Weight making

    Picked up 2 Pursuit belts on sunday(very comfy & nice and robust while remaining very flexible/stretchy). Then stopped by the LDS to find that lead is $3/lb seems ridiculous to me. So i've picked up a 2lb mold to start making my own weights and although it was $25 I can now make unlimited weights because I get old lead wheel weights at work for free. My first attempt went poorly and i didnt melt enough lead and it cooled too quickly in the mold. To top it off I then overfilled the mold and it was a bear to get out. OK so that one went back onto the stove for round two. Second weight came out much nicer, so heres the things I changed: wiped mold with wd40 (small amounts because the stuff is flammable) then I preheated the mold to 350 in the oven to help keep the lead temps up while I poured. Not overfilling the mold and removing the weight while it was still warm(too hot to touch without welders gloves) made life easy. Now its cooling in the garage and the only thing I see that might be a bitch is that the belt is thick and the holes in the weight are fairly thin. Does anybody have any simple suggestions? Using a file would be way too time consuming and not make it worthwhile. I'll post pics shortly


    the mold side came out great

    as you can see it was cooling too quickly and I overfilled the mold

    Damage from trying to pry it out due to overfilling and poor technique

    Edited once, last by mrmike ().

    Don't cook lead indoors, lead fumes are bad for you. Use an outdoor propane burner. Warm the mold at the same time as the lead is cooking. You can use soldering wire to tell you when the mold is the right temp, if you touch it and the wire melts it's good. Soot is a good release agent. There's some stuff you can buy in a spray can that is soot like and is used for this application. Make sure you skim the top of the melted lead and get rid of all the impurities.

    thanks Dan, I guess I should have talked to you more about it the other day while I was over. I do it indoors but the way my house is situated I open all the windows and the breeze down my canal blows air all through the house. outdoors would be better but between that and the microwave hood im ok with doing it indoors right now, plus the mold baking in the oven is convenient. also I read about both soot and wd40 and wd40 was just more convenient today and worked out, but I will try soot sometime in the future.

    OK so using lube, both hands and one foot(seriously) I was able to get the weight on the belt. I am going to try to go melt some lead out back and see if I can get good results on a second consecutive weight.

    Tin Man - I put on my big boy pants and just forced it, it's tight but like LB said they certainly won't be going anywhere. If I have to shape/modify any I will remember that. Thank you


    Dan - It was mostly starting it, I noticed the the end of the belt was a bit thicker than the rest. I'm guessing a forming or shaping side effect, but I don't know. I cut the belt down with a pair of scissors (the belt goes around me 1 3/4 times so I figured I could spare it) and was able to work the first inch or so on with some effort and water. After that I would stand on it (in my socks on carpet just to be sure I didn't damage it) and stretch it with one arm and work it down using my wetsuit lube and other hand.


    I got the weight where I needed it and just finished making another one out back, now that I've figured the process out I'll begin to streamline it. As long as I can keep getting a healthy supply of lead from work I'll continue to make weights eventually in excess of my personal needs.

    Mike, the front of the belt needs to be reshaped. I'm not talking about you cutting it square and making it round again. I mean reshaping to make it easy to start the belt through the weight. I'm going to do a little video on it when I get a chance because many guys need this done. You'll need a utility knife, steel straight edge, a belt sander and a small block of wood to put even pressure on the belt end. The belt ends up being tapered width and thickness wise. Once done putting on even pinch weights is a cinch.

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