Pewter or not?

[Jal5]

Came across a large number of dinner sized plates half of them are labeled "pewtarex" by some company in PA that has a horse drawn carriage logo, the rest were Wilton plates labeled PWP.

Any pewter here or all junk?

thanks,

Joe

[trooperdan]

Sounds like junk. I suspect the Pewterex is aluminum based alloy.

[jsizemore]

Definitely NOT pewter. I believe both companies have websites and they say they use a zinc alloy.

When you find something that you think is pewter and it doesn't say it on the bottom, and the price is right, try to bend it with your hands. If it bends easily and doesn't try to rebound back to it's previous shape, then it's probably pewter. I know some thicker pieces of pewter won't bend easily, but being a beginner, I'd rather pass them up then get the wrong thing.

I figure to pay about $2.50/lb for all the pewter I buy in a day. A Sheffield Pewter beer stein/mug weighs about 8oz. Paying less is better.

Do a check for pewter on this website and you'll find some better descriptions.

Good Luck

[SciFiJim]

I bought a pewterex plate at a yard sale for 25 cents to see if it was pewter. I placed a WW on it and heated both with a blowtorch. The WW was a molten puddle and the plate didn't even change color. Definitely not pewter.

[Jal5]

Thanks guys, they were for free in mom's garage, I left them there.

Joe

[a.squibload]

Sagacious has a post on testing with hydrochloric / muriatic acid, simple enough:

http://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?t=83978&highlight=hydrochloric

[Beerd]

My "educated" guess is that Pewterex is some sort of aluminum alloy.
Way too light in weight to be tin.
It does melt with a propane torch, but it takes a LOT of heat on a small piece.
..

[Old Goat Keeper]

I know for a fact the Wilton stuff is NOT pewter guys! I live about 30 miles from their factory and have done the tour.

Tom



Came across a large number of dinner sized plates half of them are labeled "pewtarex" by some company in PA that has a horse drawn carriage logo, the rest were Wilton plates labeled PWP.

Any pewter here or all junk?

thanks,

Joe

[Fugowii]

If you do a search on Pewter you will find some great posts on the stuff.

[10 ga]

At whatever the price of Al is at the scrapyard you can always trade/sell and get lead. Of course they are also nice for targets. Kids love to shoot stuff that goes clang. 10 ga

[Taylor]

Good idea on the target! I like it.