Making Pewter Ingots

[GregLaROCHE]

I have a bunch of pewter mugs and bowls that I am ready to melt down to use in casting. I assume it’s best to smash them up before putting into into a Dutch oven to melt and things will speed up once I have some melted in the bottom. Next I plan to flux with sawdust as with lead. Is bee’s wax important at this time?

I pour my melted lead into an angle iron mold I made and get lead ingots weighing a little over two pounds. They are the perfect size to be put in My Lee electric pot for casting. Should I continue using the same mold or would it be better to make a smaller one for smaller ingots. What would be the ideal size for tin ingots?

Any other tips for this project ? Thanks.

[JM7.7x58]

I use a small ladle to fill the bottom of a muffin pan. This gives me “coins” of a consistent weight. If I need less than a “coins” worth it is easy to hold a coin with pliers and let half the coin melt into my lead pot.

I just use candle wax. It is pretty clean stuff to begin with.

[OS OK]

What size?
Figure what you want to do with them...

*Bring a pot of COWW's up to about 2% Tin (Sn)? ... so, add about 1.5% pewter per volume of the pot, if you were using a 10# pot you'd add 1.5% pewter, that's .015 x 10 pounds = .15 pounds of pewter.
.15 pounds times 16 ounces/pound = 2.4 ounces you would add to a 10 pound pot.

With large batches of 60/40 solder I have batched them up in coins in a mini muffin mould, just pour varying thicknesses of the bottom part of the muffin mould.
Weigh them, multiply that weight in your case by .92 (content of Sn in Pewter) and stamp them or write on them their actual Sn weight...stow them for use.

[lightman]

I would make or buy a smaller mold. The Lee ingot mold is pretty cheap and has 2 small cavities that would be great for pewter or solder. The small coin like ingots that OS pictures work well too.

[JimB..]

I have a few dozen stainless steel ramikens, the little cups that you get condiments in at some restaurants. Can pour coins or full cups, the coins cools very quickly.

[webfoot10]

Use the bottom of an empty soda can. The bottom has a nice rounded cavity, and makes
silver dollar sized ingots. Nice size for adding to the pot. Cheap too.

[Wheelguns 1961]

I make 45 caliber bullets out of tin. I can’t recall at the moment, but I think it takes me 8 bullets to get 2% in 15 pounds of coww.

[Misery-Whip]

I use a 4' chunk scrap oak hardwood flooring. It has 4 grooves on the bottom. I ladle the tin and gently pour into these grooves and slightly over fill them. What I get is tin sticks about 1' long and 1/2 inch thick. They arent as pretty as the coins made by OS OK.

[3leggedturtle]

I set my Lee ingot on top of an old hot plate and melt them down in that. At least for my short term storage right now.

[Conditor22]

I smelt my pewter like I smelt lead fluxing twice with both pine sawdust and wax. then I pour a clean empty casting pot full of pewter and turn the rest into large ingots.

I then cast ALL my pewter into .5 oz boolits for easy alloying and sweetening of the pot

[bangerjim]

I use the small LEE mold cavities and pour them only 1/4 full for all my Sn metals. I can either melt off a piece or snap it off in the vise. If I cast my Sn in boolits, I would probably end up PC'ing them and shooting them by accident!!!!!!

[GregLaROCHE]

I use the small LEE mold cavities and pour them only 1/4 full for all my Sn metals. I can either melt off a piece or snap it off in the vise. If I cast my Sn in boolits, I would probably end up PC'ing them and shooting them by accident!!!!!!

I’ve thought about casting tin into 500 grain boolits too, but I’m also afraid of getting them mixed up with lead boolits.

[ulav8r]

I’ve thought about casting tin into 500 grain boolits too, but I’m also afraid of getting them mixed up with lead boolits.

Find a lee mold for a 30 caliber or smaller bullet, Then bore the cavities out with a 3/8 to 1/2 inch drill bit. Use a depth stop on a drill press if it is a multi cavity mold so they will all be the same size.

If anyone has a damaged Lee mold they want to send me, I would be glad to accept. If you send two, I will modify both and return one.

[NyFirefighter357]

I use a 4' chunk scrap oak hardwood flooring. It has 4 grooves on the bottom. I ladle the tin and gently pour into these grooves and slightly over fill them. What I get is tin sticks about 1' long and 1/2 inch thick. They arent as pretty as the coins made by OS OK.

I have a stick/bar mold, I like it because you snip off what you need.

[GregLaROCHE]

Find a lee mold for a 30 caliber or smaller bullet, Then bore the cavities out with a 3/8 to 1/2 inch drill bit. Use a depth stop on a drill press if it is a multi cavity mold so they will all be the same size.

If anyone has a damaged Lee mold they want to send me, I would be glad to accept. If you send two, I will modify both and return one.

That’s an interesting idea. A shame to sacrifice a mold though.

[MrWolf]

Use the bottom of an empty soda can. The bottom has a nice rounded cavity, and makes
silver dollar sized ingots. Nice size for adding to the pot. Cheap too.

That is what I did when I was lucky enough to find some pewter. I do like the idea of using a bullet mould.

[cwlongshot]

I just do as others have said and use my largest bullet Mold. Its a BP Great Plains bullet and casts up right at 1/2 oz. perfect for my uses.

CW

[GregLaROCHE]

I’m wondering if I should get some small angle iron and cast thin but very long ingots that I can cut or snip off the amount I need.

[OS OK]

I’m wondering if I should get some small angle iron and cast thin but very long ingots that I can cut or snip off the amount I need.

Not a bad idea...I tried that some time back, it's easy to snip the exact weight your after.



I've also done the .45 cal 405 gn. casts too ... that's easy and quick & we really don't need to weigh to the digit exact amounts anyway if were talking sweetening the pot some.



I made a mess of where I poured in the melt, it tends to splatter but that can be trimmed easy enough so they'll store in a plastic jar easier.

[dondiego]

I have a duck decoy weight mold. It works well for strips.