I was sorting through some ww's the other day and came across a number of them that were "painted" gray. I seperated these out. Later, I did a search on the web and came across the Morton Powder Coating site. They make a gray powder coat which contains zinc. It is made especially for ww's that go on aluminum or alloy wheels. Just thought you would all like to know. I would put the link here to Morton but don't know how and don't feel like messing with it.
quote:Originally posted by Max503: I was sorting through some ww's the other day and came across a number of them that were "painted" gray. I seperated these out. Later, I did a search on the web and came across the Morton Powder Coating site. They make a gray powder coat which contains zinc. It is made especially for ww's that go on aluminum or alloy wheels. Just thought you would all like to know. I would put the link here to Morton but don't know how and don't feel like messing with it.
Good to know Max. Did they say what percentage zinc the paint was?
[ 01-06-2003, 07:28: Message edited by: aladin ]
Posts: 1529 | Location: Central Wisconsin | Registered: 01 March 2001
The dreaded zinc contamination has been much discussed on Shooters. BruceB did an experiment a couple of years ago. He removed all the shiny or coated looking weights from a bucket of wheelweights. He cast bullets from the culled bucket and from the weird looking weights. The two "different" groups of weights cast bullets of identical weight and were identically no trouble to cast. Since then I have melted anything that came my way, looking vigilantly for curdled alloy. None has reared its ugly head yet. Apparently zinc coatings, if present, float to the top and are removed with the clips, paint, grease, etc. I guard against contamination by smelting in small lots to limit spoiling a large lot of metal. So far, so good. To date I have found three weights that would not melt at all, but they were steel or iron. Please send your funny looking weights to me! Regards, curmudgeon
Posts: 99 | Location: Livermore, CA, USA | Registered: 22 December 2002
ive probablly smelted and casted 2000lbs of wheelweigt and use everthing and have never had a problem and have been told by quite a few people that I cast nice bullets. I wouldnt even give it a second thought.
Posts: 1404 | Location: munising MI USA | Registered: 29 March 2002
I used about 30 of the gray painted WW last week I encountered no problems whatsoever.
If the gray paint is zinc based,it is probably zinc oxide,as oxides are the most common form of metal used in finishes.An oxide would float to the surface and be skimmed off with the clips and other trash.The oxide of zinc would have to be heated with carbon to return to metalic zinc.
Another vote for those grey painted WW's. I've separated them also & cast from the results & found no difference. Now the only ones I separate are the stick ons. I started out paranoid about zinc as a result of the rumours, but after playing with 1200-1400 lbs. of WW's I just dump em in the big pot after separating the stick ons & melt away. Ron.D
Zinc oxide is white. There are paints that contain about 97% zinc (metallic ) that is used for corrosion resistance , when applied properly it is the equivalent of galvanized.
nothing is wrong with them there just a little softer I just mix em in too theres usually not enough of them to make a difference and it you melt in big batches youll never no the difference.
quote:Originally posted by Max503: What's wrong with the stick-ons?
Posts: 1404 | Location: munising MI USA | Registered: 29 March 2002
Max, Lloyd smale told you right that there is nothing wrong with the stick-ons and the few that most of us find in a bucket of wheel weights will make little difference. Stick-on weights are nearly pure lead and therefore ideal for muzzle loaders. When smelting tape weights separately I cast a few bullets from one or another mould and save them for bore slugs. By now I have a large collection of various size nearly pure lead bullets. For example if the barrel that needs slugging is a .30 cal, I use an 8mm tape weight bullet. The nearly pure lead slug goes through the barrel easily and makes a good impression of the barrel. Also, the tape weights are good for muzzle loader bullets. Warning: casting is addictive! curmudgeon
Posts: 99 | Location: Livermore, CA, USA | Registered: 22 December 2002
