Pewter mini-ingots

[bpratl]

I picked up a couple of pounds of pewter last week and smelted them into small mini ingots. I know there is a small amount of Cu in pewter; but all the ingots, that I poured, have a noticeable copper color when placed next to pure lead ingots. Is this normal or do they have an excessive amount of Cu and will it affect the quality?

[imashooter2]

With 2% pewter in your alloy, even if the pewter had 10% copper, you would have just .2% copper in the melt. It won't hurt a thing.

[fryboy]

ummm copperish or the more pale yellow of tin ? that just seems lighter/brighter than dull lead ? i'm agreeing with imashooter2 , the copper in pewter usually doesnt amount to much or enough to alter the end resulting alloy , too much copper wouldnt melt at our temps , copper's melting point is even higher than antimony , just under 2000 F IIRC ( i want to say 1984 F but it's been a bit since chemistry classes ) , like antimony i'm sure that there is a small umm dissolve ability but i'm not sure what that is , the hardest pewter only has half the copper that it does antimony ( according to rotometals ( 3.4% )
http://www.rotometals.com/Pewter-Alloys-s/23.htm

[bpratl]

ummm copperish or the more pale yellow of tin ? that just seems lighter/brighter than dull lead ?
http://www.rotometals.com/Pewter-Alloys-s/23.htm

I would say more on the light yellowish side and the ingots are on the brittle side.

[fryboy]

sounds about right , tin while somewhat brittle will flex a bit ( with the familiar "tin shriek" or cry ) antimony rich alloy will break ( linotype boolits have been known to shatter/break ) the copper it's self is highly flexible/malleable as is lead , some fine pewter i have smelted almost looks like white gold while some cheaper pewter alloys look indistinguishable from lead , your pewter ingots should have a nice high pitched ring to them ( good stuff !! )

[bpratl]

some fine pewter i have smelted almost looks like white gold while some cheaper pewter alloys look indistinguishable from lead , your pewter ingots should have a nice high pitched ring to them ( good stuff !! )

Thanks, your description bests describes my ingots so it looks like I am OK.