silver/tin/copper would you use???

[skohler]

I have a source for some powdered silver, tin and copper all mixed up. The approximate amount is silver ~60%, tinn ~30% and copper <10%. I have to dispose of some precapsulated dental amalgam and I though about dumping out and saving the powder phase before disposing of the liquid mercury.

We are not talking about large quantities, I think if I pulled all the powdered component out it would maybe come out to 500 grams. Didn't know if this would be of any benifit with casting. Much of the lead I have is on the soft side (dental x-ray foil and lead dive belts).

Thanks!

[lwknight]

The silver is worth about $300.oo per pound.
Please dispose of the Mercury properly.
The soft xray film lead will be envied by any casters. We can add whatever needed to it.
I think that amalgom boolits would be a fun experiment but repeatability could get pretty pricey to get more supplies.

[skohler]

Haven't been paying attention to the price of silver....wow. I have a hazardous waste disposal facility to take the mercury. It has to go there with or without the powdered metal amalgam so I figured I would try to get some use out of it.

Actually what I was wondering, is if I should add a small amount of the mixture to my melt. did not know if the silver or tin would give me any benefit if I add a bit to each pot of lead when casting??

Since I am relatively new to the hobby, I thought I would just throw this question out there before doing something stupid.

[kawalekm]

I've read that some bullet alloys incorporate silver instead of antimony, but I haven't any info on percentages. The tin content will DEFINATELY be benefical, but copper in you alloy is a no-no. I think that anything past 0.5% copper may cause clumping, but I myself have had no experience using copper.

The powder you speak of. Is it a powdered mix of silver, tin, and copper that is mechanically mixed together; or is it an powdered alloy of silver, tin, and copper? My train of though is if you have a mechanical mixture, you could add it to liquified lead at about 650F, disolve the tin out of the mix, and quickly skim off the silver/copper mix.

[runfiverun]

a pound of that to 100 lbs of ww's wouldn't hurt a thing.

[montana_charlie]

If the total weight of the powder is a bit over a pound, there isn't enough tin in it to sweeten very much alloy. I would probably just discard it all.

Will a magnet pull the tin out?
CM

[skohler]

The powder you speak of. Is it a powdered mix of silver, tin, and copper that is mechanically mixed together; or is it an powdered alloy of silver, tin, and copper? My train of though is if you have a mechanical mixture, you could add it to liquified lead at about 650F, disolve the tin out of the mix, and quickly skim off the silver/copper mix.


Good question, not sure how the powdered mix was made. Maybe I can somehow turn it in for scrap, would be a lot of silver.

I have no idea what temp this stuff melts at, maybe I can make a little bar of this mix just for giggles.

[sheepdog]

What you do is melt the alloy at tin melting temperatures and scoop out the solids after lots and lots of flux. Soak the mess in lemon juice til the copper breaks down in the liquid then strain it and sell the silver to a gold & silver dealer.

[sagacious]

In that ratio, the amalgam powder would make a very useful silver brazing alloy paste.

One would just mix a small amount of powder with some silver-brazing flux, and apply the paste to the area to be brazed (powdered borax dampened with alcohol would work as a flux). Silver-brazing paste is an expensive commodity. If it were me, that's the use I'd put it to, and I'd sure get a lot of use out of 500 grams of silver-braze paste.

Good luck, hope it works out. :drinks:

[Ole]

Adding silver to your bullet alloy will certainly help if you need to shoot any warewolves.

:mrgreen:

[lwknight]

A pound of silver to 100 pounds of wheel weights makes $4.00 per pound alloy.
Cheaper to sell the silver and buy custom alloy and have money left over.

[Cactus Farmer]

I would like to try some of this mixture for silver solder. Melt it into a puck and annealed,it could be drawn out in a jewelers rolling mill to make stick solder or as earlier said mixed with flux used to sweat parts together.....
If used with care an ounce of silver solder will repair a lot of guns..........

[docone31]

You would be better off with Boric Acid, Sodium Hydroxide, the powder. Mix it a little thick like toothpaste on steroids.
This then could be put on the seam/joint.
The heating would melt the brazing material, the now flux and self pickling compound will make a nice solution.
I would not melt it prior to useing. It affects the material.
Also, with it still in powder, you will use less.

[skohler]

Thanks for all the thoughts. This stuff is like fine dust, already have a prescription pill bottle full and I still have a lot to process. I realized that my casting pot won't come close to melting the silver/copper and putting a torch to this stuff would just blow it all over. I'll just get everything separated and see how much I wind up with.

[imashooter2]

Jewelers send their filing waste off to be refined and they get a check back for the precious metal weight. I'll bet the same companies would be interested in your silver mix. Ask your local jewelers for a name...

[madsenshooter]

There might be some folks that'd have a use for this as a brazing alloy paste, the CMP is selling new Krag rifle barrels, and buyers have to affix their old front sight bases to the new barrel. The brazing/soldering some of you are describing sounds better than using a brass rod.

[skohler]

Finally got it all sorted out- looks like around 19 ounces total. I'll check around with the jewelers. Since I don't know the exact percentages of the mix, I'm not sure I would feel right about having someone try it and wind up ruining a project. Assuming it would be possible to use as a silver solder, how much does this stuff cost to buy?

[lwknight]

Silver solder goes about double the price of silver as best I can remember from way back when. Probably higher now days.

[lwknight]

The silver brazing alloy has phosphorous in the mix too.

[imashooter2]

Your 19 ounces avoirdupois would equal 17.3 ounces Troy. 60% silver would give you ~10.4 ounces Troy. At $17 an ounce your silver is worth ~$177. Of course, the refiner is going to make something for his service, but you should still be in for a nice check.

Better than one of those TV gold places I'm sure.;)

[kawalekm]

Adding silver to your bullet alloy will certainly help if you need to shoot any warewolves.
:mrgreen:
Absolutely NOT. Unless the bullet is PURE silver the werewolf will only be transformed into a lawyer!

[skohler]

Absolutely NOT. Unless the bullet is PURE silver the werewolf will only be transformed into a lawyer!

That's what I was thinking. My wife has a few little yappy dogs that I can chuck out there to distract any werewolves while making my getaway.

[Changeling]

Absolutely NOT. Unless the bullet is PURE silver the werewolf will only be transformed into a lawyer!

That is the funniest thing I've heard in months, it just cracked me up. I emailed it to one of my lawyers and he sent me a return email that only said, "S***w you", I'm still laughing.

[sagacious]

The silver brazing alloy has phosphorous in the mix too.

This is true only of silver-brazing alloys intended for use with copper-based alloys. Phosphorous is a fluxing agent component of the alloy-- brazing alloys containing phosphorous are 'self-fluxing.'

However, phosphorous-containing silver-braze cannot be used on ferrous alloys, such as plain steel or stainless steel, or the joint will be very susceptible to cracking (I became acquanited with this fact the hard way). Non-phosphorous silver-braze can be used for either application, though.

Just hoping to save someone a headache. :drinks: