How Much Silver Can Be Recovered From Lead Wheel Weights?

[@gingerdude94]

Keep these video's coming 👍 I'm stuck at home in lockdown and these video's really cheer me up .

[@ut000bs]

Why are you stuck inside, armed guards? I was joking unless you're in like the UK or Australia then I'm sorry and I love you.

[@deborahhopkinson5243]

That was neat. I learn so much from your videos. Thank you for taking the time to explain even the smallest detail. Lots of fun!

[@xobaby3862]

sir, you have the best videos for everything metals related. i appreciate you so much. thanks.

[@michiganprospectors]

Good to know cause I had no idea how many other metals were in lead wheel weights. I often thought about buying them for some projects needing lead. Thanks for sharing this.

[@philbartoli2011]

Interesting. Have you done a video on recovering the lead from the cupels?

[@RalphReagan]

I keep asking myself is it more valuable to recover the precious metals or mold bullets with that lead?

[@ManMountainMetals]

is that enough silver content to kill werewolves?

[@TaintedMojo]

I came here just to make that comment. I would assume the total mass of lead itself would be more valuable on it’s own merits than the value of whatever paltry sum of silver you recover.

[@barryfields2964]

Recycled lead sells for about 50¢ a lbs 300 grams would be about 33¢. .04 grams of silver is worth about 1.9¢.

[@garymucher9590]

Bullet making hands down. You can easily sell molded bullets for a heck of a lot more then the trace silver...

[@phillipbainbridge9107]

Bullets, hands down. Once you get a knack for which ones are pure soft and which ones have tin and antimony in them you can get a perfect mix by adding your own linotype lead, soft, tin, antimony, nickel, etc.

[@pappy37]

Love the videos and learning, keep em' coming.

[@EddieVBlueIsland]

I was told by the first metallurgist I worked with that cupels made from human bones worked best - at first I thought he was joking - but looking at how the lead oxide is absorbed by the cuple -- human bones must work good.

[@nullsnaggle5198]

Its not human bones but it is bones

[@ThomasJamesArt251]

Question: do you have to keep buying cupel cups or are they reusable??

[@beebob1279]

And how much do they cost? I've seen dry cement used as the cupel also. I would imagine that would be cheaper still

[@TheRealWeirdoC]

If there's a lot of white material left, you may be able to use it again. If it is all discolored, it is saturated with litharge (lead oxide) and can't absorb any more.

[@rickdoggr]

Can you recover the lead from the cupel?

[@TheRealWeirdoC]

@@rickdoggr Yep. Use a reducing flux and melt the whole cupel. The lead oxide ("litharge") will be reduced back to elemental lead. It will be impure, though. Other base metals and their oxides will keep following it through the smelting and cupellation cycles.

[@55metalmonkey]

@@beebob1279 Since no one answered your question on cost a mining supply shop near me sells smaller cupels for $1.25 ea. They only absorb up to 45g but the larger ones don't cost much more.

[@MakingUsThink]

Jason, I would be interested in the math of the cupels; before and after they absorb the junk? Could this assist in actual data numbers for the whole smelting of metals process. Does anyone ever do weights on cupels?

[@badideametals]

Jason, do you like using that QuickFire Pro furnace still? I am curious how well it holds up to cupelling

[@jtsimmons3133]

Pretty cool vid. Be sure to wear your P100 respirator when you're melting lead. That vapor is vicious.

[@bobedwards8896]

not any p100, gotta be organic vapor type

[@mauserdave]

I was over by Conconully in Okanogan county. Looking at the old mines. There is literally tons of Galena laying around. I bet most of it is argentiferous. Doesn't take much room to make a ton of Galena. Even at a couple percent silver I seen enough laying around in old mine dumps to turn a good profit.

[@madshephard2boots157]

My question is.. Could you melt the lead openly and take the slag off the top then do the cupelling process?

[@jackking5567]

The oxides could be from brake dust and the iron oxide that forms with it as the brake discs wear away? Surprised to see silver content in them because I always thought silver was extracted from lead ores? I know that here in the UK in the early lead mining operations they went to great lengths to recover silver from the freshly made lead metals. Silver percentages varied lots between mining areas but they still made a hefty profit on the silver they removed.

[@larrytischler570]

Quite a bit has been written about wheel weight composition since they are frequently used to make cast economy hangun bullets. They used to have up to 3% tin in them but now they often have about 0.5 % arsenic. The antimony may be more toxic than the arsenic.

