Pewter won't melt

[Charlie Horse]

This pewter tray would not melt for me. I put a lot of heat to it. I even torched it directly and it would not melt. Any idea why?
326853

On the back it is stamped "Wilton, Mt Joy, PA, USA"

[K43]

If you got it up to 446 deg F and it didn't melt, it's not pewter.

[MrWolf]

I doubt that is pewter. Does it easily bend? Pewter for me, has a distinct feel to it.

[Bent Ramrod]

My guess is because it’s aluminum. That black outlining of the cast-in decorations is pretty characteristic, as is the thickness, the crystalline, “castings” look at the broken edges, and the brighter, less-gray-than-pewter color.

Real pewter melts even easier than lead.

[skeettx]

http://www.mehlmandesign.com/ceramic-glass/portfolio-detail/wilton-armetale/

[Delkal]

It is probably Wilton Armetale which is aluminum based and you will see this stuff 10:1 in a thrift shop vs real pewter. All of those square trays saying "Give us this day our daily bread" or "Bless this house" are Armetale. Eventually you will be able to tell from a distance since Armetale is always bright and real pewter is usually more gray or slightly oxidized, and it is roughly cast where most pewter is spun and smooth. It feels different as soon as you pick it up since it is lighter and for some reason doesn't feel the same. Just about all pewter from the 1950's on will say "pewter" with who made it on the bottom but make sure it doesn't say Pewterex or something similar since they are aluminum. All Wilton pieces have a RWP makers mark so if you see a version of this put it back.

As a final test if I am unsure of something is to give it a squeeze or a little bend. If it bends buy it. This is good on the older cast pewter from the 1800's since none of these will say pewter and just have a makers mark. Research these before you melt them. Over the years I found plates made in the late 1700's / early 1800's that are valuable.

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[Barry54]

At least you broke it into pieces. It won’t falsely entrap the next caster.

[sureYnot]

Thrift shops will label anything either pewter or silver. More commonly pewter. I've seen things clearly stamped "stainless steel" by the factory with a handwritten tag claiming pewter.
Pewter bends easily, has no spring back, no thin and sharp edges, and does not ring when struck. Check out the pewter pictures and hallmarks thread. With a little practice, you'll be able to spot the real stuff from 20 feet.

[imashooter2]

You aren’t the first and won’t be the last to mistake Wilton pieces for pewter. Wouldn’t hurt to peruse the first few pages of the sticky linked in my signature.

[Rickf1985]

I remember going to the Wilton store when it was in Flemington NJ. Quite some place but none of their stuff is tin.

[farmbif]

whenever im out and come across pewter I always give it a squeeze and see if it bends. that aluminum stuff will not bend by hand but pewter always will

[gwpercle]

Wilton makes a big line of ... Aluminum Bakeware !

It might not be pewter but aluminum ...
Gary

[Winger Ed.]

Wilton makes a big line of ... Aluminum Bakeware !

It might not be pewter but aluminum ...
Gary

Yeah, I got caught on one of those...... and there went 25 cents down the drain.
I grabbed this big silver platter at a thrift shop that turned out to be very cleverly disguised Aluminum.

[1eyedjack]

Yep been there bought it. Neighbors had a garage sale had several pieces of " pewter " told them I cast boolits after the sale they gave me several pieces of the wilton stuff...wife uses it to decorate seasonal themes. On a positive note scored nearly 5 pounds of pewter goblets and a serving tray for 5 bucks that hadn't survived a drunken party that confirmed pewter does bend easily

[Delkal]

Craigslist and Facebook marketplace are the worst when someone says "pewter" plates or dinner ware. To most if it is white and metal it is pewter but 99% is aluminum Armetale. I don't think I ever saw some commemorative plate or serving platter that was made in pewter.

The worst time was when someone had a dozen of prized old trophy plates from some golf or tennis club and had them listed for cheap. I emailed them asking if they were actually marked pewter or if it had a RWP stamp. They emailed me back saying it was RWP and something about I wanted to melt them. They took their post down in a hour!

Note: If you see a beer mug or Christmas cup engraved with someones initials at a thrift shop 99% of the time it is pewter and 99% of the time it is $2. Who would want someone else's initials on their mug?

I do!

[gunther]

Stay home one night, and watch a movie: "The Searchers". At the beginning, and near the end, the interior scenes depict well loaded mantels over the fireplaces. Look! The gray plates are pewter, and the redish stuff is copper. If you luck into similar examples of either, don't melt the pewter, and don't sell the copper for scrap. John Wayne and the director John Ford were advanced collectors. Those pieces were the good stuff.

[imashooter2]

Yeah, I got caught on one of those...... and there went 25 cents down the drain.
I grabbed this big silver platter at a thrift shop that turned out to be very cleverly disguised Aluminum.

