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Thread: Tin and antimony alloy?

  1. #21
    Boolit Master
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    So, sort of what I’ve done, but shooting for a different binary alloy.

    Provided it can be done, the one possible drawback I see is that it’s committing your pure source materials to a specific mix. In my case, I use several hundred pounds of just one casting alloy yearly, so dedicating 10-20# of tin/pewter to mix irretrievably with Sb isn’t a problem. But I still keep the bulk of my pewter and pure tin unalloyed because it’s much more flexible that way, not to mention more sellable.

  2. #22
    Boolit Master
    Hick's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by lwknight View Post
    Hick, SN can alloy 3 times its mass in SB in low concentrations in a tertiary lead alloy but I have no idea what happens without lead in the mix

    It appears that I'm going to have to test it out myself. So the million dollar question is: How much antimony can a pound of tin amalgamate? LOL!
    EDIT: Well,, duh. I'm an idiot! Pewter and tin solder have antimony in them although it is low percentages of antimony. But the question remains.
    Yeah-- You're right and I should have said that-- I mentioned the SbSn 1:1 mix because if its special property of keeping both in solution and making such a good alloy (ie such as 90-5-5). I still have no idea how to do anything with Sb and Sn without it being in the lead.
    Hick: Iron sights!

  3. #23
    Boolit Master
    JSnover's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by lwknight View Post
    My whole idea was 2 fold.
    1. The simplicity of only 2 parts to mix in the casting pot.
    2. Reduced volume of the precious metals like tin and antimony are around $25.00 to $30.00 per pound to keep that in a safe place. Removing lead completely would lower the weight and volume by 60 percent or so. I'm going to try it regardless of the nay sayers lack of understanding my quest to learn and do something different. Most of these guys here are scrap scroungers and could not imagine spending a few dollars for alloy but I'm in a different position and the math required to mix custom alloys for casting is super simple for me. Most of all, I enjoy it.
    I like the idea of simplicity of adding 1 part to say 10 parts lead for the desired ratio of everything. So yeah, I'm crazy that way doing more work to make easier work.
    I did sort of the same thing: Bought some pure lead and some tin babbitt. Each was stored in one pound ingots for easy mixing. Some of the babbitt was poured into boolits because they weighed almost exactly one ounce, which made it easier to mix small batches.
    The concept is sound but it really depends on your organizational skills, available space, desire to test different alloys... In my casting shed there are milk crates filled with ingots of pure lead, WW, RotoMetals bullet alloy, some aircraft ballast (I think it was 94/3/3 or thereabouts) and about 30 pounds of Lino (I didn't make that into ingots, just in case I ever decide to sell or trade, there won't be any question about what it is).
    Sp the idea worked until I found a couple of good scores and went down a couple of rabbit holes. But there's no good reason to try to mix tin/antimony, in my opinion.
    Warning: I know Judo. If you force me to prove it I'll shoot you.

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Abbreviations used in Reloading

BP Bronze Point IMR Improved Military Rifle PTD Pointed
BR Bench Rest M Magnum RN Round Nose
BT Boat Tail PL Power-Lokt SP Soft Point
C Compressed Charge PR Primer SPCL Soft Point "Core-Lokt"
HP Hollow Point PSPCL Pointed Soft Point "Core Lokt" C.O.L. Cartridge Overall Length
PSP Pointed Soft Point Spz Spitzer Point SBT Spitzer Boat Tail
LRN Lead Round Nose LWC Lead Wad Cutter LSWC Lead Semi Wad Cutter
GC Gas Check