tin

[white eagle]

what does tin look like
I have a bar of something, a mystery ingot, and was just curious if I could i.d it
it is sort of dull silver in color and about 4-5#in weight :castmine:

[fourarmed]

Check the specific gravity. Tin is about 7.3, lead is about 11.3.

[R.M.]

Try and bend it. If it crackles, it very well could be tin. There are several different tests, but this is a start.

[mold maker]

Pure tin, like pewter can be checked with HCL acid. There will be almost no reaction.

Do you remember the old portable soft drink dispensers. Many of them had a cooling coil for the drink under the ice dipped into cups. Many of those were 12-15 lb tin slabs poured around SS tubing. I think now most are aluminum.

[imashooter2]

Go down to the hardware store and look at a roll of lead free solder. That is what tin looks like.

[littlejack]

That could be very, very toXic. Better send it to my house.
Jack

[dahermit]

what does tin look like
I have a bar of something, a mystery ingot, and was just curious if I could i.d it
it is sort of dull silver in color and about 4-5#in weight :castmine:

Tin melts at just over 400 degrees, lead at about 630 degrees, antimony even higher. A propane torch will start tin melting quite soon. If you have much experience melting lead alloys, you should be able to determine if it is melting at a relatively low temperature.