10/88/2 solder?? good for anything?

[Big R]

Hello all,
First off I apologize if this has been asked before, but I couldn’t find it anywhere. I have an opportunity to pick up a good amount of 10/88/2 (10% tin/88% lead/ and 2% silver) .062 solder at about a buck a pound. I always see people using the 50/50 and lead free solder but this one is sorta backwards from what I’m used to seeing. At a buck a pound I don’t think I could go too awfully wrong but would like to hear someone’s opinion on it. I’ve looked around and this stuff doesn’t seem to very widely used, but I didn’t look very much (and one of the only places I saw it, they were asking over $40 per pound roll). Any info would be greatly appreciated and thank you in advance.

[62chevy]

That should work with some COWW or soft lead to bring the tin down to about 2 - 3%. Wheel weights would ad some antimony for to make them a bit harder. Not sure about the silver but don't think it will hurt.

[Big R]

From what I have read (and I'm purely going off of what I've read, cause I'm extremely green in casting still), the silver in small amounts shouldnt hurt too much, like you said. I'm not 100% sure on what this solder is even used for. The guy has 450lbs of it in 1lb rolls, and was selling it as sinker lead. So, lord only knows?? The only stuff that I saw online was rosin core. Will that cause a problem, ya think?

[BNE]

I have a small amount of lead with 2.5% Silver. I had someone test it for hardness and it was similar to COWW. Should work well. At that price,I would buy all I could afford. The tin alone is worth it.

[Zymurgy50]

Trace amounts of silver in your alloy will aid in fill-out of the mold, but does very little in the way of hardening. At 10%tin for $1/lb you are paying $10/lb of tin, which seems to be the going rate.

[bumpo628]

Trace amounts of silver in your alloy will aid in fill-out of the mold, but does very little in the way of hardening. At 10%tin for $1/lb you are paying $10/lb of tin, which seems to be the going rate.

Another way to look at it is that you're paying $1/0.88 = $1.14/lb for lead and getting free tin.

download my alloy calculator and plug in your solder numbers into the custom alloy line.

[johnnysespresso]

Sounds like an inexpensive source of tin and the Silver would help with Werewolves

[62chevy]

Sounds like an inexpensive source of tin and the Silver would help with Werewolves

Tin is $20 at Rotometals so a buck a pound for 10% tin is more than fair.

[Blanco]

Sounds like an inexpensive source of tin and the Silver would help with Werewolves

What I was thinking ..