Newbie question about Pewter

[imashooter2]

So, i can just cut a coke can and cast in it? It won't melt the can? What I mean is once the pewter melts in the skillet, I can just pour it in the bottom of a coke can. I told you I was stupid about all this.

No, turn whole cans upside down and pour little coins in the curved outside bottom recess.

Pewter (or lead) won't stick to aluminum cans. No need for talc or any other release agent.

[imashooter2]

Well, that is a whole nuther (is that a word) animal. I really have to go slow on this one, as I am on a fixed income. I became disabled last year. No sob story, just the facts. I have ordered a .38/.357 mold from Midway, some of that Frankford Arsenal flux powder, and a book on casting. I am going to use an old ladle I have and a iron skillet to melt the lead. I found a Lyman 450 with some lube, some dies, and top punches at a garage sale. I have to figure this one out. I think you can download a manual for it online. I really can't afford anything else at the moment, but this should get me started.

Don't use the flux powder. It is a mess and hygroscopic besides. Go to the home center and pick up a few wooden paint stirrers. They give them away for free. Stir your melt with the stick and it will char and flux as you stir.

[500MAG]

I get my pewter from thrift stores. My biggest score in one day is 18 pounds. Definitely check those markings that Imashooter. Oh, and be careful RWP or Royal Wilton Pewter is NOT pewter.

[William Yanda]

DD25
You will find that pewter will melt on a good hot plate-1000 or 1250 W. I use an old stainless steel 1 Qt. saucepan and an aluminum mini muffin pan for molds. A full mini muffin weighs about 6 ounces-enough for 300 ounces of lead or a full 20 lb Lee pot.
Bill

[Bullwolf]

See if you can find a Cast Boolits member who lives close by to help supervise or mentor your early casting and reloading efforts.

It's much easier to teach this sort of thing hands on in my experience.


- Bullwolf

[srd]

Welcome to the site and becoming a bullet caster. As you will read and learn you do not have to spend a fortune to pursue your new rewarding hobby. In my opinion you are already more than half way there due to your spouse being interested and helping. A lot of us do not have that ! Does she have a sister ??
Your cast iron pan and ladle will serve you well for a while. Check with some tire stores or garages in the area about wheel weights you can have or purchase reasonably. Saw dust..paraffin wax etc work good as a way of cleaning your melt. I wish we lived closer..I would be more than happy to help you out. I have been doing it for almost 30 years and helped several people get started.

[DeputyDog25]

Welcome to the site and becoming a bullet caster. As you will read and learn you do not have to spend a fortune to pursue your new rewarding hobby. In my opinion you are already more than half way there due to your spouse being interested and helping. A lot of us do not have that ! Does she have a sister ??
Your cast iron pan and ladle will serve you well for a while. Check with some tire stores or garages in the area about wheel weights you can have or purchase reasonably. Saw dust..paraffin wax etc work good as a way of cleaning your melt. I wish we lived closer..I would be more than happy to help you out. I have been doing it for almost 30 years and helped several people get started.

I wish we lived closer as well. I could really use some hands on guidance in this process. The mixing of the metals is what is so confusing to me. I bought 17 pounds of lead from a fellow on another board, it tested at 5bh, I was ignorant as to what I needed and didn't realize this was not to good to use for boolit casting without adding other metals, the part that is confusing. By the way, if anyone has some spare equipment sitting around or know of someone getting out of the hobby, I have a little stash that I could use to purchase another mold or a melting pot. I am just limited per month as I guess most are.

By the way, my wife does have a sister but believe it or not she is the exact opposite of my wife, my wife is just a one a kind country girl that likes all things outdoors. I am truly blessed to have woman like her, standing by me in this rough spot of disability I am going through. It is tough to not be able to do the things you could do before. I know many of you know what I am talking about.

[Landshark9025]

FWIW, I am anew caster as well. I know you just got a bunch of lead and there are some constraints to deal with, but the next time you order, ping Jetsfan here. I have been using his COWW(clip on wheel weight) lead for .38 out of a $20 Lee mold. Works like a champ and goes straight from postal box to furnace to mold. No mixing. I'll prob start adding tin at some point just to see.

He's def. a "Straight Shooter" vendor as far as I am concerned.

[DeputyDog25]

Thank you very much, I will do that.

[Lead Bandit]

Youtube is your friend. Watch a few hours will teach you a ton. There's some pretty cool 'explosion' videos, by cool I mean very uncool by person experience. Once you hear that shotgun blast go off you will never forget that. As a new caster wear eyeglasses and all other safety equipment!

[Lead Bandit]

I think there is a sticky somewhere with ID marking on pewter, so you have an idea what it is. Some ain't. I picked up a large platter at a garage sale, that turned out to be a real mystery metal. I'd got it for sand casting, rather than boolits, but the melting temperature is WAY above lead or tin.

The mystery metal is generally called pot metal. Its usually composed mainly of zinc and some other smaller percentages of other things like antimony, tin, lead, cadmium, bismuth. Generally NOT what your looking for to cast boolits. But Sounds like you still made something cool in the sandcasting anyway.

[runfiverun]

or white-metal,, I have seen some trinket jewelry made with it.
it initially acts like tin then it suddenly don't and mucks things up.

[kens]

you don't need to smelt your pewter into ingots.
I just chop off a piece the weight I need for a batch of lead alloy. A pair of tin snips will handle your pewter nicely, just toss some into your melt.
It doesn't take much to do good either, as little as 1% pewter makes your molds fill out much better, with fewer rejects.
Tin doesn't make lead harder like antimony does, tin makes lead tougher.
High antimony content makes lead hard to the point of being brittle.
High tin content makes lead moderately harder but more malleable.

[imashooter2]

I have put well over 350 pounds of pewter into ingots in the last year. It has a surprising amount of dirt / old polish / crud in it. I would never add it straight to a casting pot. Your mileage may vary.