights suddenly decreases one month (ie you come and haul away a few lbs), the higher-ups get pissy.
alexpyro101 Posted June 17, 2012 Posted June 17, 2012 I would see about checking local, like on craigslist. It's worth a try, you might find some pretty cheap
marks265 Posted June 18, 2012 Posted June 18, 2012 I've melted and still use lead from all types of material. Lead pipe, lead roof vents, wheel weights, plumbers lead, and fishing weights are some of the different things that have gone through my melt pot. I was once looking at a big lead plate that was for a highway bridge bearing but the guy would not part with it. It was 4 - 6 feet square and something like 1/4" thick. I hate melting lead outside because of the fumes and could never imagine trying to attempt inside. Ask around in your travels and you'll find cheap lead. Mark
pyrodundee Posted June 18, 2012 Posted June 18, 2012 Hi all, Had similar issues when setting up my media - The tyre shops had contracts with the big recyclers and new lead was just WAY too expensive. Ended up getting rolls of offcut lead flashing from the local recycler for under $2 a kilo. Picked up an old pot and ladle for a couple of bucks at the local second-hand store, and setup outside with the portable gas burner. Worked a treat for all the media I could need - and some sinkers for fishing aswell. p.s. If you can get wheel weights, melting them in a seive inside the pot gives you a one step removal of the bits of steel that may be involved - just lift them out with the seive when its all molten. Good luck!
Anarchy08 Posted June 18, 2012 Posted June 18, 2012 okay so taken a little bit the wrong way, yes I have a stove in my kitchen , no I don't melt lead inside.I use what I should have mentioned a portable stove. found that using dilute hydrochloric acid cleaned up the brass tubes really well, haven't had too many problems with the lead falling out yetsorry for the confusion
dagabu Posted June 18, 2012 Posted June 18, 2012 I was looking for some cheap lead and thought on using the "tire balance weight" on cars. the only problem is that there is about 2-20% iron in them. Do you think I can you a strong magnet when the weights will melt and pull most of the iron to make it spark safe? is this sounds to much risky? Don't worry about the incidental Iron in the lead, it cannot become part of the alloy, iron floats on lead so a drop of wax or other flux will pull the iron off the lead and just scooping it off with a SST spoon will yield a pure alloy with no Iron. Magnets loose their magnetic ability at 700° F so don't bother. Feel free to use lead wheel weights, they work better then any other lead alloy IMHE. -dag
Givat Posted June 19, 2012 Author Posted June 19, 2012 thanks for the answers, today I went to buy some sunglasses in a shop in the middle of a "factories site", I was very surprised to see a sign "recycle lead and lead battery". they gave me about 9 kilo lead pipe for free. (I asked for 12 but FrankRizzo said - they need to recycle them and can't give me much more.)
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