O.K. deal on tin

[Cosmic_Charlie]

With the junk stores closed scrounging pewter is not possible so I ordered some tin off Amazon for $19 a pound shipped.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07Z9NZR4H/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o03_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Used a cannonball sinker mold to get it in usable form.

https://bottomdwellerstackle.com/product/do-it-cannon-ball-sinker-molds/

The #3435 mold drops 4.5, 3.5, 2.5 and 1.5 oz sinker balls. Tin weighs quite a bit less than lead so you need to weigh them.
261739

[fredj338]

Or you could go to Rotometals & just buy these.
https://www.rotometals.com/tin-cut-wire-pieces-99-9-pure-1-pound-made-in-usa/

[kevin c]

But he wouldn't have the fun of casting the tin pills!

Actually, I have some of that tin from Rotometals. The cut wire chunks are a uniform size at least twice that of a 230 gr 45 ACP, so it's a bit harder to weigh out a small, exact desired amount (if that matters to you). Rotometals also has tin flakes (they call it "popcorn") that'd measure out more exactly, but it's pricier than the wire chunks.

For me, chunks and small cast bars of tin or pewter are fine when I mix up 250# batches of alloy. When mixing or tweaking a small batch, the most exact method I can think of is to cut lengths of solder wire onto a scale until I have the weight I want.

[fredj338]

But he wouldn't have the fun of casting the tin pills!

Actually, I have some of that tin from Rotometals. The cut wire chunks are a uniform size at least twice that of a 230 gr 45 ACP, so it's a bit harder to weigh out a small, exact desired amount (if that matters to you). Rotometals also has tin flakes (they call it "popcorn") that'd measure out more exactly, but it's pricier than the wire chunks.

For me, chunks and small cast bars of tin or pewter are fine when I mix up 250# batches of alloy. When mixing or tweaking a small batch, the most exact method I can think of is to cut lengths of solder wire onto a scale until I have the weight I want.
I just don't think it matter that much. If I have 18# of alloy in my it & want to sweeten it, I am not weighing anything, just adding a bit of tin. If that is the point of casting tin bullets, I just don't see the time value. I suppose you could take the Roto tin wire & weight them but really, casting isn't that precise a process imo.

[ascast]

FWIW I have and do buy tin like this at times. I use a 6 cavity 45 mold and 6 cav 38 mold to get ity in usable form. I know the weight of one pill, so the total amount is easy to figure.

[kevin c]

True that this isn't rocket science, and that good enough is exactly that.

Still it scratches the itch for some to be exacting even though target won't know the difference. In a former life I was trained to appreciate the variability in a biological system (the human body), but also to be as precise as practically necessary in treating it (most folks probably would not be comfortable hearing their doc say, "ah, that's close enough..."). A science background preceding that career trained me to eliminate variables to get reproducible results. Such habits die hard.

Still, I'm learning. When adding 5# of tin to a 250# batch of alloy, I no longer fret if I'm off an ounce or so either way (but just in case the OC habits rear their ugly heads, I have that spool of lead free solder standing by ;^D).

[richhodg66]

I had no idea tin costs that much. Fortunately, I have quite a bit, probably enough to last my casting days. A little goes quite a ways.

[Winger Ed.]

I had no idea tin costs that much. Fortunately, I have quite a bit, probably enough to last my casting days. A little goes quite a ways.

It went crazy a few years ago.
If I needed some, I run down to Home Depot and get a one pound roll of 95/5 for $6-7 if I was desperate.
That same roll today is over $30.

[kevin c]

Buying tin as tin is expensive: you're paying for a certified pure product that apparently is in greater demand or is scarcer now than a few years back.

Conversely, tin as pewter was all the rage mid last century, so back then folks paid a considerable premium over the value of the metal content to have the in thing, but now pewter goods are largely passé, the occasional collector of older or premium items excepted, and nobody wants the grandparents' pewter items. The result is it can often be bought in Goodwills, thrift and second hand shops for a fraction of the retail cost of the metal. True it isn't pure, but food service pewter is usually 92.5% tin, with the balance being antimony and/or copper, so the final concentration of the other metals in a 2% tin alloy would be under 0.2% (0.002), and so have a negligible effect on the properties of the alloy.