[@vicroc4]

Interestingly, one of the reasons that clip-on wheel weights specifically are so useful for cast bullets is that the alloy gets just hard enough to hold together when used in pretty much any pistol cartridge. They have just the right mix of tin and antimony. And the arsenic content helps the hardening process.

[@scrapmandan245]

the lead is worth more in scrap than the silver recovered, great video, thanks for sharing

[@workingken4268]

One thing i know that back in the day the electrical contacts the flat large actual plates were made of pure silver

[@markneilson6380]

Very few lead weights in the UK. Mostly Zinc and iron weights.

[@alyxiastarling7990]

good to know wheel weights are a good place to start for lead collector metal, though I would bet there is more in older lead from weights and stuff that isnt run through a modern refining process before its cast into weights.

[@savannahbanana3183]

Man, you are way over my head on this. but I appreciate the lesson, Thank You

[@jasonwilliam2125]

Such a metals nerd. Subbed. Great vid.

[@JohnnySwedishScrapper]

realy intressting that lead can do that great video ;) as usual ;)

[@MMProspecting]

Would like to see full process for silver ore

[@fullpushmetals6711]

Ill take a seat n watch! 😊 Keep Pushin!

[@tomkeehn]

Codyslab has good content on that

[@SabreCycles]

Drill 2 holes for air flow. One 2" lower than the other. Use the lower one with a shut-off valve.

[@jamest.5001]

At, 9:11) that could be brake dust also. Awesome video.

[@paulmoore7064]

Considering the cost of electricity, this doesn't look like a good way to add to my stack. Worth the information though.

[@TheRussell747]

Gotta have the ability to go large scale for it to be worth it. Natural silver is very hard to find so it's actually very common for this to be done on a large scale as an alternative means of adding to the silver we have

[@murlbailer3755]

You solved the mystery of how much for me,thank you.

[@ez1913]

Thanks, Jason. Very cool. That furnace needs a window. 😉

[@karimrazak3798]

Is the green color with quartz indicating the presence of gold?

[@mindofmadness5593]

Now I understand what the Cuppel is-asked on a different Vid last night. Zinc weights have a 'Zn' stanped on them. Easy way to tell.

[@TaintedMojo]

What do you do with the saturated cupels?

[@ManMountainMetals]

@J D powder them, mix with carbon, heat to 1600 degrees, lead sinks to bottom. 1 video back.

[@The_Shoebill3D]

Throw them at neighbors

[@patricknewlun7928]

Nice video. God bless America!!

[@nathandean1687]

have you tried ball milling those wheel wieghts?

[@beercanburr4058]

We caught two guys using lead slugs on a dollar machine. They had the weight just right so they work. They got extradited to Jersey the next day. I guess Atlantic City wanted them worse than we did. Thanks

[@arcanecrisis]

This is an interesting concept iv never considered.

[@JimNichols]

Another UTubered (sic) I watch likes the chemical approach to the same end. The heat creates oxides which are absorbed rather hungerly by the magnesia cupel. Great video sir, thanks for the time and effort each of these take!

[@CoinSilver800]

I'm not doubting you but if you were to zap that button with your XRF and show the results it would be very helpful to prove that this button is silver or another precious metal, pgm

[@superdave54811]

Enteresting experiment. Not worth trying to recover silver from wheel weights though.

[@RiskyMethods.81]

Touching that little bit of lead won't hurt you, but if you're making any kind of dust as all you should definitely have a good respirator on.

[@irwintatyana9066]

thank you so much!

[@markselten4985]

Well, I would never have thought! Cheers for the eye opener

[@mbmmllc]

Thanks for watching

[@markselten4985]

@@mbmmllc my pleasure.. I think you had fun too 😁

[@donh4750]

After you figure out how much it cost to do that "test" to get that small bead of silver, probably cost prohibitive, it's probably cheaper just to buy silver.

[@arthurhardy]

Remind me to never let you borrow my tin snips.

[@mbmmllc]

:)

[@kennethkustren9381]

Perhaps a pair of Linesman Pliers, or Sidecutters.... Aviation snips are for sheetmetal.

[@justme437]

I'm new to this...can u recover the lead from the cupel???

[@ShipperChick]

Genuine question (not trying to be snarky) but is that work and the cost of the electricity worth it to recover that little silver?

