D#&@med weighted candlesticks

[brassrat]

What a mess they made in my pewter melt pan. Never again, without smashing them open. They were filled with nasty, brown, plastic junk. The first one had a simple plaster or concrete innard, just to throw me off :cry: I burned,boiled,skimmed and poured off what seemed to be a gallon of this junk and was glad to see my shiny tin again. I got pics

[scottfire1957]

Yep. Smash 'em. Get as much of that stuff out as you can.

[jsizemore]

Please make me laugh. I'm only grinning now.

[Lead Fred]

It was the butler in the reading room

[fryboy]

with the heaviest of candlestix ....

ewww burning plastic ( may be better smelling than the petrified llama dung i hear about from time to time ...) dont call the EPA apparently they're having a bad month ...

[imashooter2]

I always peel them, but even so a little of that camel snot can remain. Sawdust really shines for removing it. Pour in twice or more what you would normally use for flux and it soaks up the liquid making it a lot easier to scoop out.

[brassrat]

I left a box of stuff at home so had no sawdust even to flux. There is no sitting room. Also had no strainer cept a mini. I used that to strain thru as I poured the superheated pot , after removing some snot and various objects. My heavy asbestos glove got a workout.

[William Yanda]

When that happened to me, I let the whole mess cool and solidify. Then I knocked it out of the pan in the gravel driveway, separated the metal from the lama dung, and reheated. It wasn't a perfect solution, but there was a lot less of the non pewter to deal with. Yeah, weighted candlesticks are great for fire prevention when burning candles but when reclaiming pewter, they are a pain in the extreme regions of the lower neck.
Bill
Glad I'm not the only one.

[brassrat]

I was gonna give up and peel the stuff away but I wanted it done. Heres some pics of my un-fun, fun job. I am paying $4 or $5 a item, mostly so no real steal but I am tin-sick.



http://i1123.photobucket.com/albums/l542/g5uis23ft5h/th_IMG_0947_zpsymynd2ta.jpg (http://s1123.photobucket.com/user/g5uis23ft5h/media/IMG_0947_zpsymynd2ta.jpg.html)

http://i1123.photobucket.com/albums/l542/g5uis23ft5h/th_IMG_0949_zpspzweukqa.jpg (http://s1123.photobucket.com/user/g5uis23ft5h/media/IMG_0949_zpspzweukqa.jpg.html)


http://i1123.photobucket.com/albums/l542/g5uis23ft5h/th_IMG_0946_zpsvpxfemii.jpg (http://s1123.photobucket.com/user/g5uis23ft5h/media/IMG_0946_zpsvpxfemii.jpg.html)

http://i1123.photobucket.com/albums/l542/g5uis23ft5h/th_IMG_0944_zps0v7a14n7.jpg (http://s1123.photobucket.com/user/g5uis23ft5h/media/IMG_0944_zps0v7a14n7.jpg.html)

[bangerjim]

I have found everthing as weights in bottoms of sticks
lead
CI
steel embedded concrete mix
embedded plastic-ish garbage
kitchen sink (!)

Even my 200 year old sets are weighted with CI. Keeps them from tipping over in use.

If you are gonna melt 'em.....check 'em! A lot of that valuable metal is probably weights!

And.........."Buyer Beware"

banger

[jsizemore]

It could be from the queen's personal stash.

[chsparkman]

When that happened to me, I let the whole mess cool and solidify. Then I knocked it out of the pan in the gravel driveway, separated the metal from the lama dung, and reheated. It wasn't a perfect solution, but there was a lot less of the non pewter to deal with. Yeah, weighted candlesticks are great for fire prevention when burning candles but when reclaiming pewter, they are a pain in the extreme regions of the lower neck.
Bill
Glad I'm not the only one.

Glad I'm not the only one too! This exact scenario happened to me last month. My solutions was exactly like yours. Hard lesson. Glad it's been brought to the forum.

[RogerDat]

Yep getting every last bit of that glue stuff out is essential. Otherwise it is like trying to get the stink out of a plastic bag of wet manure to get rid of that melted glue. Once that stuff gets on the pot & tools it is murder to get it cleaned off.

Thing that makes it doubly frustrating is you KNOW there is only a little bit of pewter in that candle stick but I just can't let it go. I have found I can slice and peel up toward the top to some extent but I also melt this stuff in its own pot and try to keep my tools out of it.

[brassrat]

I need a new pewter melt pan and a scoop. Never again!

[brassrat]

I got question ta axe. There was a metal rod in the two bad sticks. What are they made of? They were thin, maybe 1/4" square, but seemingly unbendable with a quick try. I saved them

[imashooter2]

Probably steel. What does a magnet tell you?

