Good sources for scrap tin?

[sheepdog]

Other then begging for solder from places or melting down pewter is there a better way to salvage junk tin? Paying $10 a pound just seems crazy.

[leadeye]

Going to sales is the cheapest route. I pick up pewter at home sales and odds and ends at industrial ones. Most of the tin I aquired I got at an industrial sale where they had lots of boxes of tin artist paint tubes that had gotten soaked. The boxes were in bad shape and I got enough to fill two 50 cal ammo boxes with ingots for $5.:-D

[Down South]

I got enough to fill two 50 cal ammo boxes with ingots for $5.
Now that's a deal that none of us could pass up.

[sheepdog]

Going to sales is the cheapest route. I pick up pewter at home sales and odds and ends at industrial ones

Just not sure how to spot something as tin or pewter. I picked up some "pewter" at a sale once, ended up being brass with a pewter dip. Uggh. Any tips on how to spot whats what?

[Gunslinger]

I've had good luck at thrift shops. We have one in town I visit on a regular basis. I'm usually able to charm the two old ladies who work there into some good discounts :twisted:

They had a 50% off last week... this is what I scored for $5:

Soup ladle
Ladle for skimming
Cast iron wok
4 lbs (yes 4 :mrgreen:) of tin in the shape of old vases and bowls...

Pretty good day. I had a friend with me, I don't ever think he'd seen anyone get so excited over 7 old tin bowls and some throw-away kitchen equipment :-D

[sheepdog]

I've had good luck at thrift shops. We have one in town I visit on a regular basis. I'm usually able to charm the two old ladies who work there into some good discounts :twisted:

They had a 50% off last week... this is what I scored for $5:

Soup ladle
Ladle for skimming
Cast iron wok
4 lbs (yes 4 :mrgreen:) of tin in the shape of old vases and bowls...

Pretty good day. I had a friend with me, I don't ever think he'd seen anyone get so excited over 7 old tin bowls and some throw-away kitchen equipment :-D


Any tips on spotting real pewter or at least what to watch out for?

[Gunslinger]

Any tips on spotting real pewter or at least what to watch out for?

Well... the vases and bowls around here are mostly stamped "Tin" on the back. I even have one stamped "Pewter". We also get a lot from Norway which is stamped "Tinn". When I come across items without stamps I usually ask the old ladies running the shop, they're pretty good at recognizing tin :razz:

Tin bends easilly and is usually pretty dull. Never seen it polished tin. If I'm not quite sure if it's tin or not, I just pay the $2 - $3 for it and ask my pops when I get home... he usually knows.

[deltaenterprizes]

Try a radiator shop for the drippings of solder.

[targetshootr]

I've got one of those 8x10' metal storage sheds I'm going to take apart and put by the curb. Any chance it has tin?

[glicerin]

Metal sheds are often referred to as tin, but are actually painted or galvanized steel(try a magnet). Babbit metal is a source of tin, between 20 and 80%.

[sheepdog]

Metal sheds are often referred to as tin, but are actually painted or galvanized steel(try a magnet). Babbit metal is a source of tin, between 20 and 80%.

Where does one find Babbitt metal these days though? Thought it was pretty much non-existent these days?

[jonk]

Well if you want pure, I can't help... but as I just said in another post, buying rolls of 95/5 solder is always an option. I was fortunate enough to hit a hardware store going out of business and bought everything at half price or less, so a bunch of the 95/5 solder for $1.25 each. That's mainly tin, and some antimony to boot.

Even at full price you should be able to get it for $3.50-$4 per roll, still a lot better than buying pure virgin tin at $10 per pound.

[Ole]

How do you guys tell if a plate is pewter?

[Timberland]

I see stuff made out of tin in thrift stores all the time, problem is, its usually copper plated. One time I was using a copper spoon to skim took me a wile to figure out why my mix had gold stuff on the top. The copper skims of well, it might make sence to just melt down the cheap tin home wears.

[Nazgul]

Ask at the radiator shops. I scored about 150 lbs of scrap from their tanks last year. It made about 90 lbs of 50/50 ingots - lots of sand and dross. The owner was glad to get rid of it.

Don

[Gunslinger]

Ask at the radiator shops. I scored about 150 lbs of scrap from their tanks last year. It made about 90 lbs of 50/50 ingots - lots of sand and dross. The owner was glad to get rid of it.

Don

Is that pure tin? If not than what does it contain? And what excatly should I ask for?

[Nazgul]

Sorry I wasn't more specific. It is the solder that drops into their water tank. It is 50/50 tin/lead solder.

Usually is full of dirt and debris, so I would recommend casting it into ingots first. That way you have an idea how much tin you are adding to your alloy.

Don

P.S.-They may want YOU to clean it out of the tanks.

[GLL]

Gunslinger:

Here is what the cleaned "drippings" look like from the radiator shop tank. A 75 pound bucket of the "sludge" produced 22 pounds of nice 60/40 ingots shown in the second photo. It is a very messy/stinky operation and you need to use caution because of the volatized antifreeze !

You also end up with 50-60 pounds of "crap" leftover ! :)

Jerry

http://www.fototime.com/7D15931F35477FE/standard.jpg

http://www.fototime.com/3D9E4C790723581/standard.jpg

[Gunslinger]

GLL.

Thanks for the pictures. I know where there is a radiator shop here in town. Have seen them mentioned before in connection with tin.... I think it's worth checking out. With the small amout of tin needed, one visit should last me years...

[Bert2368]

The definition of "junk" is something you thow out two weeks before you realize you need it. Guess what- I threw out better than 50 lb. of sheet Tin that had been used as weather stripping at a 1920's apartment building. They had double hung windows, and on their vertical sides the wooden sashes had grooves that ran on V shaped strips of Tin which were tacked to the frames. All removed for new style energy efficient windows, I kept the parts for some other buildings with the same hardware. Definitely pure Tin, I checked with a magnet and confirmed by the old window & door guys replacing the windows. Kept a barrel of them for years, threw them away when I ran out of storage.

Annyway, ask companies that retrofit windows in old buildings...

[targetshootr]

I bet tin doesn't rust like my shed which is why they used to use it on roofs.