What have I got here / Wiping Solder

[gray wolf]

Met a nice guy at the range that used to cast, he invited me over to his home and gave
this to me.

They weigh 5# each, so it's 10# of something. How should I use it? is it good to have ?
It just says wiping solder with a stamped E on top.

110520

Sam

[Old Caster]

It is probably 50/50 tin lead or maybe 60/40 and was used to put a butt joint of lead plumbing together. It took a bit of skill to put a perfect joint with a curved bump on it and it was wiped while still a bit molten with a rag, sometimes with oil on it and sometimes with water. Just use it like it is a mixture of tin and lead.

[jmort]

Probably 38% tin 62% lead. That is most common composition for wiping solder.

[jmort]

I have some cool looking Bell ingots and some other marks. I like them. Very nice fellow you met. I would mix it with 100 lbs of COWW for 94/3/3

[gray wolf]

They don't really ring when banged together and they scratch fairly easy with a metal nail.
Don't have much metal so I guess I will just save them,
and thank you for the come backs.

Sam

[gray wolf]

I did some reading on the net and it seems that some wiping solders contained Cadmium.
The Cadmium was a cost saving venture. It has been said not to melt metals that contain Cadmium, so what now? How does one differentiate ? I would hate to chuck the 10#,s

[gray wolf]

I did some reading on the net and it seems that some wiping solders contained Cadmium.

http://pubs.acs.org/doi/pdf/10.1021/ie50229a005

The Cadmium was a cost saving venture. It has been said not to melt metals that contain Cadmium, so what now? How does one differentiate ? I would hate to chuck the 10#,s

[jmort]

Hope someone has a good answer, as I am inclined to use mine for its tin content.

[captaint]

Sam - I'm thinking if it was supposed to be melted for solder anyway, it must be safe. Maybe it's the way higher content (possibly) in batteries that we're remembering ?? Mike

[gray wolf]

On another note, I also read that some wiping solders were made to maintain a kind of slushy consistency for a tad longer time. This was so the operator would have a little more time to wipe the joint.
Sometimes ignorance IS truly bliss. I am just reporting what I found from a little reading and I am not trying to be a know it all, cause I sure don't no much about Solder. Just trying to expand the old knowledge base.