Tin/Pewter

[Traffer]

I saw a bunch of Pewter mugs and dishes etc on Craig's list for dirt cheap. Only it was like 60 miles away. I will keep checking until I find some closer.
This looks like it would have a good amount of tin in it. http://eauclaire.craigslist.org/hsh/5610947832.html

[imashooter2]

IF it is really pewter and not some pot metal. I advise being careful and only buying items marked pewter until you get some experience. Wilton (RWP), Pewterlite, Pewterex, Sexton and Stede items are not genuine pewter,

[Chris C]

I may have made a mistake, but last night I won an e-bay auction for 17 pewter figures. Don't know the weight, and asked too late in the auction to get an answer. But I figured for $9.99 I couldn't get hurt. The mistake I made was the shipping was $11.35 and I was so jubilant about getting them for less than $10 I didn't think to figure in the shipping.............Duh! Oh well, I admit my mistakes and most usually learn from them. Think I got skunked, but I'll report the cost per pound when I get the figures and put them on a scale. Next time I'll be more careful.

[DerekP Houston]

I may have made a mistake, but last night I won an e-bay auction for 17 pewter figures. Don't know the weight, and asked too late in the auction to get an answer. But I figured for $9.99 I couldn't get hurt. The mistake I made was the shipping was $11.35 and I was so jubilant about getting them for less than $10 I didn't think to figure in the shipping.............Duh! Oh well, I admit my mistakes and most usually learn from them. Think I got skunked, but I'll report the cost per pound when I get the figures and put them on a scale. Next time I'll be more careful.

Win some, lose some =) as long as you have fun in the process. Heck I paid s&s prices here for all my pewter and I'm still sitting on ~90% of what i bought. A little goes a long way with the scrap I'm using.

[Chris C]

I found another item on e-bay that I'm interested in..........but with the freight figure in it comes to $10.25/lb. It's marked Etain Garanati PUR. Not familiar with the Garanati. Is that maybe the company that made it?

[DerekP Houston]

I found another item on e-bay that I'm interested in..........but with the freight figure in it comes to $10.25/lb. It's marked Etain Garanati PUR. Not familiar with the Garanati. Is that maybe the company that made it?

from a brief google search it appears to be a pewter brand. I would wait for someone more knowledgable than me though.

https://www.liveauctioneers.com/item..._etain-garanti

[imashooter2]

Etain PUR means lead free pewter. Probably 95%. Garanati is probably a maker.

[Chris C]

Etain PUR means lead free pewter. Probably 95%. Garanati is probably a maker.

Sort of what I figured. Don't think I'm going to bid at the $10.25/# price. Might make him an offer if it doesn't sell. I've gotten many things that way. In fact, that's exactly how I got my C. Sharps 1885 Highwall.

[500MAG]

Chris, although I get a lot of pewter at thrift stores I also pick up quite a bit of solder and pewter at yard sales and flea markets. I find partial rolls of solder do $.50 to $1 all the time.

[Chris C]

Thanks. I'm learnin'.........might be slow, but I'm learnin'. Don't have many garage/yard sales around my area and when they do pop up, it's usually baby or kitchen stuff. Guys in my area are farmers and don't typically let go of anything they use to fix stuff.........whether it be tools, materials or spare parts.

[boho]

If you have a local radiator shop in town like I do, see if the shop owner will trade his solder drippings. I trade my local shop owner soww lead and he makes trotline weights.

[Hardcast416taylor]

As I had to pick up a bunch of canning jars the wife won in that auction I was only out the gas to drive about 30 miles to get the stuff. I didn`t bid on another auction nor did anybody else for a box of silver plate items and `pewter` items. The `items` were candlesticks that read on the bottoms `pewter balanced`.Robert

[Chris C]

I've got 3 1/2# of pure tin bars. Have 2 3/4# pewter. Have a 1# roll of solder in my shop I've never used. ( http://www.lasco.net/media/11-2012.pdf ) It's 90% tin. My question is this: I've been told that virgin tin bars and reclaimed pewter dinnerware (in the neighborhood of 80%) work just the same when it comes to lowering the surface tension of lead for casting bullets. So can I just render all of this (and whatever else in the realm of tin I can find) in one pot and cast homogeneous ingots? I'd like to keep my inventory organized.

[DerekP Houston]

I've got 3 1/2# of pure tin bars. Have 2 3/4# pewter. Have a 1# roll of solder in my shop I've never used. ( http://www.lasco.net/media/11-2012.pdf ) It's 90% tin. My question is this: I've been told that virgin tin bars and reclaimed pewter dinnerware (in the neighborhood of 80%) work just the same when it comes to lowering the surface tension of lead for casting bullets. So can I just render all of this (and whatever else in the realm of tin I can find) in one pot and cast homogeneous ingots? I'd like to keep my inventory organized.

if you promise not to tell anyone....that's what I did with my last batch of pewter/tin.

[Chris C]

I won't tell a soul, Derek. So that's okay to do and won't hurt anything?

[Chris C]

Oh, and I need also to ask, is the copper and silver in that solder going to be a problem? http://www.lasco.net/media/11-2012.pdf

[imashooter2]

At typical 2-5% usage, not at all. I don't even consider the trace metals in my calculations.

And any pewter tableware made in the last hundred years is well over 80% tin. Figure your low average at 94%.

[DerekP Houston]

I won't tell a soul, Derek. So that's okay to do and won't hurt anything?

it won't be as "pure" as keeping at all separate, but considering I generally cast with range scrap my measurements are not at all precise. IIRC I bought 2 boxes of pewter, one was all small ~1 oz bars and real easy to add to the pot while casting. The next was a big slab of solid pewter, I figured since I had to melt it down in to smaller chunks either way, Id mix it all together for a homogenous blend.

I don't know 100% for the copper content, but a negligible amount should add a tiny bit of toughness to your alloy. Hopefully one of our more knowledgeable and less sleep deprived members will chime in.

[Chris C]

Well, I screwed myself. Paid $21.34 for 26.236 oz of pewter figures.....($13.02/lb).........oh, and two ver-r-ry obviously brass pieces. So I screwed myself and got screwed by the seller. I wrote them a note telling them how disappointed I am and that I expect to be compensated. (like that's going to happen!!!!!) Since writing them the note, I'm not so sure there aren't a couple of the figures that look more like lead than pewter..........and they aren't marked. So "lesson learned". If a seller doesn't show the hallmark on the items, I'm not buying online again.

UPDATE:

Seller responded. Didn't apologize. Just said "17 pcs for $9.99 makes them $.58 each. I'll refund $1.20. Is that satisfactory?"

Last time I'll be doing business with theshelf850 on e-bay.

[imashooter2]

What you're looking for on eBay, are ugly dinged up coffee and tea sets. You want a large and small pot, creamer, sugar and a 1 piece tray 12" or larger. Be careful not to buy sets with 2 piece trays, because the base isn't pewter. Look at the picture thread and you will see I list weights for a lot of different styles. Be aware that weights for the same pot from the same maker can vary a few ounces from one to another.

You can also message the seller and ask for the weight. Be sure to make it clear you are looking for the weight of the items without packaging.