Pewter?

[Adam604]

Hi Folks,

I've read that some of you have used Pewter to alloy your WW lead to increase the Tin content to improve fill out when casting.

I've looked at a few pieces in thrift shops but don't really know what to look for. Modern stuff says "Pewter" but older stuff doesn't.

What does the older "proof" mark look like? Is there another way to tell pewter from pot metal or aluminum alloys?

I've seen a few pieces that look like they may be pewter marked with a oval circle with three letters inside?


Adam604

[docone31]

When you melt your pewter, make sure you melt it seperately from the lead melt. I have found on a few occasions that zinc is a primary component. If you accidently get zinc in the melt, lower the pot temperature untill the zinc congeals and floats on top. It will look like oatmeal. Stir it together and spoon out.
Untill you realloy or top off the pot, keep the temp high for casting untill the zinc is gone.
I found out the hard way.

[Randall]

I try to see if I can easily bend the object. If it bends easily then I buy it. I get things at yard sales mostly,picture frames, belt buckles, costume jewelry and what not.

[grumpy one]

There are two clues I use aside from the marking, which I find is present about three quarters of the time, but may not say "Pewter" when it is. The other two clues are first, the colour, which is distinctive. It is kind of shiny-dull - just look at a few pieces that you know to be pewter and you will calibrate your eyeballs. The other clue I use is that pewter is nearly always either hammered, or turned. Neither surface finish is all that likely on other materials, though I've seen some hammered aluminium. (Aluminium is so much lighter than pewter that it would be difficult to make that mistake.)

Anything silver plated is unlikely to be pewter, but it just could be: the British used to make items such as trophies out of silver-plated Britannia metal, which is just another name for pewter. If there are any yachties present, the America's Cup is silver plated Britannia metal. My solution is mostly not to bother with anything silver plated because so far I've never found a piece of plated Britannia metal, but I still cast an eye looking for anything with that hammered finish, whether plated or not. If you are really lucky, old British items are likely to be stamped EPBM for electroplated Britannia Metal - watch out for EPNS (electroplated Nickel Silver), which is useless to man or beast. However I haven't seen a single item with such markings in recent years.

[imashooter2]

I try to see if I can easily bend the object. If it bends easily then I buy it. I get things at yard sales mostly,picture frames, belt buckles, costume jewelry and what not.

And if it bends hard, you put it back? [smilie=1:

[No_1]

I think the part he might have left out "if it bends easy I take it to the counter and ask them to reduce the price cause it is damaged". ;)


R.


And if it bends hard, you put it back? [smilie=1:

[Randall]

Well I haven't actually broken anything.......yet. Damaged items are cheaper though.[smilie=1:

[kir_kenix]

Be careful what you melt down tho, it might be worth more as an object then for the pewter inside of it. My grandfather told me that he melted some pewter (I think it was pewter anyway) spoons and toy soldiers down in the 50's...turns out they were civil war era toys and collectable spoons from England. His mother never forgave him.

Once at a gaming convention I picked up a few dozen broken pewter figures that people were going to throw away...tossed the poor pikemen and hoplons right into the furnace when I got home.

[wolfspotter]

I found a little creamer stamped USA but other stampings are too worn off to read. Everyone I've showed it to says it's too heavy to be aluminum. I found a few of these on Ebay and according to the descriptions it's pewter made by Wilton, Pennsylvania. Looking up the company history, they changed to a non-toxic aluminum based alloy called Armetale in 1963. It sure looks and feels like pewter but who knows. After reading this post, I'll be keeping an eye out at the local flea markets and garage sales for some.

:castmine: