Tin?? Where do you get yours??

[Lizard333]

I was wondering where you get your tin from, I am having a hard time finding it. Any help at all would helpful.

[R.M.]

I normally buy lead-free solder, the 95-5 stuff, but last week I ordered from Roto-Metals. Ordered on-line, and it was here in 3 days. Cheaper than solder too when you get over $100.00's worth and get the free shipping.

[jsizemore]

Pewter. yard sales, flea market, thrift shop.

[bumpo628]

People sell it in the swapping & selling section from time to time. Maybe 'man.electric' still has some left.

[plainsman456]

I buy 1 or 2 rolls of the 95/5 solid solder every month or so.
Around here it sells for about 15.00 a pound/roll.

[zomby woof]

expired solder

[Echo]

EBay - I pay up to $10/lb delivered. It is often available there, sometime as solder, sometime as tin-rich alloy. The last I bought was 88% Sn, the rest whatever. Since it will be alloyed at a 2-3% rate, the 'whatever' fades into obscurity.

[mold maker]

Get on Roto Metals E mail list. They often put it on sale, offer free shipping, or both. I have about given up on flea markets, and Goodwill type stores. Either someone there is a caster or there is just none sold there anymore.
I did find 37 .45 lb "Pewter" marked what-not trinkets at a close out sale, for .50 ea.
Bet ya can't guess how many I bought.

[wiljen]

Last I bought, I bought a case of 95/5 solder (Dutchboy Brand) at $7 a lbs Roll x 24 rolls. The fact that the remaining 5% is antimony is just a side benefit in my estimation.


Taracorp makes Dutch boy and several other brands which are likely to share the same composition.

[plainsman456]

And a little bit of 95/5 goes a long ways.

[bumpo628]

Man.electric just got some more 99.3% Tin in stock, FYI.
Should still be $8 / lb, minimum 5 lbs per order (includes shipping).

He said he's going to start a new thread, but here's the old one.
http://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?t=106286&page=5

[Ole]

I bought a lot of it on ebaY over the past couple years. I was lucky enough to catch a few good deals that seemed to sneak under the radar.

Best deal I've ever got was 16lbs of mixed 50/50, 40/60, and 60/40 acid core for $33 total cost, including shipping. Best deal I ever got (not ebaY) was when Graingers was selling some 63/37 solder on clearance for under $3/lb.

Best deal i've gotten recently was some 63/37 5# rolls from ebaY for $20 + shipping. I bought 4 rolls and the seller got them all in a USPS flat rate box.

It seems like now a days a lot more folks bid on the ebaY solder so the deals aren't as good.

I was bidding on some 63/37 bars the other day. My max bid was $72.xx for 25# and the lot ended up going for over $240. I'm not buying anywhere near that price, as I think I have plenty. :mrgreen:

[Digger]

some body has to thro in there local radiator shop drippings .... walking away with a couple five gallon buckets , 30 plus pounds in one pound ingots on the shelf with one more bucket to smelt ..... for the occasional 12 pack of pepsi or a box of donuts .........:rolleyes:

[blasternank]

Tagged for future reference. Thanks for this info guys!

[garym1a2]

If you get a lot of scrap sodler, how can you tell its mix accuratly and cheaply. I have 230 lbs of scrap solder from a wave machine and other places, msotly 63/37. but I have no way to tell what it is and would hate to waste it.

P.S. I am not looking to sell it.

[bumpo628]

If you get a lot of scrap sodler, how can you tell its mix accuratly and cheaply. I have 230 lbs of scrap solder from a wave machine and other places, msotly 63/37. but I have no way to tell what it is and would hate to waste it. P.S. I am not looking to sell it.

Aside from having it tested at either a scrap yard or lab, you could melt it and compare the temperature to the numbers below from the sticky on melting points.

