where to get tin?

[mac3]

I cast years ago (as a teenager for black powder and .357's). Always used wheel weights from the junkyard with a pry bar and pliers and nothing else. I'm getting back in to it and am wanting to do it right. All the spec's I see add tin to the WW. What would be a good supply of tin?
What is wrong with using WW only? It worked fine years ago, as far as I could tell. Made them by the thousands.
First post here, and am impressed with the forum. Been reloading for 35 years on and off and want to get back in. I've gotten about #400 WW, about #30 lino and some odds and ends, battery connectors and old boolits to melt down. I will smelt it down when the heat lets up a little. Any help would be appreciated, thanks, Mac.

[lwknight]

Hello Mac,
Welcome aboard.

Scrap solder and goodwill store junk pewter are 2 good cheap sources of tin.
You don't have to add any tin if you don't want to. Most who have added a little tin
would not go back to a non tin added alloy.

Back when you were a teen wheel weights were likely 6-9 percent antimony and needed thinning out with some lead and tin. Todays weights are around 3 percentish antimony and a little tin like 1/2 percent or so and it varies too. A lot of people add very little tin to modern clip on wheel weights because the antimony content is fairly low.

Most of us like the tin at about 2% except for more specialty ammo because it just makes things go better.

Your 30 pounds of lino would make 100-120 pounds of wheel weights cast really nicely and should be plenty hard for most medium revolver loads and some pistol loads.

[Will]

A standard roll of solder which is just under 1/8 inch in dia (0.121) weighs one ounce for a 20 inch lenth. Most are 95% tin so you would need a 21 inch lenth to add one ounce of tin to your mix. Thats a solid core standard one pound roll. Some may be slightly thicker or thinner.

[Matt_G]

The tin helps reduce the surface tension of the lead and therefore, it fills out the mould better in many applications.
With some moulds you may not need any tin. For most of my casting I have found 1% to 1.5% works fine.

As far as a source is concerned, keep an eye on the swapping and selling sub-forum here.
I have gotten 20 pounds of 63/37 solder from there in the last two months.

[Matt_G]

For a real good read on tin and lead alloys, read chapter 3 of Glen Fryxell's book.
http://www.lasc.us/Fryxell_Book_Chapter_3_alloySelectionMetallurgy.ht m

[xringdave]

I was lucky i found 750 rolls of 60/40 solder on craigslist for 50 cents a pound .I've seen old solder
rolls at the local swap meet for 1 to two $ a roll good luck.