wiredhatred Posted December 29, 2008 Report Share Posted December 29, 2008 Hello there. I work at a major truck stop and have tons of wheel weights (not the kind you clip on the side of a wheel like car tires, these stick on the inside of the rim and is soft lead. I can scratch it with my finger nails) and wanted to know the best way of cleaning them. The used ones are covered in dirt, grease, oil and most have a sticky foam on one side. New ones just got the sticky foam strip. I figured I could scrape off the sticky foam and clean the lead with maybe brake cleaner or rubbing alcohol on a rag but wanted to hear some suggestions from you guys on what to use. Kind of a dumb question but I dont want to use anything that could harm the lead or me if I heat it up and it leaves something on it. I figure both brake cleaner and rubbing alcohol (which is a lot cheaper) evaporate quickly so there shouldnt be anything wrong with using one of the two. Any suggestions? Thank you. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jig Man Posted December 29, 2008 Report Share Posted December 29, 2008 A friend of mine gave me a 4X8 sheet of lead that had been in a hospital Xray room. It had dry wall glued to it. I got the dry wall off but the glue wouldn't budge with anything I tried. I am still using it. I cut it into strips and put them in a cast iron pot and melt them on my fish cooker outdoors so all the fumes will float away. When all the gunk has burned off I use an old spoon to dip the stuff off the top and clean the lead. Then I ladle the lead out and make it into ingots for use in my lead pot. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smalljaw Posted December 29, 2008 Report Share Posted December 29, 2008 You really don't have to clean the lead as the impuities will float to the top and can be simply scooped off but the glue and foam on the lead will make for some nasty fumes and possibly flames, so my suggestion would be to do like jig man and melt it outside. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JSC Posted December 29, 2008 Report Share Posted December 29, 2008 Check out the threads on Fluxing of lead and etc. Some really good information (detailed). JSC Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
diemai Posted December 29, 2008 Report Share Posted December 29, 2008 @ wiredhatred smalljaw has already said it all , just melt it in a well ventilated place , preferable outdoors , maybe pour it into ingot molds , if you have too plenty to use up at a time . All dirt , paint , dust , corrosion layer , etc . will float on top of the molten lead in it's pot and you can skim it off with some old cookery spoon or similar prior to pouring . good luck , diemai Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wiredhatred Posted December 29, 2008 Author Report Share Posted December 29, 2008 Ok great. Thank you guys. Ive been working there for years and always thought that I should have been collecting all the scrap lead in case I started pouring my own jigs and spinnerbaits. Coulda had a ton by now . Oh well, better late than never. Take it easy fellas. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
