Tin value

[Divedigger]

I found a softball size chunk of tin (will check with machine) and he priced it at $1 lb. Will the machine tell the % tin content and what is the price per % ? Thanks

[MaryB]

Tin is ~ $21 a pound from rotometals so if it is 50% multiply 21x.50, 75 % 21x.75 etc etc etc...

[Divedigger]

Thanks Thats what was I was looking for

[kevin c]

Certified pure tin will cost around that (I saw ads today from metals dealers for as low as $14.50 a pound, but that was in bulk and didn't include shipping).

You can buy pewter (92.5% tin for modern food service items) in the S&S forums for around 9 or 10 dollars a pound shipped, and if your scrounge for it yourself, it can be much less (my stash, accumulated over the past two to three years, averages out to a bit under three dollars a pound, but, of course, discounts my time and effort to find it).

If I am considering buying something like lead or tin, my price point isn't going to be retail pricing; I'm too cheap for that. I compare to S&S or what it would cost me to scrounge it myself, plus a bit more for the hassle I save if I buy rather than hunt it down personally.

ETA: if it is a dollar a pound and is a solder alloy, it would be a good deal in my book, since pure lead is about $1/# and tin is much more.

ETA: are you buying or selling? Since a profit needs to be made, any metals recycler will only give you a fraction of the wholesale price of the metal.

[RogerDat]

I sort of use 2/3 of the Rotometals price as a starting point absent any other information. The S&S forum a forum search can yield a more specific current market price. Pay attention to the post dates in the search. Those prices do fluctuate.

If your tin percentage puts you in the range of a regular solder percentage I would use that solder price rather than the value of the "pure" tin amount if it could be extracted. Having 10 lb. chunk of 40% tin 60% lead is not the same as having 4 lbs. of pure tin and 6 lbs. of lead. It is much more directly comparable to the value of 40/60 solder.

"Pure" tends to command at least a small premium over the same amount in an alloy. Take 10# of 30% Sn solder. Purchased it would cost $81.70 It has 3# of tin that as pure bars would be $22 a pound. The 7# of lead as 1# ingots would be $3 a pound for $21 so the "pure" components would have an $87 cost. Right now the difference is $5 on a 10# purchase but it does vary and pure will tend to be a touch more than the alloy of those ingredients.

I guess from a usage perspective it matters too. Pewter is often preferred to solder because the pewter allows adding only tin to the mix (well mostly just tin) Where solder sufficient to get same amount of tin will add plain lead which will tend to soften the cast bullets a bit. Pure tin allows for a pretty precise percentage in the final alloy. There is also shipping. A USPS SFRB of tin or pewter is a significant amount of tin. That same box full of solder is less tin for the same shipping.

There are times when Sn/Pb solder is just what you want. Hollow point or hollow base bullets are a good example. Where the soft pliable alloy is an advantage. Or black powder cartridge shooting where lead tin alloy is the authentic bullet alloy. Pewter would introduce antimony and probably some copper. Any 5% or 10% body solder I find is set aside for those use cases because it is just the right ingredient for the recipes. No point in using it if I have a different alternative.

[jdfoxinc]

According to LME London metals exchange tin is $10.95/lb.