A source of pure TIN

[bangerjim]

You might not have thought of this but if you enjoy higher $$ end corked and sealed-with-foil single malts and whiskeys like I do, that seal, cap, and neck band are pure Sn! Not aluminum or lead foils.......but Sn. Cheap bottles use Al foil and/or Al screw caps with plastic film seals. You can tell just by the weight and feel!

I just got done re-melting and fluxing about 2 years' worth from me and several friends that donate them to me, and I ended up with a little over 4.5 oz of PURE TIN. Not bad for something most people just throw away.

I really do not need it, as I have currently over 200# of pure I use for casting.

But everybody out there seems to be in a desperate panic/search for Sn, so there is a source for a little. Will sweeten several boolits!

Talk to your friends and relatives that enjoy a really good quality "wee dram" now & then! And have them start saving the bottle foils for you.

banger

[slim1836]

Wish I knew people that could afford the finer spirits like that.

Nice to know though.

Slim

[contender1]

Could you share some of the brands & such that use these tin seals?

[BattleRife]

You might not have thought of this but if you enjoy higher $$ end corked and sealed-with-foil single malts and whiskeys like I do, that seal, cap, and neck band are pure Sn!

What evidence do you have that those are tin? I have no trouble believing that tin would have been used a century ago, but it is such a rare and expensive metal now that I would have thought an application like that would have transitioned to something else a long time ago.

[Springfield]

I bought and melted down half a 55 gallon drum ofdamaged foils one, and they were not tin but lead. Made nice balls for my muzzle loader.

[imashooter2]

Hard to believe that they would put lead foil on food products any time in the last 150 years. X-ray foils sound more likely.

As for the whiskey foils, high end wines and liquors have traditionally used tin. These days I wouldn’t bet the rent on it though. That said, while Banger and I may have butted heads once or twice, I’m fairly certain he can tell the difference between tin, aluminum and lead. If he says his foils were tin, that’s the way I would bet.

[JonB_in_Glencoe]

Years ago, when I started casting, I read somewhere the some wine makers still used Tin for the foil capsule. I started collecting them.

Back then, I would enjoy some wine regularly. In fact I had a part time job with a Liquor store, which had (and still has) regular wine tastings. While most bottles I opened were in the less than $20 range, I have been to tastings were $100 bottles were opened.
When I attempted to melt down all my foils, I found they were all aluminum.

Now, I'm not saying Banger is incorrect about the whiskey foils, I just want to add my 2¢, that I can't imagine you'll find any Tin on a wine bottle.

[bangerjim]

I definitely know the difference between Sn and Pb! And how they melt and behave. The foils are heavy and once melted into a nice mirror bright puddle and cooled, it is very hard and shiny like all my Sn hoard. Without an x-ray gun analysis, I would not 100% be sure it is pure Sn, but it sure looks and feels and behaves like all the gobs of Sn I have ever melted in the past. And it is definitely NOT Al! Only wines and cost-effective booze brands use Al foils and screw caps. Every bottle of wine my wife has ever opened (I hate wine) has been Aluminum foil. I have never seen a CA wine without an Al foil on it, so we cannot really use CA beverages as an example.

Brands????? All are melted now, but I normally save the ones from any single malt scotch whiskey over $60-70 a bottle. Same with my friends.

[bangerjim]

Have you ever tried to look up the Brinell hardness info on tin? A real number is about as elusive as finding the real stuff at a flea market!

I have found sources that give it a value from 8 to over 75! Something smells there. I always figured it was somewhere in the 14-16 range.

So.................I whipped out my NIST calibrated CabineTree-style tester. I have many ingots of PURE Sn (not lame pewter or solder) that are foundry cast and stamped so I know there are not some lame SAECO mold of a mixed soup or pewter some clown melted.

Some wanted proof? Here is what I can offer to any doubting Thomas out there:

1) PURE TIN, if you have ever actually seen any, is bright and shiny with a slight yellow hue to it. It "cries" when you bend it. (yes, look it up if you don't believe me!). My puddle of bottle foil melts is about 1/4" thick and it is easy to hear the "tin cry" when bent.

But it is hard! No finger nail scratches here! So........

2) I checked a few of the PURE Sn ingots I have with my Cabine tester and it yielded a reading of 14-15 hardness repeatedly. Then I tested my puddle of melted foils. SURPRISE! It read 14-15 also. The color is bright and shiny with that unique yellow hue. and it cries when flexed!

3) The foils melted at around 450 °F. The documented melting point of pure Sn is 449.47°F.


I rest my case. Believe the facts or not.

For other "off the beaten path" sources for Sn, look for old metal organ pipes (normally 50Sn/50Pb) and old beverage cooling coils (pure Sn). I have found those as excellent, yet rather rare, sources of Sn and alloys.

Tin, like gold, is where you find it!

[bowfin]

Could you share some of the brands & such that use these tin seals?

Brands????? All are melted now, but I normally save the ones from any single malt scotch whiskey over $60-70 a bottle. Same with my friends.

No, we don't want the names, we want you to share the actual stuff!

[Silvercreek Farmer]

All mine come with plastic…

[contender1]

Thanks for sharing the info.

[kevin c]

I was gifted the reject foils from a high end winery by a shooting buddy who knows I cast. My wife has a wine connoisseur friend who occasionally brings over hideously expensive wines to try. All the foils are as bangerjim described: heavy, much heavier than what I’d expect from aluminum. Samples melted into molten pewter at liquidus temp.

It’s good to know that there’s a bit of tin to be salvaged (maybe a quarter’s worth?). I don’t think I’d start shelling out $100+ per bottle just for the tin, though. Cheaper to buy pure from RotoMetals. But I don’t appreciate the good stuff so what do I know.

[Lloyd Smale]

youd have to stay drunk for a long time to alloy ten lbs of lead.

[imashooter2]

youd have to stay drunk for a long time to alloy ten lbs of lead.

[bangerjim]

youd have to stay drunk for a long time to alloy ten lbs of lead.

Not if you have 10-12 people saving them for you!

[Outpost75]

If I want pure tin I buy nodules of the real thing from Roto Metals. No fooling around.

[bangerjim]

If I want pure tin I buy nodules of the real thing from Roto Metals. No fooling around.

Get where and how you want. I am not going to break the bank with bottle foils. As I said I have over 200# of pure factory cast (and others) Sn ingots to last me for quite a while! I do not mess with pewter.

I just posted this as FYI information most do not realize is out there. No, it is not a FAST source of Sn for those of you that shoot 1K+ rounds a week. Some may find it useful. But is interesting where stuff like that can pop up in the most unlikely places. I always thought bottle foils were either aluminum or plastic. Not the case.

As of this moment, 505 people have read this post in only ~48 hours, so some on here must have an interested in broadening their knowledge base.

[Ateam]

I posted on this a few years ago, eagle rare I believe it was. I called them and they confirmed it was indeed tin.

[bangerjim]

Thank you kevin c and Ateam for that confirmation.

I will keep track of the single malts and other libations I open in the future that are Sn. You cannot tell by just looking at the seal without opening it up and feeling the weight and texture of the cap and foil.

And I sure do not need any more bottles open right now! All the holiday entertaining was enough!