DIY Weights....Cleaning Lead

[Arkman]

I've done a lot of research on the DIY lead, and read a lot of post...often they refer to the lead "leaching" a white color. I've seen a couple post talk about cleaning the lead first but I've not seen anything that says how to clean it.

I'm planning on making a bunch of weight from some shot I have laying around and I'd really like to clean it so it doesn't leach a white color. Any suggestions?

I know the lead is going to continue to leach lead into the water...thats a problem I'd like to solve for me, but as of now I need to make ankle weights so I'd like to keep them flexible...eventually I'd like to do something like this.

baby steps...one problem at a time

 

[paddler3d]

So, are you wanting to inexpensively turn some shot into ankle weights.

For freediving I've taken shot and loaded it into bicycle tubes with clips so that I can put some weight around my neck. I have 2#, 3#, and 4# neck weights.

I'd say before you go through all that trouble, figure out why you need ankle weights.

If you're diving dry a lot of folks will switch to a fin that is more negative, like the XS Turtle Fins or SP Jet Fins.

Other than that, ankle weights aren't really helping or fixing anything.

I dive with a guy who swear he needs ankle weights. His feet are two floaty. I see how he dives. His feet definitely aren't floaty. He swims at a 30 degree angle and thinks he is horizontal.

 

[Arkman]

Ankle weights aside. The question still remains. Is there a good way to clean the lead so it doesn't leach and stain my equipment?

 

[emoreira]

As you say, let´s go step by step.
First, when you melt the lead, all the dust, paint, and other materials that come with the lead will form the slag that floats over the melted lead.
You need to avoid the slag to be poured into the weight mold. Now the lead in the mold, the new weight, is clean and shinny.
The lead of the weight, being it a solid weight or a soft weight will rust with salt water and form a fine film protecting the interior.
Soft weights are made with resistant cloth that will avoid it to make stains in your dive gear. Solid weights could possible make some stains in your gear but are rare. Normally no mark is left.
However, you could paint the solid weight with some water resistant paint like those used for pools or epoxy, or cover it with a plastic cover.
As you surelly could have seen in any dive boat, rented weights are never painted nor covered, only traces of old paint are left if they have ever being painted.
I did my own solid weights. For those to be used with the weight belt, no paint, no stain left nor in the weight belt nor in my gear.
For those to be used inside the weight pouches of the WI BCD, I've covered them with a 3 mm neoprene pocket just to avoid stains and make them less offensive for the BCD.
Hope this helps.

 

[nielsent]

the coolest way i have seen soft weights made so that the lead oxide will not stain things is by packaging the lead shot in vacuum pack bags. The vacuum food saver things that you get at costco or wal-mart does the job of vacuum packaging the shot into a water-tight bag that can essentially be any shape or size. these can then be packaged into whatever system you wish to design for your own weighting purposes.

--nielsent