Adding tin

[BruMatt]

I'm new at this so I'll apologize for ignorance up front. I purchased some tin ingots 1/2 to 1 lb each. What is the best way to add specific quantities to my casting pot? Should I melt or cut them into smaller pieces?

[William Yanda]

1% is one oz./6.25 lb. If you have ingots it would probably be easier to melt them and recast than try to cut them in smaller pieces. Tin melts around 450 degrees. I have a dedicated 1 qt stainless steel saucepan, a hotplate and a mini muffin tin for making small ingots.

[bangerjim]

Use your total weight of lead or WW's to figure out how many oz's of tin you need.

Weigh your tin pieces and divide them in to EQUAL 1oz sections (8 sections or 16 sections) with a ruler and marker....all the way around. Then if you need 1oz of tin, just hold the piece in the pot to that mark and let it melt off! I do it all the time that way......no need of re-melting/casting your tin if it is already in long ingot form.

Remember you only need 1-1.5% tin for good fill-out.

banger

[bumpo628]

Some people recast tin into 'buttons' or sticks. You could cast 1oz buttons with a little practice using those stainless condiment cups from Walmart. Use just the bottom of a long piece of angle iron to cast sticks. Then you can cut/weight the desired amount pretty easily.

[sqlbullet]

My tin is in sticks that I weigh and then mark to approximately 1 oz increments. eg I find the weight in oz and then mark it into that many equal length segments.

Then, if I want 2 oz of tin added to a mix, I put a stick in two marks deep and let it melt off. Yes..I were gloves or use pliers to hold it.

[fredj338]

Depends on the alloy you are trying to achieve. As noted, larger bars can just be marked with a Sharpie in manageable chunks. So if you have 1/2# bars, mark them off in 8 segments for 1oz portions. Then just hold them in the pot to that level. It will be close enough for anything you need. Remelting into smaller bars is just wasting time & some tin to oxidation.

[BruMatt]

Thanks. I wasn't sure about trying to melt it in. I'll give it a try.

[DonMerlin]

Just to add my 2 cents worth. My scale does grams as well as Lbs and oz. I do all my alloy weighing in grams as it makes the algebra a little easier if all the units are the same. YMMV

[JSnover]

I poured some of my tin into a .54 mini ball mold. Each one weighs almost exactly one oz. I add one of those for every two pounds of lead. My math says that's about 3%.

[grumman581]

Just to add my 2 cents worth. My scale does grams as well as Lbs and oz. I do all my alloy weighing in grams as it makes the algebra a little easier if all the units are the same. YMMV

Doesn't matter what unit you use as long as you are consistent and use enough digits of precision.