[fryboy]

ummm ..pieces of the kitchen sink ? :popcorn:

umm .. solid gold bars ?

erm i know !! the keys to the princess's chasity bet !! ( albeit they'll need some work lolz ) :kidding:

[brassrat]

:hijack:...:2 drunk buddies:

[Vinne]

And I though wheel weights were bad!!!

[brassrat]

Nasty stuff and my first experience with contamination. No wheel weights, in my short casting experience. I think these candlesticks will just get skipped, from now on.

[Harter66]

I have an empty mailbox you can send them to. It's teeth out here.

[JonB_in_Glencoe]

Until this week, I have never found any affordable pewter at the thrift store.
This Wednesday...that was 50% off Wednesday, I seen a pewter marked candlestick labeled $2, so I got it for $1. It appears to be three parts welded/soldered/brazed (whatever the correct term is?) together ...the middle piece seems like a solid, lathe turned shape. Now, after reading this thread, I suspect there is a non-pewter substance inside the middle piece :(

[brassrat]

These two candlesticks, in earlier photo, were filled with this plastic all the way, I believe. The one with cement isn't too bad to deal with.

[brassrat]

I never learn and bought a pair of weighted candle sticks today.



edit ps and other stuff including a big vase thingy from Italy that weighs a few lbs.

[RogerDat]

Weighted candle sticks are just something you have to sit down and tear apart. Not a whole lot of pewter but since a little pewter goes a long way.... All comes down to price per pound. Knowing how much metal you get after getting rid of the crud might help determine the price point where the effort and the pewter yield make sense.

I'm too much of a pewter miser to pass up any unless the price is just clearly too high. As long as it is cheaper than buying tin in S&S or from vendors I'll probably buy it. Have over time accumulated about 50# of the stuff that way. One single pewter picture frame, mug, or weighted candle stick at a time. With the occasional "score" of pitcher, plate, or vase.

[wrench man]

It's post like this "Those DAMM Camel/Lama turds!!", plus I'm cheap, I weigh them before I buy them, if the price is to high!?, it's impossible to tell the weight of the pewter if they are weighted!

[RogerDat]

When you tear them apart weigh the resulting metal. Eventually you get an idea of what you are going to get for pewter. There are posts in the pewter thread where people have reported the weight once the weight is out.

[brassrat]

I don't mind the concrete filled or the weights. The price is usually $4 for both or half that. This place is loaded with pewter. I left around 10 glass bottoms, on Sat. $2-4 a piece, I guess.

[odinohi]

That happened to me when I first started collecting. On the kitchen stove in my wife's pan. Had a cleanup before she got home;)

[RogerDat]

......On the kitchen stove in my wife's pan. Had a cleanup before she got home ;) Which may have something to do with you still looking down at the grass rather than up at it.

Need tin, stuff runs close to $20 a lb. from foundry, pewter is about $10 a lb. on S&S forum so anytime I can get it and the price does not seem too stupid I go ahead and buy it. I have said it before candle stick or picture frame for one or two bucks is a small gamble. Weighted candle stick at $5 is a no thank you, for $2 or less? Yep I'll probably take it. Same for glass bottom cups at $4 now at $2 I would be tempted, guess it would depend on size and overall weight. But generally if I could snag 5 cups for $10 I would do it.

You pays your money and you takes your chances. Sometimes the nut meat is a lot more work than others to get out. I like pecans so the only question is how much is it worth to buy them already shelled vs. doing it myself.

For me the worst part is cleaning up all the plaster and glue chips after tearing them apart, stuff seems to fly everywhere. Might have something to do with me beating them on a steel block to break up the stuff for easier removal. Works and I appreciate the stress relief of smacking them.

[brassrat]

I left a dozen sticks today and numerous glass steins at $2 each maybe $1 I forget

[imashooter2]

Glass bottom tankards generally go over 8 ounces after the glass and caulk are removed. I'd buy them at $2 each all day long. Weighted candlesticks... not so much.

[brassrat]

The latest tankards were matched but very light which is why I left them. An unusual one from last week was gone. It was marked $9.95 and was heavy, maybe 2lbs. and fancy panels all around.

[LuckyDog]

Just saw at Track of the wolf website, pewter ingots for 6 or 7 dollars a pound. Don't know the maker up. They are for casting nose caps on muzzle loaders. The also have Britannia metal. That has about 6% Sb and a few % copper in it.

[brassrat]

6 or 7 $/lb, yur killin me. I checked and you're correct, but I'm skeptical. I tried to download instructions on the making/melting of this pewter but couldn't and they really have no other alloy for sale. Maybe its mixed with llama snot as its only listed for those caps