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How many pounds of lead in a 5 gallon bucket?


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Posted

Took a couple of hours yesterday to melt down a 5 gallon bucket of wheel weights. I have a turkey fryer and a large cast iron pot, 2 cast iron muffin pans, a couple of large ladles. I wanted to get a big batch of WW lead ready to use as a base when I start casting this fall. I fluxed a couple of times each pot. The 5 gallon bucket was nearly full. I got right at 110 lbs of lead out of that bucket.

I have quite a bit of 50/50 bar solder and linotype so I can blend or heat treat. I was expecting about 140 lbs from what I had read at cast boolits but I didn't get that much.

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Posted

From what I read at cast boolits, a typical 5 gallon bucket weighs around 135 lbs and will produce around 105 to 110 lbs of lead so you are right there at normal.

Posted

Yeah, 135 pounds before melting. I was quite surprised the first time I scored a 5 gallon bucket of wheel weights and tried to pick it up. :eek:

Posted

AS far as steel, I am not sure. I would have to dig thru the clips. I had so many clips floating on top of the pot, I just put a pan up to the edge and raked everything floating into it. Saw a few stick on WW in there and there may have been some steel but I didn't notice. I have several more buckets to do before I am finished so I am liable to run into some.

Next, I have to re-melt a bunch of this and alloy it up with some 50/50 bar solder and linotype, pour it into 1lb bars and get enough to have a repeatable alloy. I will save some for heat treating and leave some as-is for light loads.

Posted
Took a couple of hours yesterday to melt down a 5 gallon bucket of wheel weights. I have a turkey fryer and a large cast iron pot, 2 cast iron muffin pans, a couple of large ladles. I wanted to get a big batch of WW lead ready to use as a base when I start casting this fall. I fluxed a couple of times each pot. The 5 gallon bucket was nearly full. I got right at 110 lbs of lead out of that bucket.

I have quite a bit of 50/50 bar solder and linotype so I can blend or heat treat. I was expecting about 140 lbs from what I had read at cast boolits but I didn't get that much.

this is a trick question, one cannot know the true weight of how much lead is in a 5 gallon bucket unless one removes the lead and weighs it. The real question is: if Sally has five apples and Tom has three, how much wood would a woodchuck chuck?

Guest spoolie
Posted

I have some bars already made if you need some. About 70 "lee" bars.

Guest guardlobo
Posted

Anyone have a 5 gal bucket of wheel weight they don't need for anything?

Posted

If your Hero is flying west at 200 mph and his Arch Enemy is traveling east at 190 mph......... how long will it take your Hero to figure out he/she is going the wrong way?

My favorite question from Sky High.

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