Dang. I thought something was fishy. Thanks all for the replies. I'll be more careful in the thrift stores and yard sales.
As hot as I got it, even if it was aluminum it should have melted, but I guess not.
Dang. I thought something was fishy. Thanks all for the replies. I'll be more careful in the thrift stores and yard sales.
As hot as I got it, even if it was aluminum it should have melted, but I guess not.
In school: We learn lessons, and are given tests.
In life: We are given tests, and learn lessons.
OK People. Enough of this idle chit-chat.
This ain't your Grandma's sewing circle.
EVERYONE!
Back to your oars. The Captain wants to waterski.
Well I didn't spend too much on this lesson. Maybe $10-20.
But with your guy's help I did get my very first, real pewter pieces. They are a small tray, and cream and sugar holders for $5. I might test them for lead with those swabs and if they are ok I might use them for tea instead of melting them.
”We know they are lying, they know they are lying, they know we know they are lying, we know they know we know they are lying, yet they are still lying.” –Aleksandr Isayevich Solzhenitsyn
My Straight Shooters thread:
http://castboolits.gunloads.com/show...raight-shooter
The Pewter Pictures and Hallmarks thread:
http://castboolits.gunloads.com/show...-and-hallmarks
I do have a number of pewter items that I gave a reprieve form the melting pot. While just about everything I find that actually says pewter with a modern makers mark gets melted I did keep some nice tankards and trays for everyday use so if you like something keep it for a while. You can always melt it later.
But you need to be careful with the colonial period cast stuff. The older pieces will obviously be a dark pewter, extremely soft and bent up , and will probably have lead in them but if they have a makers mark similar to this pic save them. Depending on the maker a small plate can be worth $100+.
(That is approaching Rotometals prices )
i pick up quite a bit of pewter at goodwill and always give it the bend test
I don’t even trust the stuff that says it’s pewter anymore….lol. If it’s super dark, that means it’s more lead than pewter and I normally don’t buy it. I just stick to the modern dinnerware stuff now… that’s marked pewter. If it doesn’t have a stamp in it that says pewter, don’t buy it.
^^^This is what I eventually ended up doing.
I have two high lead content lots of marked items I sorted from modern, marked food service pewter. One was what I labeled “art pewter” (mostly figurines), containing only ~23% Sn on xrf. The other marked lot was nominally food service but mainly seemed to be decorative rather than truly usable, things like sets of lidded tankards that ranged from teacup to half gallon capacity, ornate platters that obviously were meant for display, etc.. That lot xrf’d out to ~68% Sn, better, but still not even close to the modern food service standard of 92%.
The lead, of course, doesn’t matter for our use, but it’s the tin you want and are paying for, so, for the dollars per pound paid, the real cost of the tin is much higher the lower its % in what you buy.
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 |