Harry O
11-03-2013, 10:05 PM
I bought about 15lbs of 50-50 solder in bars at an estate sale a while back. They were probably made in the 1940's or early 1950's judging from the information on the remains of the box they were in (which is also where I learned it was 50-50).
In order to make them easier to add to the mix in small, but uniform quantities, I bought a cheap Lee 0.690" round ball mould. From my calculations, this should have given about 1/2oz of tin per ball. When I got done casting them, I weighed several and found out that they were heavier than they should be.
I calculated backwards and found that I had approx. 42% tin and 58% lead solder. Still not bad, since I paid only $10 for the 15lbs of solder, but it is not an even amount of tin. It just goes to show that manufacturers cheating on quantities is not a new thing.
In order to make them easier to add to the mix in small, but uniform quantities, I bought a cheap Lee 0.690" round ball mould. From my calculations, this should have given about 1/2oz of tin per ball. When I got done casting them, I weighed several and found out that they were heavier than they should be.
I calculated backwards and found that I had approx. 42% tin and 58% lead solder. Still not bad, since I paid only $10 for the 15lbs of solder, but it is not an even amount of tin. It just goes to show that manufacturers cheating on quantities is not a new thing.