Scrounging Tin?

[SciFiJim]

As someone just getting into casting I have become more of a scrounger than I ever imagined. I have a question about tin. Well, actually more than one.

How will I know if something is tin when I find it? Is the metal air conditioning duct work made of tin? Does a magnet stick to tin? Is there a melt test for tin content before sticking it in the pot with lead? Does anyone have pictures of what I should be looking for?

Thanks
Jim

[jnovotny]

When we talk of tin we are not talking about just any old tin. Ducting is often galvinized meatel. The tin that you want looks and feels like lead. The best way to get it is solder.Look at rotometals there is a link at the top of the page. You can buy it there, not to bad of a price. A little goes a long way. No a magnet will not stick to tin. Tin does melt at a lower temp, if that helps.

[Gunslinger]

My main source for tin is thrift shops. They usually have old dishes, bowls, vases etc made from tin. Most of what I find is stamped "tin" og "pewter" and "tinn" if it's from Norway (a lot of what I find is) underneath. And it bends easilly.

Here's a recent thread on the subject:

http://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?t=48458

Welcome to the board. Best you buy your Mrs something nice, you're gonna end up reading on this board for hours each day... and you're gonna love it :D

[Shiloh]

Tin is a little tougher to scrounge but it can be done. Like mentioned, thrift stores as well as garage sales. I got a pewter beer mug for .25 cents. Had a crack in the glass on the bottom.

When I started casting, my interest in garage sales picked up. looking for anything that will enhance my casting/reloading interests.

Shiloh

[fordwannabe]

I am buying it at the local scrap yard..errrrh I mean recycler. If it is straight tin it's $3 a ppound if it is in solder it is 15 cents a pound. Those are just what I am paying in my area from this one dealer. Good luck Tom

[SciFiJim]

I just googled the makeup of pewter. 95% tin 4-5%antimony and a trace of copper.

Works for me!:-D

I will definitely be watching for it at yard sales and thrift stores.

[Gerry N.]

Tin that's 95% pure or better has a funny characteristic squeak when one bends it.

Gerry N.

[sheepdog]

Pewter is a pretty vague term. The percentage of tin can be as low as 60%, meaning its basically bar solder. Finding the bluer the color of the pewter the more lead it has in it. If you can bend it easily with the hand and has no springiness to it after you flex it its probably pewter. I been scoring alot at Goodwill stores. Pieces of pewter as low as 29 cents, big pewter platers of 3 pounds for 99 cents. Best of luck

[montana_charlie]

If anybody lives in wine country...

I bought a smallish batch of tin a few years back from a guy who was melting down seals for wine bottles. The industry has 'modernized' and is now using other materials, but you might still find some of the tin seals stuck away in a corner of a warehouse. I'd love to run across a pallet of them...and I would share if I did.

I don't know what they are using in Europe, Gunslinger, but they sure bottle a lot of wine...

CM