621° = lead (metal)
563° = solder (9 parts wt. lead & 1 part wt. tin) (metal)
529° = solder (8 parts wt. lead & 2 parts wt. tin) (metal)
504° = solder (7 parts wt. lead & 3 parts wt. tin) (metal)
464° = solder (6 parts wt. lead & 4 parts wt. tin) (metal)
428° = solder (5 parts wt. lead & 5 parts wt. tin) (metal)
374° = solder (4 parts wt. lead & 6 parts wt. tin) (metal)
365° = solder (3 parts wt. lead & 7 parts wt. tin) (metal)
392° = solder (2 parts wt. lead & 8 parts wt. tin) (metal)
421° = solder (1 part wt. lead & 9 parts wt. tin) (metal)
450° = tin (metal)

Your sample should melt around 370°

[jbelder]

some body has to thro in there local radiator shop drippings .... walking away with a couple five gallon buckets , 30 plus pounds in one pound ingots on the shelf with one more bucket to smelt ..... for the occasional 12 pack of pepsi or a box of donuts .........:rolleyes:

I have a buddy that has a radiator shop he uses 40/60!!! He gave me one 5 gal bucket that totaled about 70lbs after smelting!! Expecting another shortly, tons of dross though.

[t_dickinson]

I found 2 radiator shops that use 60/40. First guy just lets is drop on the floor and picks it up in big disks. 65 lbs FREE so I handed him $10 for lunch and said I'd take all he had whenever he had it. He said okay!

2nd guy has half floor, half tank and just got rid of 400lbs for $200. I will hit him up in 60 days and pay 50 cents/lb.

I also found wire solder in 6/5lb rolls for $25 each. Called "acid core" they will be there if I go back for sure but don't know if I want them or not.

Do I want them?

[40-82 hiker]

I also found wire solder in 6/5lb rolls for $25 each. Called "acid core" they will be there if I go back for sure but don't know if I want them or not.

Do I want them?

If the tin content is high enough to warrant the price, here is what I do:

Smelt the solder in a pot outdoors, and use sawdust to soak up the acid flux that will rise to the top of the lead, skimming it off. Watch out for the fumes (stay upwind of any breeze - I wear a respirator, though I don't know if I need to). You don't want to use your casting pot to smelt the solder in. Look up the melting temp for the particular solder alloy and stay within reason of that, and it will work out okay. After the acid flux is soaked up, flux good with sawdust to make sure you got all of the acid flux (probably stearate) and take care of any oxidation.

Once you have smelted the solder to get rid of the acid flux, there are no remaining issues with the alloy.

[JSnover]

I normally buy lead-free solder, the 95-5 stuff, but last week I ordered from Roto-Metals. Ordered on-line, and it was here in 3 days. Cheaper than solder too when you get over $100.00's worth and get the free shipping.
Same for me. A couple of years ago I bought a pile of Babbitt from another member. Solved my tin problem for the foreseeable future.

[imashooter2]

I found 2 radiator shops that use 60/40. First guy just lets is drop on the floor and picks it up in big disks. 65 lbs FREE so I handed him $10 for lunch and said I'd take all he had whenever he had it. He said okay!

2nd guy has half floor, half tank and just got rid of 400lbs for $200. I will hit him up in 60 days and pay 50 cents/lb.

I also found wire solder in 6/5lb rolls for $25 each. Called "acid core" they will be there if I go back for sure but don't know if I want them or not.

Do I want them?

If I had 200 pounds of 60/40 at 50 cents a pound and the prospect of pretty much never ending resupply every 60 days, there is just no way I'd mess with acid core solder.

[Beagle333]

I was buying the occasional solder and pewter from the guys on S&S, and it worked great, and I had a nice little carefully rationed collection of it for my shooting needs. But I just scored 100# of solder in a sweet deal so I'm prolly set until they need to melt the last of it to put some shiny silver letters on my marker.
But my advice as to where to get it cheap would still be right here from the guys selling on S&S. It's hard to beat the price, quality and service they offer.

[rollmyown]

I buy my 50/50 solder for lead price at my recycler. I costs $3.00 a kilo (about $150 a pound). That makes the tin about $3 a pound. They put it aside for me and I usually get between 5 and 20 sticks when I check in. Dirt cheap.
My 5 gallon solder bucket looks very healthy.

[9w1911]

so far I just get it here on castboolits