[@samuraichad343]

Very cool. I’m guessing those cupells are a one time use and throw away thing?

[@CandSMINING]

Great video.👍 Never would have checked lead for silver.🤔✅ Thanks for sharing the info.😎👍👍👌👌

[@briandrew2689]

tjanks for letting me know the ratios brother i really appreciate all the info you put out!

[@DeliciousDeBlair]

Wow ! I had a WHOLE BUNCH of those in the past! Not sure what happened to them, but I had over 100 lbs of them originally. ~( ,m,)~

[@MikkellTheImmortal]

Strangly enough, I just picked up some to remelt for fishing

[@downyourtube]

In old homes the windows had lead bar counterweights hidden within the frame works. I wonder if there is any silver in them?

[@sueyoung2115]

Hush whisper, I once had a conversation with an old fellow who liked to metal detect old buildings. He told me that during the civil war, in the us, the plantation owners sometimes made "dore' " bars of their precious metal items to keep them from being stolen . They were cast into... Window weights! So, always check them.

[@downyourtube]

@@sueyoung2115 I will and thank you. If I find anything You'll be hearing from me. Thanks!

[@rhondav100]

Jason , great videos but how long did you leave the cupel in the fire??

[@jwilliams8320]

can you do a video on recovering lead from cupel?

[@garymucher9590]

I have to admit, I certainly didn't know there were precious trace metals in wheel weights. However, the amount you're getting is certainly not worth the effort. Especially if you factor in the energy used to heat the oven up. Could be break even or in the negative. But certainly interesting anyways. Thumbs Up!

[@mbmmllc]

Oh its for sure a money loss exercise

[@stephenfowler4115]

Typical recovery of gold and silver from lead uses zinc. Zinc is insoluble in lead while precious metals are 3000 times more soluble in zinc than in lead. After mixing the zinc in molten lead it floats to the top and can be skimmed off.

[@larrytischler570]

The remaining lead is not good for casting though according to the Lyman Cast Bullet Handbook, it does not form out well.

[@coreyfenn8856]

every little bit adds up.

[@arashiimoradii2690]

Hello. How much flux to bury in thy soil ? for exumple how much carbonat does b kilos af soil and how much borax does it need plese expluin. It is very importuntto know plese

[@shaneyork300]

I had no clue there was silver in lead wheel weights!! Have a GREAT Day!!!

[@5roundsrapid263]

There are trace amounts of a lot of metals. Silver, tin, arsenic, etc.

[@Gompiebert]

Nice video Jason

[@chrisferrante9699]

How would you recover the lead from the cupel? Reusing the lead would be ideal for me.

[@MrNigel1340]

Fascinating video, thank you.

[@mbmmllc]

Glad you enjoyed it

[@georgeabraham7256]

Has anyone tried the Betts proccess using electrolysis to purify lead from bullion? Id like to see a practical if it is possible on small scale and what you could expect from it.

[@Drewsroofingandhomerepair]

Is the Q Paul able to be used more than one time

[@mbmmllc]

Nope, just one time. Then they are waste

[@josephbowdoin5514]

That's trippy

[@sluggou812beotch]

Those weights that were hard to cut were zinc. That's what junked your lead.

[@gefginn3699]

Very Very interesting

[@oompaloompa7280]

Will stainless steel oxidize and be absorbed by the Cupel or do you have to use another method to remove that metal? Electronics sometimes uses stainless steel pins that are gold plated.

[@UnderDuress]

Great vid' question can the lead be retrieved from the cupel? And how much waste is produced?

[@burnroe6611]

You shoul do a 02 sensor recovery for pgms

[@mackb.8262]

So if you melt at different temps you can't pour out the different metals since they have different melting temps? I'm a noob and want to play with melting different metals as a hobby. Zinc lead tin melt at different temps for instance, if i melted wheel weights lead should pour out at 621f and leave the zinc untouched? zinc melts at 786f and silver 1640f so if you some how poured the lead and zinc out the silver wouldn't be left in the bottom?

[@BrianStocking]

What is the structure you are standing in? Is that a greenhouse and who makes that? Thanks.

[@atmm89]

I have a question, if you melt gold with a welding torch at a very High temperature, will the gold evaporate??

[@marcelgaddis9319]

Silver does oxide, ag2o is silver oxide, just saying. ag2o the blackening on silver exposed to air or black silver dust is silver oxide.

