tin not melting?

[Oklahoma Rebel]

oh, no, first off the" tin " was in there a while before the shot, and also the shot didn't cover the slug completely, maybe 1/4 of it. smart guess though!

[Oklahoma Rebel]

im just going to combine my last batch with this one if I ever am able to get 3-4 lbs of tin, and probably add a little soft to help a bit with expansion.

[eagle27]

Did you say you had shot pellets stuck to the tin? Shot pellets are noted for having a hard shell that has to be crushed to fully melt, I am wondering if your tin was covered with pellet "hulls" so it wasn't getting the heat.

Shouldn't be any problem melting shot, I did about 10kgs of a shot size i didn't need anymore and it melted just like any other lead alloy I've used. It was Winchester extra hard chilled shot which from some research is likely to contain 4 - 5% antimony. I couldn't find any information on if chilled shot contains tin. Most just mention lead and antimony alloy which probably stands to reason as lead shot production is not trying to fill out a mold like bullet casting where the alloy needs tin to fill out the mold properly. I did try casting with my 'shot' alloy and it is obvious I'll need to get around to adding some tin to get good fill out.

[243winxb]

turkey fryer isn't working well,

Its not producing enough heat.

[Beagle333]

I was thinking, what if it was silver solder? wouldn't that raise its melting temp?

I use silver solder and mine is only 4% silver. It melts right in, like regular solder. I use a lot of it and you wouldn't know the difference from regular tin.

[RogerDat]

Its not producing enough heat.

That was sort of my second guess. Heat and temperature are not the same. A chunk will absorb heat, when it absorbs enough to get to melt point it melts. Torch provides less "heat" overall than a properly working fryer burner BUT it raises the temperature to the melt point in a concentrated area.

In cold weather I can have a molten pot of lead with some chunks inside it not fully melted, the chunks just haven't received and/or absorbed enough heat to melt the whole chunk. Further going from a solid to a liquid "sucks" energy. Same in reverse, ice melting "sucks" heat energy from a drink to melt, which cools the drink. So just as ice cube can exist and maintain shape for awhile in a drink a chunk of lead or lead alloy can maintain it's shape until it pulls in enough heat to raise the chunks temp above melting.

Ice cube hit with torch melts really fast, dropped in room temperature tea it takes awhile to really start melting and only the surface will melt to a minor amount at first.

[Oklahoma Rebel]

I also noticed that the "tin" has a chalky grey patina, which tin does not form if I am not mistaken. oh well, I have decided to make some money and order some tin. really cant afford it, but there no way that I can leave a batch un-done and improperly mixed. it would drive me crazy. once I get it right and mix it half an half with the prior batch I am going to add 40lbs, or 20lbs of pure for each batch. because when this stuff ages for a while it gets hard. if I throw a muffin ingot as hard as I can down onto concrete it makes a small dent and thats it. I want a bit more expansion that it has show as well. thanks for all the input!-Travis

[Oklahoma Rebel]

so the end alloy will be more like 4%sb-4%sn-91.6%pb-.4%cu. I think with the way the first batch performed ( pretty hard but still deformed on impact, not quite a mushroom, more like a rivet) this change in the amount of certain ingredient will perform very well at the velocities it will see.

[John Boy]

Bismuth melting temperature ... 520.7 °F, lower than Pb at 620 F
Zinc melting temperature - 787 F
OK, let's try Linotype if the hardness test says it's about 22 Bhn ... melting temperature - 1167 F

[Oklahoma Rebel]

are you really saying linotypes melting point is 1167? u sure you don't mean antimony?

[USSR]

Sorry, but linotype melts at 462 degrees, much less than pure lead.

Don

[Grmps]

Some copper sulfate and you make "bad stuff" into really good stuff

[Oklahoma Rebel]

you talkin about zinc? I know all about copper sulfate, this batch and my last has CS in it

[Oklahoma Rebel]

i melted the chunk that wouldn't melt in the pot with a torch, and a piece that was 3/16ths (apx.) thick bent with a bit of difficulty( but when i melted it it still had shot stuck to it, they both melted at the same time,) so hooray! it isn't zinc! anyways it was a bit hard to bend and it didn't creak or crackle like tin supposedly does ( I've never heard it) so now that i don't need to worry that it was zinc, i just have to scrape up the funds for 1-3lb bar of tin from orisolo, then find a new burner, well i found the one i want, i gotta find the money, then i just have to mix my two batches so they are identical. then i'll be set!lol