Tin,

[1Shirt]

Where are you getting pure tin, and what is it costing?
1Shirt!:coffee: :

[Bass Ackward]

Where are you getting pure tin, and what is it costing?
1Shirt!:coffee: :


I just got a flier from Midway, page 8 at the bottom left, 2lb for 15.99. That's the cheapest I have seen lately. In fact, that is recession pricing at like a Home Depot for 95/5 solder.

[Buckshot]

...............Tin is not something the average person uses in it's pure form so I don't know of anyplace around town it woul dbe commonly found. Neither is lead really, but lead is used by fishermen for sinkers, and stained glass outfits, and for ballast in boats and also counterweights for some heavy equipment. Plus I'm sure I've missed a couple other obvious uses that might place it around the community, unlike pure tin.

Your best local bet is a radiator shop, as buckets of glop out of their solder tank. With commidity prices for tin easily over $7/lb it's like white gold. Just render it down like WW and you'll have a nice clean 60/40 mix to sweeten WW stuff.

..................Buckshot

[wills]

I checked Lead Products for their prices yesterday, and tin is $7.67/Lb. in 60 pound bars.

[Dale53]

I got my last shipment of tin from a local (Cincinnati) refinery. The minimum was 25 lbs in a box and I went through a local commercial caster. Whether or not it can be bought by anyone I really don't know. However, if I lived near a large city, I would certainly get on the phone and see what is available. It will save shipping.

My tin came in extruded bars of about .8 a lb. It is easy to use a postal scale at the pot and weigh "off" what you need (just weigh the bar then dip it into the melted pot of metal and melt off the exact amount that you need). This method is quick, easy, and accurate.

Using bar solder, you can do the same. I keep a little pocket calculator by the pot and use that to figure alloy percentages. You can get these for a couple of bucks (mine recharges with exposure to light and I have been using it for years with no batteries nor maintenance).

Dale53

[Glen]

Check with your local (or regional) scrap metal dealer. About 10 years ago I found that there was a barrel of 90/10 tin/lead solder in pea-sized chunks that was an over-run from a large industrial contract and they were selling it for $5/lb. I bought a bunch and used it for years. You never know what'll show up at a scrap metal dealer. Call and ask...

[felix]

Corky and I, because we clean metals in the big MOAS and only do it when we have 1500-2000 pounds at one time, there is no way we can guarantee what comes out of the pot in terms of the elements therein. Making exact percentages for us would be a joke because it cannot be done without a professional analysis. We mix a casting pot full at a time with a bar from that batch, a bar from another batch, etc., and then modify that mess only after casting and determining the consistency of the boolits. A little augmentation of this, and a little of that becomes a mandatory setup for the boolits we are trying to produce. In other words, no measuring devices of any sort are necessary and would be only mental masterbation because we could never reproduce that pot even if we tried. At one time we came up with a pot mix that had almost ZERO slush time. I did the same at my house and got the same results. We used shared marked bars from different big melts. Never happened again, and who knows why. ... felix

[vp146b4]

1Shirt
I have available pure tin at $5/lb plus actual shipping, which the Post Office's bulk box is only $8.10 for up to something like 50lbs. I can assure you that my tin is really pure, not something of unknown composition. Let me know if your interested.
Bill

[Lloyd Smale]

Im with felix i have about 10 different alloys mixed up and in buckets and could probably never exactly duplicate any of them. Dump an little tin in and cast some bullets.
Corky and I, because we clean metals in the big MOAS and only do it when we have 1500-2000 pounds at one time, there is no way we can guarantee what comes out of the pot in terms of the elements therein. Making exact percentages for us would be a joke because it cannot be done without a professional analysis. We mix a casting pot full at a time with a bar from that batch, a bar from another batch, etc., and then modify that mess only after casting and determining the consistency of the boolits. A little augmentation of this, and a little of that becomes a mandatory setup for the boolits we are trying to produce. In other words, no measuring devices of any sort are necessary and would be only mental masterbation because we could never reproduce that pot even if we tried. At one time we came up with a pot mix that had almost ZERO slush time. I did the same at my house and got the same results. We used shared marked bars from different big melts. Never happened again, and who knows why. ... felix

[1Shirt]

vp146b4, Am interested in 5-6 lbs. Let me know address and will send you a check. You can wait until it clears befor you send it.
1Shirt!

