Removing zinc
- Thread starter sdporter
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Those bullets are HUGE !!! WOW !!! Clean lookin too....Good Job Stacy !!!
It is a good start. I suggest a little follow up, that shows the before and after bullets that provided the initial clue. The acid test if it was performed. The application of the sulfur. Maybe even notes on where these supplies can be purchased and any relevant chemical names or a quick image of the label on the containers at the end with views of the ugly and pretty bullets.
To the forum in general, Can anyone elaborate on what sources of lead might or often contain zinc or other unwanted contamination? I will stay away from wheel weights, but; what else is suspect?
To the forum in general, Can anyone elaborate on what sources of lead might or often contain zinc or other unwanted contamination? I will stay away from wheel weights, but; what else is suspect?
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I think the contaminates came from a brick of lead that was used as radiation shielding on a scanner room. It weighed 32 lbs. I could scratch it with a fingernail, but it was pretty silver in color. I also had about 100 lbs of sheet lead in with it too.I’ll get a picture of the sulfur I used. It was 99.9% pure I bought for making black powder. I didn’t get any pictures of the bad bullets, I wish I had.
Here’s something for any metallurgists out there, I was casting some round balls, I was having trouble with a cold sprue, so I took a little mapp gas torch and heated the sprue and top of the mold. The next pour it took almost a minute for the sprue to cool off, I then couldn’t open the aluminum mold. It was welded stuck. I heated it and got it open, but one of the balls was STUCK! I couldn’t dig it out with a scratch awl. I had to melt it out. BHN on this stuff is about 12
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I had about five perfect bullets out of 45 I cast. You have to cast FAST with that mold. I kept all of them with good bases. The cannon doesn’t care. If I can hit a 10’ patch of dirt at 200 yards, I feel pretty good about it....
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I wish I could have found the really bad one that shrunk in on the side of the nose. If I run across it, I’ll send a picture
I was doing some reading yesterday and read that keeping your melt down to 650 degrees will allow the lead to melt but the zinc will float to the top. Then you can pick it out. But if allowed to melt it wll mix and become part of the alloy never to be removed again , Thus ruining the chance of making bullet alloy. Why even take a chance?
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I’m not casting it for hunting bullets, only cannon bullets, and round balls. I tried casting regular bullets and it’s no good for that...if I can clean it up more, I may cast some handgun bullets with it. If not, then yeah, boat anchors... needless to say, I won’t be dragging any more of it home. I could buy the whole HDR vault for probably $100, and I bet there’s 20 plus tons of it. That’s why I drug the one brick home. Just to see how it would work out. Thought it would be pure lead, obviously it’s not. My biggest mistake was mixing it in with the sheet lead and ruining all of that...
