Lead free solder

[35isit]

I want to add some tin to straight wheelweights. So I bought a small roll of lead free at Lowes. It is Lenox brand .062 in diameter. Best I can tell by their website it is 95% tin 4.95% copper and 0.05% selenium. In a 20lb pot of wheel weight the selenium would be negligible. The 4.95% copper has me slightlt concerned. Im my limited experience I had never heard of adding copper to the alloy. So I have a few questions.
1, Will the copper be detrimental to the alloy?

2, Will the selenium hurt anything?

3, I intend to use about 4 inches of solder per 20lb pot. Is this about the right amount? The diameter of the solder is small only .062.

4, After adding sprues and bad bullets to next pot. Do I use less or the same amount of solder.

5, Will adding the solder drastically change bullet diameter and weight?

Thanks in advance.

[Echo]

Four inches of solder in a 20-pound pot will make absolutely no difference in the alloy. Weigh four inches - probably less than 1/2 ounce. In 320 ounces of other alloy. Just a butterfly kiss to the alloy. To bring 20 pounds of WW up to +2%, you would need 6.4 ounces of tin...

And the selenium will disappear - at least any effects due to selenium will be non-existant.

And if you add 6.5 ounces of that lead-free solder to the pot, you will have added less than 1/3 ounce of copper - again, no effect.

Adding 6.5 ounces of solder to 20 pounds of other alloy should not effect the diameter much - probably not measurable.

[KYCaster]

Yeah, what Echo said.

Any more than 2% Sn added to WW is not going to accomplish much. Measure the length of whole roll so you can calculate the oz./ft and keep adding an oz. at a time till you get the desired results, that way you can duplicate it later and can also figure how much to add when you top up your pot.

I've found that a little more heat will usually accomplish the same thing as more Sn.

Jerry

P.S. Where, exactly, in central KY are you?

[35isit]

I thought any extra tin added would be good. The small amount I bought to try will not do much. I only bought 1oz. I will try it in one pot and see how it does. If it I like the results I will try to find some pure tin. Thanks for the quick answers.

Kycaster I live just south of Lexington Ky.

[sagacious]

1, Will the copper be detrimental to the alloy?
2, Will the selenium hurt anything?
No, that vanishingly tiny amount of copper and selenium will not be noticeable.

To my knowledge, there is no component of any hardware-store bought solder that could be in any way injurious to bullet alloy.


3, I intend to use about 4 inches of solder per 20lb pot. Is this about the right amount? The diameter of the solder is small only .062.
20lbs of lead = 320ozs of lead. 1% of 320 = 3.2.

So, adding 2%Sn to 20lbsPb means adding 6.4ozs of Sn, as Echo has noted above.


4, After adding sprues and bad bullets to next pot. Do I use less or the same amount of solder.
Add the sprues/bullets AFTER you alloy the tin solder into your next pot of ww lead. That way you can duplicate the alloy.


5, Will adding the solder drastically change bullet diameter and weight?
Nope. Not going to cause a drastic change.

[KYCaster]

Sorry to hi-jack your thread 35isit, but I just noticed your sig line. :oops:

I wasn't aware that there's anywhere in KY to shoot IHMSA. Could you point me to a web site with match schedule?

Jerry

[Echo]

Additionally, you might check with Grainger. I bought 10 pounds of lead-free solder a couple of years ago from them for a very good price. Still have a few pounds left.

[35isit]

Kycaster, I sent you a pm. I don't know if you got it.

Gentlemen thank you for your responses.