Pewter

[billm]

Where do you order pewter from to pour nose caps?

[relffir]

Track of the Wolf

[galudwig]

I get mine from the Log Cabin Shop in Lodi, OH.  Go to their website and "search" for "Pewter Casting Beads."  They come in half pound bags.  Nice, clean pellets about the size of #6 shot.  You can pour just as much or as little into your melting ladle as you need for a particular job.  I can get a couple of nose caps and several knife handle collars from one bag.

[billm]

Thanks a lot will give them a call

[Hungry Horse]

 I much prefer pure tin. I get better castings, and it doesn't get as dull as some of the pewter on the market.

             Hungry Horse

[Tim Crosby]

 Flea markets and yard sales.

  Tim C.

[Dr. Tim-Boone]

I much prefer pure tin. I get better castings, and it doesn't get as dull as some of the pewter on the market.

             Hungry Horse

And where do you get pure tin there Horse??

[Ky-Flinter]

R.E. Davis also sells Pewter Casting Beads.

-Ron

[FDR]

I much prefer pure tin. I get better castings, and it doesn't get as dull as some of the pewter on the market.

             Hungry Horse

And where do you get pure tin there Horse??

Try here for pure tin.
http://www.rotometals.com/Tin-Ingot-s/27.htm


Fred

[Kevin Houlihan]

Or Buffalo Arms
www.buffaloarms.com

[whetrock]

Not meaning to disagree with Tim, but wanted to mention that much of the yard sale "pewter" is actually an aluminum alloy.

PS: Here's a link to some other guys discussing this same problem:
http://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?93286-How-to-ID-pewter

[Hungry Horse]

 I get pure tin from either my local metal dealer, or order it from McMaster-Carr. I have also just bought lead free solder at the hardware store, and used that. Its almost all tin.

                  Hungry Horse

[smylee grouch]

I have used lead free solder with about an inch or so of silver solder thrown in, looked OK .

[Virginiarifleman]

 Davis Lock Co. sells it in packs of beaded pewter.

[willyr]

95-5 solder from the hardware store. It's 95% tin, 5% silver.

[Tim Crosby]

Not meaning to disagree with Tim, but wanted to mention that much of the yard sale "pewter" is actually an aluminum alloy.

PS: Here's a link to some other guys discussing this same problem:
http://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?93286-How-to-ID-pewter

 No problem, I've seen a lot of it. I look to see how it is marked but use the color, tarnish, to decide if it will work. I want something that will gray nicely with age or assistance.

   Tim C.

[J Henry]

  95-5 is the standard for drinkable water here ,it's the law here,,EPA. Expensive  but if you need it ,,spend it..
      Perspective check: How much do you spend on a coffee and donut If it makes you happy, go for it....

[Old Bob]

Where do you order pewter from to pour nose caps?

I look at yard sales and flea markets for old candlesticks, teapots, steins, &c. If it's real good quality and you can get it cheap, buy it and resell. Plain stuff is cheap and just good for melting so there's your nosecap or knife bolster. Some aluminum looks a lot like pewter so check it over first. Pewter will bend easily and most early pewter will have Genuine Pewter and often a hallmark from a pewter manufacturer on the bottom. Old pewter is supposed to have more lead in it. It will darken a little more than the new pewter I guess due to the lead. I melted down a half dozen candlesticks last week. I still have a decent looking pitcher out in the shop that I'm hesitating to melt. Might be worth more as an antique. But if I get in a pinch, into the pot it goes. I still have a pound or so in nights so no hurry.

[snrub47]

I use babbit from the local machine shop. Comes in 1 lb ingots, low melting point. Work perfect and the quality is always the same from pour to pour.

[Bob Roller]

An old mechanic I knew when I was a young man looked at a pristine 1955 Packard I had just bought and said it stood out like a "pewter spoon in a mud hole".

Bob Roller

[T*O*F]

95-5 solder from the hardware store. It's 95% tin, 5% silver.

I alloy the above with lead wheel weights which are already harder than regular lead.  It stretches the melt since the solder is a bit expensive.

[Dphariss]

Where do you order pewter from to pour nose caps?

One pound roll of Silva-Brite 100 solder from a lumber yard etc if they have it. It works the best in my experience but is harder to pour than the low melt temp alloys like 50-50 solder. But the Silva-Brite is lead free and has much prettier color and is difficult to tarnish.

Dan

[Dphariss]

PS. Its an old non-toxic pewter alloy they use to solder water pipes.

Dan

[JoeG]

I use 50-50 solder (lead and tin)
then I add about 1/3 more straight tin solder to the mix
it pours good and doesn't turn dull gray

you can buy both solders at hardware store

[Dphariss]

I quit using 50-50, which is very easy to pour when I was doing quite a few and getting grey dust on my clothing from sanding them at least once a week and had little kids at home. While not all the lead frees pour well the Silva-Brite 100 is good so long as the temp is high enough and the barrel preheated too hot to comfortably touch. It also a good idea to maybe preheat the wood with a hair dryer or a paint stripper gun somewhat Black Walnut anyway. Finished wood is harder to do than unfinished. Even a small amount of moisture in the wood, normal level for "dry" stock wood may produce a lot of gas and bubbles in the pour.
I put a small pine stick split off a 1x4 ect in the melt for a few seconds and it should scorch lightly tan. If it gets too dark let the melt cool a little. If is does not scorch and the tip is complex like a Hartford Sharps if the metal cools too fast it will not fill the fine cuts. Silva-Brite 100 is Tin with small percentages of Copper and Silver. 

Dan