Lead-Free Solder, Latest Fixing

[NVcurmudgeon]

I viewed the lead-free solder at our local Ace Hardware today. The price was $15.99/lb! At that rate, it will soon be sold by Troy weight, like gold or silver, and be listed daily on the commodities market. Maybe it is outrageous everywhere, but I'm going to shop around.

[Edward429451]

Lead fre's been costing me around 10 bucks a roll, at my local plumbing supply house. 50/50 is 1.99 a roll!

[boogerred]

all i can find is 50/50 in the 1/8" dia 1lb rolls. about 3' in a 10# pot makes good pistol bullets.

[NVcurmudgeon]

Research continues on lead-free solder. Ace Hardware $15.99/lb.
Home Depot $ 7.97/3 0z. (that would be $26.60/lb.) of course, I couodn't find any English speaking help, so maybe they have bigger packages elsewhere.
Loew's $10.98/lb.
It pays to shop around.

[Muskrat Mike]

I viewed the lead-free solder at our local Ace Hardware today. The price was $15.99/lb! At that rate, it will soon be sold by Troy weight, like gold or silver, and be listed daily on the commodities market. Maybe it is outrageous everywhere, but I'm going to shop around.

Read the label very closely. some of the lead free soldiers have nickel, silver, and other metals than antimony. I am a plumber and just ordered some more 95/5 soldier for casting. I got a shock too, the brand I usually buy went from $5 and change to $11.00 since I bought it 6 months ago. I called several wholesalers until I found one who had a different brand for just under $9.00 a roll. The real 95/5 Tin/antimony is what i'm getting. The hardware store might have the different alloys with nickel and silver etc because it's easier to soldier with and still lead free. It's more expensive and your paying retail at the store. You need to talk to your friendly plumber or find a plumbing wholesale house that will sell it to you.

[NVcurmudgeon]

I went to Taracorp's website and checked the MSDS for Dutch Boy lead-free solder: IIRC 95 tin, 4.8 coppper, 0.2 selenum. Very similar to the last bunch I bought. My main interest was in the tin.

[trooperdan]

I went to Taracorp's website and checked the MSDS for Dutch Boy lead-free solder: IIRC 95 tin, 4.8 coppper, 0.2 selenum. Very similar to the last bunch I bought. My main interest was in the tin.

Now that is very interesting, nearly 5 percent copper in lead-free! I wonder what effect that would have on our castings?

[Paul B]

I always try to get the 95/5 lead free with the silver content. No particular reason, but it works just fine. If you're only using maybe a three foot piece in ten pounds of melt, I don't think that small an amount of copper would affect much in the quality of the metal.
Thanks to China buying up all the scrap metals they can scrounge, the cost will continue to rise. Hmmm. Weren't the Japanese doing the same thing just before Pearl Harbor?
I got lucky. A fellow caster found a large quantity of 95/5 at a scrap metals place. Seems some plumbing shop got flooded out and the solder was salvaged. I got 6 rolls from my buddy for $4.00 a roll. Guess I'll be good to go for a while.
Paul B.

[Rick N Bama]

Thanks to China buying up all the scrap metals they can scrounge, the cost will continue to rise. Hmmm. Weren't the Japanese doing the same thing just before Pearl Harbor?
Paul B.

Yep, & I feel like the metal that China is buying will someday come back to us in the form of bullets & bombs! Our scrap metals should stay here!

Rick

[BorderBrewer]

that's what you get.