Is roofing tin usable?

[RG1911]

I've seen occasional ads for used roofing tin, but have not found any useful information about it. Is this pure tin in a sheet form, or is it a harder metal that has a tin protective coating?

Thank you,
Richard

[imashooter2]

Roofing "tin" is actually steel and has no utility to boolit casters.

[merlin101]

Roofing "tin" is actually steel and has no utility to boolit casters.

YEP same thing when you talk to a scrapper, the "tin" they talk about is sheet steel car doors/fenders ect. we have no use for when casting.

[merlin101]

RG1911, if your looking for real tin check out the swapping section and vendor section here or just look around the Good will type stores for pewter cup/bowls/candle sticks ect. Just make sure it say's "pewter" on the bottom! Use that just as you would pure tin.

[L1A1Rocker]

What the folks have posted is correct. However, I've found a number of "roofers" that refer to roofing lead as "tins" so you may want to clarify what they are really talking about.

[JonB_in_Glencoe]

Tin cans !!!

I often wonder if soup cans were ever made of tin ?

[oneokie]

Only coated with tin.

[Bullshop]

I think the term tin can may have been shortend from tinned can. Old cans had a block tin wash over the inside surface and a heavy tin solderd seem.

[Bullshop]

Roofing "tin" is actually steel and has no utility to boolit casters.

Actually that is not true. It keeps the rain off my head and out of my smelting pot and that is a utility to one caster.

[RG1911]

RG1911, if your looking for real tin check out the swapping section and vendor section here or just look around the Good will type stores for pewter cup/bowls/candle sticks ect. Just make sure it say's "pewter" on the bottom! Use that just as you would pure tin.

I have definitely been checking the swap section. Missed a few really good deals by learning about this forum only a few days ago.

Midway is running $25 per pound for pure tin. I can get the cost down to around $18 per pound from some companies, but I would have to order 50 to 100 pounds. And we won't go into the creative prices on eBay.

I was doing some checking about pewter because one of the stickies indicated that it's almost all tin. However, I saw that some pewter has a high percentage of bismuth, and even saw some that included copper. Not being familiar with pewter, and having only used wheel weights and linotype to date, I'm not sure how those additives affect casting.

Unfortunately, my degree from the last century is in writing, not metallurgy. Casting is a bit more complex than I had thought.

Cheers,
Richard

[evan price]

Sheet steel coated in a tin wash is called terne. Nowadays hot dip galvanizing with zinc has replaced tin.

[imashooter2]

Actually that is not true. It keeps the rain off my head and out of my smelting pot and that is a utility to one caster.

LOL! I stand corrected. :)

[kbstenberg]

RG1911 keep on looking for lower priced tin . Meany posts showing the different types and forms of pewter, and how to use it so keep reading the stickies.

[runfiverun]

keep the bismuth under 1% [it adds hardness like antimony does but adds brittleness faster] and low copper amounts are beneficial.
if under 0.5% you won't notice much change in castability if you have tin in the alloy also.
you may have to up your alloy temp 50-f or so.

[RG1911]

keep the bismuth under 1% [it adds hardness like antimony does but adds brittleness faster] and low copper amounts are beneficial.
if under 0.5% you won't notice much change in castability if you have tin in the alloy also.
you may have to up your alloy temp 50-f or so.

Good information. Thank you. I *think* at least one of the ads for pewter from a company indicated much higher percentages for bismuth and copper. I'll check it again (assuming I can find it).

Richard