Pewter pictures and hallmarks...

[jsizemore]

$2.25 for 2 lbs is a great price. At twice that price you still did good. Go find some more.

[duckey]

I was given a Benedict 411 pitcher to use for casting boolits. I have never used pewter when I smelted lead down, so I am curious as to the % of tin in this pitcher. Now if I understand correctly tin can make your lead harder. Is this correct?

[imashooter2]

Yes, tin has minor hardening properties. Previous page lists additional benefits of tin. Your pitcher is likely 92 -94% tin.

[konsole]

htuong95,

How tall is that pitcher? I have 3 of those Daalderop flat handle pitchers and the two tallest ones are 10". I was going to say yours is more around 1-lb 4-oz because thats what the 10" pitchers are, but yours looks taller then that.

[htuong95]

It is about 13" and weighs 35.3 oz.

[imashooter2]

It is about 13" and weighs 35.3 oz.

Well, you didn't get hurt too badly then.

[konsole]

wow thats a tall pitcher. I have a mini version of that pitcher also at 6" tall.

[konsole]

Anyone want to hold a contest to see who can find the largest/smallest/heaviest/lightest pieces?

[htuong95]

Found more pewter today. The vase was priced at $4.98 and the sugar bowl was $14.98. I passed on both items.



Found this figurine behind the counter. Not sure if it was pewter or not. It feels heavy like it was made of cast iron. It has Italy Pertro on the back. I am assuming Peltro means pewter. It was priced too high, so I passed on this as well. I will check back on these items in the next two weeks when the prices come down.


Thanks to this thread, I've been spotting pewter left and right. It is actually kind of fun.

[imashooter2]

Anyone want to hold a contest to see who can find the largest/smallest/heaviest/lightest pieces?

Jsizemore has already reported an 8 pound plus platter. That crushes any single piece I've found. I believe I've got a couple of small pieces listed here. I've found tiny pieces... ornaments and jewelry that I haven't bought or haven't listed. Everything I post here is hallmarked stuff and lately, just new marks or new variations of old marks. My largest single score was over 70 pounds in one buy. I've gotten over 50 pounds in a single buy several times. I'm sure others have done very well for themselves too.

[konsole]

The largest piece I have found is a Gorham Octette pitcher at 2-lb 6-oz, and the smallest are 1.75-oz concert tags

[imashooter2]

The largest piece I have found is a Gorham Octette pitcher at 2-lb 6-oz, and the smallest are 1.75-oz concert tags

The heaviest I have pictured is the 2 pound 8.8 ounce tray in post 166. I have found four 14.5 inch trays that went over 3.5 pounds each, but no pics. Lightest pictured is probably the salts with the glass inserts. Way under an ounce net after they were peeled.

[duckey]

I melted down that Benedict 411 pewter pitcher I posted about a couple dats ago. It weighed 1.75 lbs. Final weight of all ingots was 1.50 lbs. I skimmed lots of **** off after it melted down. fluxed it, wasn't quiet sure if that was needed but I didn't think it would hurt anything.

[imashooter2]

I melted down that Benedict 411 pewter pitcher I posted about a couple dats ago. It weighed 1.75 lbs. Final weight of all ingots was 1.50 lbs. I skimmed lots of **** off after it melted down. fluxed it, wasn't quiet sure if that was needed but I didn't think it would hurt anything.

There should have been less than an ounce of dry powdery waste on an item like that.

[duckey]

Well there was a lot of powder waste. Many 3 tbsp worth. I also lost a smal piece of the pewter as I was hacking it up, it wizzed past my head and went somewhere in my lawn. This pitcher had tarnish inside and out which I prolly where the powder came from. It was not shiny like some of the pewter on this thread.

[imashooter2]

Still a lot of waste.

The best tools for getting pewter ready for the pot are a bench vise and a 3 pound maul. Grab the handle in the vise and twist it off. Then use the hammer to crush the body into a small diameter tube as required. Then feed the long pieces into the pot as they melt. Too much effort trying to make it into small pieces.

[konsole]

Still a lot of waste.

The best tools for getting pewter ready for the pot are a bench vise and a 3 pound maul. Grab the handle in the vise and twist it off. Then use the hammer to crush the body into a small diameter tube as required. Then feed the long pieces into the pot as they melt. Too much effort trying to make it into small pieces.

take a heavy hammer to bowls, and plates will bend in half with your hands. Turn the heat up and you will have a couple pounds melted very quickly, and at that point new pewter will melt so fast in the molten pewter that you can just about push new pieces against the bottom of the pot and watch it disappear. I think its a good idea to turn the heat back down for a few minutes before fluxing and pouring because the molten pewter develops a layer of red/golden color thats probably oxidation from the high heat. Or maybe its the copper separating?

[jsizemore]

Keeping the temp under 500F will cut down on the colors and oxidation.

[ncbearman]

Keeping the temp under 500F will cut down on the colors and oxidation.

I agree. Low and slow, no need to hurry. Might as well come out with "shiny/pretty" ingots.
Same goes for smelting your lead the first time. Keep it just above melt temp and you will sort out any zinc or steel that might have slipped by your first sorting. With little or no contamination of your melt.

[konsole]

Keeping the temp under 500F will cut down on the colors and oxidation.

Fluxing will combine the oxidized metals back into the melt, so might as well turn up the heat when melting known pewter to get it melted fast. Then after its all melted, turn down the heat and let it sit on low heat for a few minutes and then flux those colors back into the melt.