A common comment here is that we're not doing rocket science. If it's close and works, it's good.

[bangerjim]

I just throw some into my pot and try to get 2% Sn in everything (less Sn added if I am using lino as part of the mix). I have several hundred pounds of the stuff in factory ingots, tubing, and 1/4 oz Lee mold ingots I have cast (only fill the small cavities 1/2 full. Also rolls of lead-free and 50/50 solder from the scrap yards.

I prefer whacking off a length of solder wire or holding the 1/4 oz ingot by long tongs just in the pot and melting off a small bit of the end. Again, not rocket science but Sn sure helps molding.

And yes..............Sn IS very expensive today!!!!!!!!! I have never paid over a buck a pound for it in the "goode olde daze".

banger

[Drm50]

I got about a 40-45lb piece of what I think is tin, but some kind on alloy for a plating process? I know what tin looks like from the local mills that did tin plate. A couple different forms but was shiny as new dime. This latest chunk doesn’t have the high shine and looks to be a cut off of a big ingot.

[bangerjim]

Send a small sample to BNE on here and he will do an X-ray gun shoot to tell you EXACTLY what % of stuff is in there.

You can guess and by-golly it all day long and scratch till your nails break and you still will not know what is it.

I have the local yards shoot everything I buy so I can keep records of all the alloys I have.

banger

[kcofohio]

I ordered 5 lbs. of Britannia pewter in muffin ingots from ebay. I paid about $48 w/shipping. I'm hoping that holds me until I can start searching the 2nd hand stores.

[JM7.7x58]

I have done a simple cost analysis of what different alloys cost me. My cost for 30 to 1 (lead/pewter) is less than $0.80 cents a pound. My cost for 20 to 1 (lead/pewter) is less than $0.90 cents a pound. Between sail boat keels and old fishing weights I pay anywhere from $0.30 to $0.75 cents a pound. With thrift store pewter I average about $5.00 bucks a pound.

Wheel weights have been banned in my state for over a decade. The only way to buy wheel weights is online as ingots. Lino is the same situation. I have paid $1.65 per pound for wheel weights and over $2.00 for Linotype.

For me tin is cheap and plentiful. What is expensive for me is high antimony lead. When looking at how much antimony you are getting when you buy wheel weights vs Linotype, 3% vs 12%, Linotype is the clear winner.

When evaluating antimony percentages I subtract the cost of the lead. I use the most recent scrap yard price I paid for sail boat keel, $0.75.
COWW 1.65 - .75 = .90 for 3%
Lino 2.00 - .75 = 1.25 for 12%

COWW are a bad deal for me.
I am now casting pistol bullets out of 20 to 1, because for me it is cheap and plentiful.

I save the COWW for water dropped rifle bullets.

JM

[William Yanda]

Buying tin as tin is expensive: you're paying for a certified pure product that apparently is in greater demand or is scarcer now than a few years back.

Conversely, tin as pewter was all the rage mid last century, so back then folks paid a considerable premium over the value of the metal content to have the in thing, but now pewter goods are largely passé, the occasional collector of older or premium items excepted, and nobody wants the grandparents' pewter items. The result is it can often be bought in Goodwills, thrift and second hand shops for a fraction of the retail cost of the metal. True it isn't pure, but food service pewter is usually 92.5% tin, with the balance being antimony and/or copper, so the final concentration of the other metals in a 2% tin alloy would be under 0.2% (0.002), and so have a negligible effect on the properties of the alloy.

A common comment here is that we're not doing rocket science. If it's close and works, it's good.

The OP stated that thrift shops near him had closed. Similar situation here. Salvation Army has closed the three nearest to me. They still have the city stores-an hour away. I hope the Goodwill stores and Restore hang on.

[robg]

i use lead free plumbers solder on a green roll 1kg/2lb approx=£14 usually add a yard or 2 to my 10lb lee pot .

[Cosmic_Charlie]

i use lead free plumbers solder on a green roll 1kg/2lb approx=£14 usually add a yard or 2 to my 10lb lee pot .

Wonder why it is so much less in the U.K.?