Hey guys I just got over 100 pounds of wheel weights for free from my local auto parts place. So I know that that is technically hard lead. Am I able to use hard lead to make these? Also the Lee melting pots all say to not use hard led in them. Any tips on heating them?

You can use hard lead in any pot and it will melt. However hard lead is very hard to pour in some molds, especially for a beginner. Also since you got wheel weights, be extremely careful that there is no water in the wheel weights by the clips, as hot lead and water will explode. If this is your first time pouring, you should go to tackleunderground.com and read up on all the safety issues. The wire bait section there is for the beginner all the way up to the pouring pro. There are volumes to write about pouring and I'm sure you have a lot of questions. So go to that website and there is a ton of information for you to read. I am on that website along with a few others that post here as well. If you need more help just ask, and above all be safe.

Hello,

 

This is lots like pouring bullets, which I do.

 

First, make sure there is no zinc weights in with your lead.  Good way to ruin a pot.

 

Bring the molds up to temp and pour.  If you get frosting, you're too hot.  Turn the thermostat down some.

 

A bit of tin in the mix helps flow.  Wheel weights already have tin.  Antimony is what gives it hardness.  No need to add either.

 

I'm not sure why your Lee pot says not to use hard lead.  Mine is a Lee and there is no such warning on it.

 

Regards,

 

Josh

I use wheel weights to make large bank sinkers for river catfishing and that's about it. The hard lead is too much of a hassle to deal with for pouring smaller jigheads, especially if you're doing heads that have collars or keepers.

I purchase lead with antimony in it which is considered hard lead and I use it to make my own hard alloy for certain types of jigs like football jigs. That said, wheel weights use to be fine, you have to worry about water as Cadman has told you already but the other problem is the zinc content, new wheel weights have a high percentage of zinc and it will ruin the lead and the pot, all the new LEE furnaces come with a warning and if you ruin your pot with zinc wheel weights guess what, they will not repair you pot under warranty and they can tell. I learned about this when I was melting down scrap in my "break down pot", it is a pot I use to melt scrap lead and then pour in my ingot molds, well I added 2.5lbs of wheel weights and as I was pouring the ingots I noticed the lead consistency was thick and it got worse to the point that when I used the ingots in my pouring pot, an entire 10lbs of lead was ruined but 2 1lb ingots of this high zinc content lead. That was it, no more wheel weights but there are some that will melt them down in a turkey cooker and use them for large downrigger weights but on jigs and small stuff it isn't worth ruining your equipment to save a few bucks.

Hello,

 

This is lots like pouring bullets, which I do.

 

First, make sure there is no zinc weights in with your lead.  Good way to ruin a pot.

 

Bring the molds up to temp and pour.  If you get frosting, you're too hot.  Turn the thermostat down some.

 

A bit of tin in the mix helps flow.  Wheel weights already have tin.  Antimony is what gives it hardness.  No need to add either.

 

I'm not sure why your Lee pot says not to use hard lead.  Mine is a Lee and there is no such warning on it.

 

Regards,

 

Josh

what kind of pot do you have

Hello,

 

This is lots like pouring bullets, which I do.

 

First, make sure there is no zinc weights in with your lead.  Good way to ruin a pot.

 

Bring the molds up to temp and pour.  If you get frosting, you're too hot.  Turn the thermostat down some.

 

A bit of tin in the mix helps flow.  Wheel weights already have tin.  Antimony is what gives it hardness.  No need to add either.

 

I'm not sure why your Lee pot says not to use hard lead.  Mine is a Lee and there is no such warning on it.

 

Regards,

 

Josh

 

The warning isn't on the pot, and if you have your LEE for more than 2 years then you wouldn't know about it. I have 2 older Lee pots and when I bought my new one 2 years ago it had a paper in the box that you could not miss, it had a warning and said not to melt wheel weights in the pot and it specified wheel weights, and the reason is probably so many getting returned because of people using wheel weights with high zinc content so instead of trying to explain it they warn against their use entirely and I agree with it unless you can tell which ones have zinc and which ones don't.

so what can I do with the wheel weights?

The warning isn't on the pot, and if you have your LEE for more than 2 years then you wouldn't know about it. I have 2 older Lee pots and when I bought my new one 2 years ago it had a paper in the box that you could not miss, it had a warning and said not to melt wheel weights in the pot and it specified wheel weights, and the reason is probably so many getting returned because of people using wheel weights with high zinc content so instead of trying to explain it they warn against their use entirely and I agree with it unless you can tell which ones have zinc and which ones don't.

 

 

so what can I do with the wheel weights?

 

You can use the lead wheel weights to cast jigs and bullets.  If you're afraid to use 'em, send 'em my way!

 

Two ways to tell zinc:

 

1.  Cut it with a side cuts.  Lead will squish.  Zinc will sort of shatter and is much harder.

 

2.  Throw it on cement.  Lead will thud.  Zinc will ring.

 

It's pretty easy to tell one from the other.

 

Regards,

 

Josh

You can use the lead wheel weights to cast jigs and bullets.  If you're afraid to use 'em, send 'em my way!

 

Two ways to tell zinc:

 

1.  Cut it with a side cuts.  Lead will squish.  Zinc will sort of shatter and is much harder.

 

2.  Throw it on cement.  Lead will thud.  Zinc will ring.

 

It's pretty easy to tell one from the other.

 

Regards,

 

Josh

So can I just use a torch and melt the wheel weights in a metal container and theb pour em that way?

You can use the lead wheel weights to cast jigs and bullets.  If you're afraid to use 'em, send 'em my way!

 

Two ways to tell zinc:

 

1.  Cut it with a side cuts.  Lead will squish.  Zinc will sort of shatter and is much harder.

 

2.  Throw it on cement.  Lead will thud.  Zinc will ring.

 

It's pretty easy to tell one from the other.

 

Regards,

 

Josh

 

I was told the same thing and that is where the problem comes from, only the newest weights will have that metal ring when hit on the ground, it is the ones with 14% to 20% zinc, they still cut, melt, and sound like lead but adding 1 lb of those to a pot of soft lead will ruin the lead and possibly the pot. I use to use them myself until I found the warning in the last pot I purchased, that is when I contacted LEE and told them the same thing, the Zinc wheel weights have a metal sound when you drop them on a hard surface like concrete and that is when I learned all about weights. I had already ruined 10lbs of lead with 2lbs of wheel weight lead making a hard alloy so I was pretty much done with it but curiosity got the best of me when I saw the warning and that is when I got the lesson. The person told that changing EPA laws is why there is such a vast amount of different wheel weights out there, but every time the laws would change, the manufacturers would add more and more different material, it use to be antimony so wheel weight lead was always a hard lead but over the last 15 years, they have decreased the antimony and lead and began using more and more zinc. Because of this and individual state laws that put limits on lead in addition to federal standards you have a wide variety of stuff floating around out there and that is why one guy in one state can use wheel weights and has no problem while a guy in a different state is buying a new pot after the wheel weights he used ruined his with high zinc content, there is no easy way to separate good from bad so LEE decided to tell customers not to use them at all. So if you are in a state that doesn't have any issues with lead, you may be getting good wheel weights, but the truth of the matter is you never know until you get bad ones, I've been melting them for over 17 years and all it took in that amount of time was 2.5lbs of bad wheel weights, so it isn't a matter of it possibly happening to you, but more of when it will happen, because it will and I thought I knew better too.