Real Pewter???

[500MAG]

I have been collecting up pewter to melt down and have some pieces from the Wilton company marked "RWP". Now, in many antique stores, I notice they mark them as being solid pewter. I have heard, from some sources that they are not. Have any of you had experience with these? Are they ok to smelt for mixing and casting?

[shotman]

dont know about that name but pure pewter is easy to scratch and most is from England. Much of what I see listed on ebay has a yellow tint so would guess it has some copper to make it harder. Wouldnt hurt boolits

[Fugowii]

I have been collecting up pewter to melt down and have some pieces from the Wilton company marked "RWP". Now, in many antique stores, I notice they mark them as being solid pewter. I have heard, from some sources that they are not. Have any of you had experience with these? Are they ok to smelt for mixing and casting?

No. They are not pewter. You should be able to bend anything pewter. The RWP stuff is an alloy
that is pretty hard. Definitely not pewter.

I got some of this from this forum. Apologies to the poster whom I cannot remember.

Pewter Characteristics

Tin melts at 449.47 deg. F.

When you get started look for items that have PEWTER written on the bottom.

I pour mine in mini-muffin ingots that weigh 1-2 ozs each, about .125-.25" thick. I weigh each ingot on a postal shipping scale and write the weight on it with a permanent marker.

You'll see stuff that says WILTON or ARMETALE or PEWTEREX on the bottom, or RWP on it. This is NOT pewter. It's got zinc in it and when you try to bend it, it will hardly budge.

If it is tack welded or screwed together, it isn’t pewter.

If it has a rivet, it's not pewter.

Pewter is not magnetic.

When you bend pewter, it will not try to return to its former shape.

Most pewter I find has a smooth non-porous surface, but is not shiny.

[500MAG]

No. They are not pewter. You should be able to bend anything pewter. Those are an alloy
that is pretty hard. Definitely not pewter.

Thanks. I know that some of the thicker pewter plates would be hard to bend, but something didn't seem right about these pieces. I was worried about throwing them in to smelt with other items that I know are pewter and ruining the whole batch.

[gbrown]

There is an older thread on this forum about pewter hallmarks. I would look at that. English and Dutch hallmarks are a good indicator. Wilton, generally, is aluminum. I am not an expert, by any means. Just saying.

[dpaultx]

From the FAQ page of the Wilton/Armetale web site.

Q: What is the metal content of the Wilton Armetale?
A: Wilton Armetale is a Metal mixture of over 10 different metals with the primary metal being Aluminum. Almost all of the Wilton Armetale products are safe to cook, bake, broil, grill, chill and use for serving.

Many antique dealers, and most estate sale "liquidators", can't tell the difference and mistakenly think that Wilton, RWP, is real pewter and price it accordingly.

Pass it by.

[imashooter2]

There is an older thread on this forum about pewter hallmarks. I would look at that. English and Dutch hallmarks are a good indicator. Wilton, generally, is aluminum. I am not an expert, by any means. Just saying.

http://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?t=127929

[lwknight]

Wilton Armatale priced as junk pewter is a real find. Armatale is quite pricey and near indestructible.

[imashooter2]

Wilton Armatale priced as junk pewter is a real find. Armatale is quite pricey and near indestructible.

As long as you want it for tableware anyway...

[lwknight]

I tried to melt some Armatale with a plumbers torch. I could not even hurt it.
So I figured that at least I could bake supper in it.

[jonnymac1963]

It's an aluminum/pewter product

[303Guy]

As long as you want it for tableware anyway...

I wouldn't eat anything that's been in contact with aluminum! Aluminum ingestion is associated with dementia although it is a long term thing. It's not been proven though.

[imashooter2]

I wouldn't eat anything that's been in contact with aluminum! Aluminum ingestion is associated with dementia although it is a long term thing. It's not been proven though.

If you eat store bought food, you most likely eat things that have been in contact with aluminum every day. Too much oxygen kills. So does too little.

[303Guy]

If you eat store bought food, you most likely eat things that have been in contact with aluminum every day.

Oh heck! I've been blissfully unaware. Mind you, in my parts everything related to food handling is stainless steel and I mean everything.

Oxygen in toxic like many things in high concentrations. Funny thing about oxygen is that it's not the lack of oxygen that hurts but the build up of CO2. But we digress. Some pewter is food quality and as such contains no lead. That makes no difference to us. High copper pewter is of interest but only has 1% copper max as far as I can make out.

I'd say that if it looks like pewter and melts at the right temperature then it should be good.