[vp146b4]

1Shirt
Sounds good, PM sent with details. Thanks for your interest, I'm sure you'll be satisfiied, it's good stuff.
Bill

[Bret4207]

Bill- Why don't you post an ad in the Swaping and selling forum?

[Dale53]

Bill;
That is a really good price. If a feller were to buy 25 lbs from you at $5.00 per lb it would only cost about $5.34 per lb delivered. I bought my last bunch many years ago and paid $4.50 per lb and had to drive 25-30 miles one way to get it. With the rise in metal costs we have seen in the past couple of years, that is a DEAL.

I think I 'll check my inventory and you may be hearing from me. I'll sure never get a better price.

Dale53

[alamogunr]

A couple of years ago before I retired, my employer decided to dispose of excess inventory of solder and outsource soldering operations. They were going to pay some hazardous waste outfit to take it before I offered an alternative solution. I got about 800 # of 40/60 and 50/50 solder. All I had to do was drive less than 20 miles to the warehouse where it was stored. The $5/lb price that vp146b4 is quoting is better than anything I have seen lately. I would surely take advantage if I needed any or thought I might need it in the future. But then I'm an incorrigible pack rat.
John

[R.M.]

I have half a dozen bars (1X3X12) that was given to me,stamped PB. Tin I suppose. Percentage, or pure, I have no idea. I tested it with my LBT hardness tester, and it comes out at 14 BHN.
Does this sound right for pure tin?

R.M.

[vp146b4]

Bill- Why don't you post an ad in the Swaping and selling forum?

Tpr Bret:
Thanks, that's a good idea, but I'm only a lowly bullet mould, and don't qualify to be able to post on that forum. As soon as I get to that number of posts, I will.Thanks again, I'm hoping to get most of my tin into the right hands, and make lots of pretty boolits.
Bill

[Pepe Ray]

R.M. I have half a dozen bars (1X3X12) that was given to me,stamped PB. Tin I suppose. Percentage, or pure, I have no idea. I tested it with my LBT hardness tester, and it comes out at 14 BHN.
Does this sound right for pure tin?

R.M.
Pb is the atomic or chemical symbol for LEAD. Pepe Ray

[R.M.]

Hmmmm. No method to edit. Sorry, I meant SB, Sometimes my fingers don't do what my brain is telling it to do. Imagine that. :oops:

[Hackleback]

Pb = lead

Sn = tin

[R.M.]

OK, in Wiljen's post on "where to get antimony", he list's the solder ratio as "Dutch boy 95/5 is Sb/Sn." This is where I got that from. Anyway, my bars are stamped "SB", and are 14 BHN. Any idea as to what I have.

R.M.

[chunkum]

I tested it with my LBT hardness tester, and it comes out at 14 BHN.
Does this sound right for pure tin?


The BHN for pure Tin should be a 7

c.

[Ohio Rusty]

Someone gave me 3 full spools of pure tin solder (no core). That thick tin solder is so hard, I can't scratch it with a thumbnail, and that is what I'll be adding to my lead mixture to add a bit of hardness.
Ohio Rusty

[chunkum]

Sb or SB is the atomic symbol for antimony. The BHN for pure antimony should be 50.
c

[1Shirt]

Received 5 lb. of tin in beautiful silvery ingots from vp146b4 yesterday. He is a real gentleman to deal with, and unless you are stealing the stuff, doubt you can beat his price. Had it delivered within a week after I sent a check out. Look forward to mixing some in my alloy.
1Shirt:coffee:

[woody1]

Received 5 lb. of tin in beautiful silvery ingots from vp146b4 yesterday. He is a real gentleman to deal with, and unless you are stealing the stuff, doubt you can beat his price. Had it delivered within a week after I sent a check out. Look forward to mixing some in my alloy.
1Shirt:coffee:

I mailed off a money order to Bill for tin mebe 10 days ago. It arrived today and looks like beautiful stuff. Anyone wanting to buy tin better get it from him before he runs out. At $5 a pound it's a bargain. Regards, Woody

[tommag]

Mine arrrived today and the service was danged quick. He even threw in a lilttle extra. Good guy to deal with.

[Dale53]

I just received my 25# of tin from "vp146b4" by priority mail. Considering the road conditions, I am amazed that it go here this fast. It came from Pennsylvania and Pennsylvania and Ohio are covered with a blanket of snow and ice.

Thanks, Bill, it was a genuine pleasure to do business with you.

Dale53