Modern pewter??

[Guesser]

Bunch of belt buckles dated 2004 as a company promotion, the design logo was wrong so the company rejected all of them. They were probably formulated and cast in 2003 or so for the 2004 presentation. My question:
What is modern pewter made of? Percentages, etc?

[Sonnypie]

DoNo.
But I have a mug made of Armatel that is a modern alloy that is supposed to stay cold after it is chilled.
To many possibilities out there.
Tried melting any yet?

[bumpo628]

Are they stamped "pewter"?
If so, then they should be close to this: 92.5% tin, 6% antimony, 1.5% copper

[clodhopper]

If those came from the city of Lewistown It's a real good chance they are very high tin content.
I recived a pewter belt buckle for winning a silhouette match back in '99 the buckles were made by the match director at a small foundry in Lewistown.
Not ready to melt it, but it sure would improve the castability of lead.

[Guesser]

I'm not sure where they were cast but they were to go to a pipe line construction company in Cut Bank, but the vendor used the wrong type of tractor. They used a farm tractor instead of a pipe layer crawler. I don't know how many there are, I got 19 of them brand new still wrapped in batting in their clean white boxes. I suspect there are several hundred more in the cache. I'm going to see how they smelt, one of these days.

[condorjohn]

I have a small cast iron pot dedicated for pewter. I leave about a 1/2" of known pewter in it after every melting session. When I have something that I'm not sure is pewter I put the pot on the gas stove on medium- low. Just when the pewter in the pot melts I add a piece of what I want to melt. If it starts to melt within 15 or 20 seconds, I can be fairly sure it's pewter. If it hasn't started to melt by 30 sec. I pull it out. Since I don't have a thermomater (?)
That's my non-scientific method...

[Guesser]

So; comparing melt time, would pewter be faster or slower than........whatever? I don't even know how to ask this question.
I been cast in since the 50's but only recently even gave pewter a thought.

[bumpo628]

So; comparing melt time, would pewter be faster or slower than........whatever? I don't even know how to ask this question.
I been cast in since the 50's but only recently even gave pewter a thought.

This info is from one of the stickys. You can see that the melting temp goes up and down depending on the percentages. I imagine that pewter would melt close to 420 degrees since it should be about 90% tin.

621° = lead
563° = solder (10% tin & 90% lead)
529° = solder (20% tin & 80% lead)
504° = solder (30% tin & 70% lead)
464° = solder (40% tin & 60% lead)
428° = solder (50% tin & 50% lead)
374° = solder (60% tin & 40% lead)
362° = solder (63% tin & 37% lead) (eutectic)
365° = solder (70% tin & 30% lead)
392° = solder (80% tin & 20% lead)
421° = solder (90% tin & 10% lead)
450° = tin

[Guesser]

I don't have a thermometer. I melted 5 of the buckles, went fast, sure comes out purty when I poured it into a Lee 1# ingot mold. I'll get it out after lunch.

[Defcon-One]

Purty usually means lots of Tin!

[Cherokee]

how much does one of those lee ingots weigh in comparison to one in lead ?

[TCLouis]

Found two tankards in a thrift store today
Dullish gray
Heavy for the size
No marking on the bottom

Some letters cast in with pretty sharp edges

Any suggestions for further determining material!

[leadbutt]

Melt one of the buckles by itself, let it cool as a thin puddle then bend it and see if it sings. Tin has a unique sound when it stresses and it should bend and not break.... well to a point.

L. Bottoms

[imashooter2]

Found two tankards in a thrift store today
Dullish gray
Heavy for the size
No marking on the bottom

Some letters cast in with pretty sharp edges

Any suggestions for further determining material!

Cast mugs are very seldom pewter. Cast mugs with no hallmarks definitely aren't. Your mugs are likely an alloy similar to Wilton's "Armetale."

[imashooter2]

Melt one of the buckles by itself, let it cool as a thin puddle then bend it and see if it sings. Tin has a unique sound when it stresses and it should bend and not break.... well to a point.

L. Bottoms

Pewter is high in tin, but it is an alloy and will not exhibit "tin cry."

[303Guy]

Pewter is a nice metal and makes great ware. Drinking tankards and other food ware will always be hallmarked as fine pewter or some such which means it is free of lead. I wouldn't be drinking from an aluminum tankard but aluminum is pretty strong compared to pewter and is thicker for the same weight. Pewter ware has soldered appendages like the handles.