[@davidhaykus1568]

Given the current ammo shortages, the wheel weight alloy is more desirable to resell to bullet casters or gun shops rather than the microscopic possibility of silver. Also, Zinc wheel weights should be left out since it ruins the alloy for casting.

[@victorluc66]

Very interesting!

[@daniellong415]

Could you use this method using scrap carot gold to remove copper and zinc, then calculate the yeild of gold and silver remaining.

[@inglwud5625]

I wonder how much silver is in the lead sheets I recoverd from an old steam engine tractor, probably smelted 100 years ago.

[@douglas787]

I have some buckets of number 2 copper that was cut from air conditioning coils. Mostly these are the 180 degree elbows that connect the copper tubes in the coil together. Most ac braising is done with 15 percent silver solder. Could the silver be recovered from the salvaged elbows? I just turn it in as number 2 copper.

[@johnpepin5373]

I looked through your videos and didn't see any about recovering silver from old keys? Have you made one or are you going to? Would this method work to oxidize off the base metals in keys to recover the silver?

[@whatthefunction9140]

Why does the cup absorb the oxide but not the molten metal? Is the end weight higher than the stating weight?

[@wetstreamsprospecting2781]

It's hard times, now everyone's about to have out of balance wheels 😄 hooray gas pumps Lol. Great video though. Daydreaming of buying MBMM equipment one day 👍

[@shekharmoona544]

Do old electrical outlets really have silver? I tried to find a place to recycle and I felt so bad throwing them away.

[@kennethkustren9381]

Perhaps some REFRACTORY INVESTIGATIONS are worthy of a show. DIY SODIUM SILICATE.. Plaster of Paris / Gypsum / Fireclay... and Silica Sand ... should be a good start. Who doesn't need a trusty Firebrick Forge ??

[@kennethkustren9381]

Unless You have a local professional in-situ... We have provenances of truth in your words.

[@abdallhfnalzntane1846]

Mr , I want to ask you, does the black sand that you melt there contain iron or magnetic metal?

[@doccarmouche9593]

Where are you getting your cupels from?

[@BrianStocking]

I've heard that wheel weights also have Tin in them. How would that effect your end result?

[@cesgin2565]

What's laser thermometer you recommend for melting lead?

[@doccarmouche9593]

Have you ever tried to recover silver from soldering rods with 15% silver??

[@cditzler6313]

can you recycle the cupels and if so do a vid on that

[@nickford5549]

Use silver as a collector metal. Easy to chemicaly refine that way

[@jeffreybamford7365]

Well bugger me I collect them to make sinkers so I've been throwing silver in the ocean for years now I wonder how much money I've thrown overboard all these years.

[@Gex121]

Wow, i didn't know that lead oxide is corrosive? I thought lead is a very anti-corrosive metal. Will it be possible to recover the lead from the cupel?

[@TheRussell747]

It confused me also so I looked it up and I cant find a single source that says it's corrosive. I'm actually finding the opposite every time; that it has good corrosion resistance. Also, yes it is possible. I havent watched it myself but some other comments said that he has a recent video on his channel about the process of recovering the lead. But they also summarized the process as: smash the lead-filled cupelle -> reheat -> lead remelts and sinks to bottom, smashed pieces float on top -> skim the top -> repeat until you've removed all the pieces you can

[@Gex121]

@@TheRussell747 If i had to guess, that's exactly how i would do it also. Thank you for replying.

[@jackrodgersjr]

Quite interesting. 1.50 in electricity and an hour of time plus a few hundred for furnace and other stuff to get $0.003 in silver. Sounds like a government funded project. Kidding. Enjoyed it as I didn’t know anything about smelting.

[@mbmmllc]

Haha, glad you enjoyed it

[@Slightquills]

Is there a way to recover the lead from the cupel?

[@thejll]

Does the power cut off automatically in that furnace, when the door opens - or are those coils live?

[@KK-xz4rk]

Those are live. You cannot cupell in a furnace that does not allow you open the door by cutting power. You just be mindful that those wires are live (not full power tho because they have really high resistance) and work with caution. You cannot be safety freak when working with hot metal and oxides. It is for professional use not home grade electronics.

[@scmafia7515]

Wow so 18,000,000 lbs will make a silver ring. 😅😅😅

[@TheEcofarmer]

Do you have a metal shredder manufacturer you reccommend?

[@TheEcofarmer]

What welder gloves do you reccommend?