PEWTER. Why?

[fusil]

Bonjour mes amies,
my local scrap merchant had a box of damaged pewter beer mugs. He wants €10, theres about 10 or 12 in the box.:-?
I read somewhere about using pewter. Cant remember where or why.
Please enlighten me.:roll:
Merci,
fusil

[sqlbullet]

Pewter is almost all tin, with some copper, antimony and lead in variants. Given that these were meant for drinking from, I would doubt much lead.

They should be treated like a very high tin content babbit metal and used very sparingly to add tin to a given alloy for better fill out. If there is copper, it may act as a grain refiner to increase quenched hardness.

[fusil]

Merci,
is it easy to smelt into ingots?:confused:
fusil

[docone31]

Melts lower than lead.

[kawalekm]

Historicly the metal could not be called pewter unless it contained no less than 82% tin, and no more than 18% lead. Contemporary pewter is lead-free, consisting of 97% tin and 3% antimony (Selangor Pewter Works, personal tour). So, any old scrap tinware that is stamped with the word "pewter" is at least 82% tin, but if newer then it will be as high as 97%.

I have gotten a lot of scrap pewter both from the local flea market, and also from the Selangor factory, and add 5% pewter to all my alloys. Assuming my wheelweight lead is on average 0-0.5% tin, adding 1lb of pewter to 19lbs of WW will give me alloy with at least 4.0 and at most 5.0% tin. This is wonderful alloy, and I can cast beautiful bullets with it.
Michael

[leadeye]

You find a lot of this stuff at garage sales and auctions here in the states and I have averaged about $1.50 per pound in the last year which is much less than buying the tin outright. It has been a steady economical source of tin for me.[smilie=s:

[fusil]

Salut amies,
might be a stupid question but when you smelt pewter do you need to flux.:confused:
I'll be melting down the pewter mugs this weekend and just wanted to know.
Merci,
fusil
[smilie=s:

[Bill*]

I'm sure it can't hurt...Someone here will tell you for sure

[sqlbullet]

Yes, flux.

Flux initiates an oxygen reduction reaction where oxygen molecules are drawn away from the dross, allowing oxidized metals to rejoin the melt. As you heat the pewter, the tin and other component metals will oxidize at the top layer where they meet the air. Fluxing will reduce the loss to this oxidation.

[fusil]

Merci tout le monde,
my Grandad always said 'the stupid question is the one you dont ask'.
As usual he was right. :-D

fusil