Lee Loader

Since wheel weights have become extinct, what is everyone doing for lead,
especially New & intermediate casters, buying it from Roto Metals ?

I have been fortunate in locating a great quantity of lead used for old plumbing and casing for electrical wire. I probably have several hundred pounds of it either melted into ingots or needing to be melted into ingots. I live in an area where picking up range lead is also worth while.

Not sure what you found out upon reheating your lead but I suspect that it is probably fine. From what I understand zinc will cause your lead to not cast very well or not at all. Pure lead won't cast as well as lead that has some tin in it, the mold won't fill out like it is supposed to.

Recently I have been buying wheel weights from evilBay, usually 50 pounds at a time. Recently gave my mail lady a break and had them hold the last few boxes at the post office. The last 50 pounds that I melted down yielded 6 pounds, 15½ ounces of the metal clips. My evilBay seller sells hand picked weights, only found one that he missed and it didn't melt (that is how I found it) because I don't run my pot hot enough. Still have some WW from years ago that I need to melt down, flux and clean. Ingots just seem to be easier to work with than trying to skim and remove steel clips from a Lee casting pot.

Yeah, a Lee pot isn't made for smelting lead into ingots, plus it can send a lot of trash down into the spout. Need something with a bit more capacity and a bigger surface for a proper ladle so the ingot molds can be filled rapidly.

I'm with you on smelting lead. Honestly, you are better off cutting the lead exposure by better than half using purchased ingots for bullets. The ugliest thing that I do is smelt lead from old roofs. Coupled with the tar, this stuff is downright nasty!

Try the lead from the wall board they use for x-ray room walls. What I've got still has the paper stuck to it and the glue is NASTY when it gets hot. Still looking for a good way to remove it.

Make smoke, yah it does,

I realize I might be a little late posting but I'm new to the forum. Based on my experience and as best as I can tell from the pics, it sure looks like you had zinc contamination. How you got zinc to melt at lead melt temperature I can't explain.