How much tin??

[kendall yates]

I found some 20lb ingots from a old stained glass shop. All the scrap was melted into blocks. My question how would I find out how much tin soder is mixed with the lead?

[WHITETAIL]

I would melt the lead and make a few boolits.
Then test the hardness.:castmine:

[Tom Herman]

You'll have to work it out yourself.
If it's strictly scrap from the laed with no solder mixed in, it will probably be nearly pure lead.
If significant solder was mixed in, then it will be slightly harder, but flow better.
Good advice on casting a bullet or two. Test the hardness, and see how easily the mold fills out.
You could also do a fingernail scratch test. Compare how easily it scratches with a known pure piece of lead. You can also do the 'thud" test: See what sound it makes when it's dropped on a hard surface. The purer the lead is, the duller the sound (compare to a known sample of pure lead). The harder it is, the less deformation and the higher the ring will be.
Sounds like good stuff... Glad you got it!

Happy Shootin'! -Tom

[Ole]

There seems to be a mathematical way to solve for tin% in an unknown sample by weighing a set volume sample against another volume of pure lead material.




Bill McGraw: "Tin (Sn) has a specific gravity (SG) of 7.298 gm/cc compared to lead (Pb) at 11.34 gm/cc or about 64% of lead. If using WW alloy of about 11 gm/cc and a bullet weighs 175 gr, the tin bullet will weigh only 116 gr (66%).


The trick to this method is exactly duplicating a known volume of two metals. If you don't have a bullet mold, that might be an issue as it might be tricky to be consistent with ingot molds.

Alternatively, you could always send it to someone with a BHN tester and have it ID'ed that way.

[Leftoverdj]

Why worry about it?

The real question is whether it will make bullets. Cast some up and see what you get. It's not going to have enough tin in it to make a big difference, but it's probably got enough to make it cast well. If it casts well, it'll do for target loads for pistol. If you need harder alloy, you'll have to blend it anyway, and it will be one more mystery metal in a pot full of mystery metal.