LOL! The "disguise" isn’t all that clever. :drinks:

[imashooter2]

I don't think I ever saw some commemorative plate or serving platter that was made in pewter.


I’ve had dozens of them and there are more than a few pictures in the hallmarks thread. Everything from baby spoons to serving trays has been made in genuine pewter. I've bought, melted and sold more pewter than 99% of the members here. I didn’t make that journey without having to learn along the way. It’s a rare scrounger that has never bought a bad piece.

[William Yanda]

Wilton is a known source for "Pewterale" or some such, an aluminum alloy.

[redhawk0]

2 rules when I'm looking for pewter...ONE...does it bend....and TWO....Does it have a hallmark. If one or the other is missing...I pass on it.

I suggest you start looking at the hallmarks in the hallmark thread...it helps greatly to determine good from bad.
https://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?127929-Pewter-pictures-and-hallmarks

redhawk

[Charlie Horse]

Dang. I thought something was fishy. Thanks all for the replies. I'll be more careful in the thrift stores and yard sales.

As hot as I got it, even if it was aluminum it should have melted, but I guess not.

[fredj338]

if you got it up to 446 deg f and it didn't melt, it's not pewter.

^^this^^^

[fredj338]

Dang. I thought something was fishy. Thanks all for the replies. I'll be more careful in the thrift stores and yard sales.

As hot as I got it, even if it was aluminum it should have melted, but I guess not.

Melting point of alum is like 1200deg so unless you put a torch to it, you arent melting alum.

[Winger Ed.]

LOL! The "disguise" isn’t all that clever. :drinks:


Yeah. I squandered 25 cents learning that lesson.

[Charlie Horse]

Well I didn't spend too much on this lesson. Maybe $10-20.

But with your guy's help I did get my very first, real pewter pieces. They are a small tray, and cream and sugar holders for $5. I might test them for lead with those swabs and if they are ok I might use them for tea instead of melting them.

[sureYnot]

Well I didn't spend too much on this lesson. Maybe $10-20.

But with your guy's help I did get my very first, real pewter pieces. They are a small tray, and cream and sugar holders for $5. I might test them for lead with those swabs and if they are ok I might use them for tea instead of melting them.Don't use it for beer.

[imashooter2]

Well I didn't spend too much on this lesson. Maybe $10-20.

But with your guy's help I did get my very first, real pewter pieces. They are a small tray, and cream and sugar holders for $5. I might test them for lead with those swabs and if they are ok I might use them for tea instead of melting them.

LOL! Check the pictures and hallmarks thread to see the stuff I’ve turned into a puddle. [smilie=1:

[jsizemore]

Well I didn't spend too much on this lesson. Maybe $10-20.

But with your guy's help I did get my very first, real pewter pieces. They are a small tray, and cream and sugar holders for $5. I might test them for lead with those swabs and if they are ok I might use them for tea instead of melting them.

They'll look much better flying through the air around 1000 FPS. Coffee tastes just fine from a ceramic mug.

[Delkal]

I do have a number of pewter items that I gave a reprieve form the melting pot. While just about everything I find that actually says pewter with a modern makers mark gets melted I did keep some nice tankards and trays for everyday use so if you like something keep it for a while. You can always melt it later.

But you need to be careful with the colonial period cast stuff. The older pieces will obviously be a dark pewter, extremely soft and bent up , and will probably have lead in them but if they have a makers mark similar to this pic save them. Depending on the maker a small plate can be worth $100+.

(That is approaching Rotometals prices ;-))

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[troutline]

i pick up quite a bit of pewter at goodwill and always give it the bend test

[Tripplebeards]

I don’t even trust the stuff that says it’s pewter anymore….lol. If it’s super dark, that means it’s more lead than pewter and I normally don’t buy it. I just stick to the modern dinnerware stuff now… that’s marked pewter. If it doesn’t have a stamp in it that says pewter, don’t buy it.

[kevin c]

I don’t even trust the stuff that says it’s pewter anymore….lol. If it’s super dark, that means it’s more lead than pewter and I normally don’t buy it. I just stick to the modern dinnerware stuff now… that’s marked pewter. If it doesn’t have a stamp in it that says pewter, don’t buy it.

^^^This is what I eventually ended up doing.

I have two high lead content lots of marked items I sorted from modern, marked food service pewter. One was what I labeled “art pewter” (mostly figurines), containing only ~23% Sn on xrf. The other marked lot was nominally food service but mainly seemed to be decorative rather than truly usable, things like sets of lidded tankards that ranged from teacup to half gallon capacity, ornate platters that obviously were meant for display, etc.. That lot xrf’d out to ~68% Sn, better, but still not even close to the modern food service standard of 92%.


The lead, of course, doesn’t matter for our use, but it’s the tin you want and are paying for, so, for the dollars per pound paid, the real cost of the tin is much higher the lower its % in what you buy.