When I was buying a heap of scrap pewter ware I tossed out the heavy candle stick holders having heard of the weighted bottoms. I found one with the bottom weight broken out.

[rainyday]

I don't have percentages but if you google pewter, it will explain it pretty good. from what I have heard, pewter depending on the quality will normally be under 1 percent copper and not be a problem for adding to lead in place of pure tin. so far it hasn't been a problem for my cast

[303Guy]

I added too much pewter and ended up with an alloy that was difficult to cast. I also added some copper which may or may not have contributed. I've now got a lower tin and higher antimony and that is even harder but casts well. Copper is also lower.

[orisolo]

I used to own a pewter factory for jewelry.
I'm not sure what you have, but i can say what we used to alloy.

Pre 2004 (I think, maybe 2005) we used to mix 10%-30% lead with Tin (hardens the Tin). Depend on the complicity of the cast.

CA prop 65 and CPSE made laws against lead in jewelry (and many other things) I'm not sure about belt buckles.

Especially due to CA Pro 65 (heavily enforced and lots of big fines) We had to stop using lead in our pewter.
We then converted to 97% tin and 3% antimony.(Huge bump in cost).

If you see nice and very "white" silvery color that would be a an alloy of 93%-95% Tin 2%-3% Silver and the balance would be antimony. Silver was used to make the pewter lighter in color and under very fine polish would actually look like silver jewelry.

Any pewter alloy you use should not harm boolits (accept maybe silver? i have no idea how silver works in boolits)
Its a matter of trial and error to see how much of your pewter you should add.

The only big % mix of alloy in pewter could be Lead.
I'm not sure what is the explanation but Zinc is not used with pewter.
In fact when we tried to cast belt buckles from Zinc we had to keep the metal and the casting in separate rooms since Tin and Zinc can not be kept in the same room even as ingots.

Most of Made in china belt buckles are made of Zinc and not pewter.
I would look at the back of the buckle and look for any signs of porosity (small holes and uneven surface).
If you see visible eye catching porosity it is most likely Zinc and not pewter.
Could be some other **** white metal but probably you shouldn't cast it anyway.

If you leave in industrial area look for electronic factory PCB assembly lines and small workshop with SMD machines. These place produce scrap Solder Dross (tin). If this is electronic PCB soldering related there are mainly 2 types of tin alloy.

Civil use (that the ROHS you see on the back sticker of every electronic) you will get 97% Tin and 3% Silver.
If it is Military use you would get 67% Tin and 33% lead (was standard before ROHS), Military doesn't have to follow ROHS, environment is important but Mil is anything but "Green" anyway
(solder with lead bonds stronger then Silver).

Scrap price for 97% Tin are $7-$8/Lb if its a small place that has only 50-100lb per month you can offer even half that. 66% Tin with lead worth much less.

If you guys have any questions let me know, I might know the answer.
my 2 cents.

[Sasquatch-1]

In fact when we tried to cast belt buckles from Zinc we had to keep the metal and the casting in separate rooms since Tin and Zinc can not be kept in the same room even as ingots.


OK, I'll ask the "DUMB" question here, Why can't tin and zinc be kept in the same room? Is it because they can be confused and accidentally used in place of one another or is there a metal reaction?

[Ohio Rusty]

If I find what looks like pewter in a thrift store, I'll take the piece over to the aisle where the silverware is. I'll pick out a suitable knife from a bin and scratch or scrape the bottom of the piece. If it peels a thin shaving of metal and scratches easily like it's made of soft lead, then it's pewter and it's bought. If it lightly scratches, is harder and won't peel, it's most likely aluminum or an aluminum alloy and that piece goes back on the shelf.
Just my scientific way or testing .....
Ohio Rusty ><>

[Epd230]

great thread. answers alot of questions i have had!

[Gliden07]

I have a non-scientific method I first look for hallmarks on thinner castings when squeezed the Pewter will bend like lead, aluminium and other alloys won't. And if I have doubts I just will pass on the items. Lead is getting scarce around my parts to mess up a melt!!

[Airman Basic]

Well, tin will plate onto zinc in a corrosive atmosphere, releasing hydrogen gas, which could get scary, I suppose. I probably oversimplified the process, but it's something like that.

[orisolo]

If you keep zinc and Tin in the same room on opposing corners you will start to see after a while a reaction starting.
Its a big no no to keep them together cold not to mention melting.

If its not clear to everyone.
Pewter is a Name more then anything.
Its an alloy with High Tin content and whatever mix into it.
Just saying pewter doesn't mean what metal alloy it is.