pewter smelting ?

[XWrench3]

before i go off the deep end, and buy a bunch of pewter (we are going to a large flea market in 2 weeks), how difficult is it to get the tin back out of pewter, and what percetage of it is tin? or do you just cut it up and use it as is? when i first started casting, i found a deal on some tin/antimony solder that i could not pass up:holysheep, but that is getting depleated rapidly. i have seen others talking about pewter as a tin source, but i did not pay close enough attention.:groner: also, how much is a good price for pewter? should i figure anything that is lower priced than buying tin is good?

[fryboy]

some pewter is questionable , marked pewter is usually a good do , and mostly tin , in these cases we treat as tin , some pewter is a tin lead alloy and much softer ( it seems ) this i treat as much more like a solder of unknown composition , as for a good price .... the cheaper the better of course but it does vary , i have much more luck at yard sales and thrift stores ( especially those who mark it down regularly if it doesnt sell ) for the good stuff under about $8 a pound is less than scrap price , my best buy ? an old silver plated food warmer , the heater holder was brass , the big ring copper and the 4 legs pewter ( lead mixed ) 4 + #'s for .99 cents , it was a gamble tho that turned out well , belt buckles for a buck or so arent a bad deal if heavy and especially if the tab is broke perhaps even cheaper , but these should be marked pewter
as for getting the tin out of .... never tried that , just smelted like normal , a lil silver,copper,and antimony never hurts , too much wouldnt blend in and would be removed as dross IMHO as would misc. non desirable stuff ( nuts bolts etc) , i use a small dipper to make about 3 oz. lil dips and a regular ingot mold for adding to larger batches of alloy ( i really ought to get the lee ingot mold for this lolz )

edit for add...

take a piece of paper and try writing on it with the piece , lead writes almost like a pencil , tin not so much if at all , various alloy's all do differently - the more tin the less heavy of a line ( try it at home first to get the feel of it )

[jsizemore]

I pay $2-3/lb from flea markets or thrift shops.

I smelt mine into ingots that are between 2-3ozs. I use a 20lb bottom pour pot so if I'm topping my pot up with 15lbs of clipon WW, I'll add 1 1/2% pewter and the little ingots make it easier to get it right.

I get about 8oz of pewter from a Sheffield glass bottom beer stein/tankard.

Good Luck

[JIMinPHX]

I find it convenient to cast stuff like that in the smallest boolit molds that I have & then add a known number of tin boolits per ingot of lead when I mix up a batch of alloy to cast with.

[captain-03]

I find it convenient to cast stuff like that in the smallest boolit molds that I have & then add a known number of tin boolits per ingot of lead when I mix up a batch of alloy to cast with.

Great idea!

[Beerd]

and if it's marked "Pewtarex" don't waste your money.
..

[kawalekm]

By law, if the bottom of the piece is marked "Pewter" then the tin concentration must be at least 80%. Also, by law, the total lead content of any article stamped "Pewter" can not be greater than 18%. That is to prevent lead leaching out to contaminate foods contained in the piece.

Contemporary pewter is now 97% tin, 3% antimony (personal communication with a representive of the Selangor Pewter Company).

So, for whatever you pick up at the flea market if it is stamped with the word "pewter", assume it is somewhere between 80-97% tin.

Another rich source of tin you can get at the flea market is lead-free plumbing solder. I can sometimes pick up a used once roll for just a dollar. Select the one that says 95/5. That means it's 95% tin, 5% antimony. Don't however buy silver solder. Even regular solder is 50% tin, so I wouldn't pass on any used rolls of it if you can get it cheap.

What I myself finally did is to collect or the pewter dishes and rolls of solder I bought at my flea markets and melted them down together in my casting pot. I then poured out 16 oz ingots in a muffin pan and add one "muffin" the 19lbs of wheelweight alloy. That makes the Lyman#2 alloy that I use for basicly everything.

Good luck,
Michael

[wistlepig1]

I find it convenient to cast stuff like that in the smallest boolit molds that I have & then add a known number of tin boolits per ingot of lead when I mix up a batch of alloy to cast with.

Great idea Jim, why didn't I think of that:oops:

[1Shirt]

I buy all the dented/banged up pewter I find but only if it is marked as English pewter.
1Shirt!:coffee: