Subject: Re: casting pewter

From: [email-masked] (Doug White)
Date: 26 Sep 1994 23:03:22 GMT

In <[email-masked]> [email-masked] (Vance Bass) writes: 
>
>In article <[email-masked]> kaminsky@comp..uark.edu (Hank Kaminsky) writes:
>>>>>I'm wanting to get some info on casting a pewter piece.  Can pewter be cast
>>I have cast pewter (Tin 92.5%, antimony 7.5%) into ordinary silicone 
>>caulk molds and had good results for a small number of castings (less 
>>than 10, say) . . .
>
>Where do you get lead-free pweter?  I don't seem to be asking in the right
>places, since all the hobby shops I've tried have either looked blank when
>I asked or have responded "I think I can find a source--let me look around".
>The one guy who was knowledgeable about soft metal casting is a black-powder
>shooter, and casts his own bullets as well as miniature figures.  He uses
>lead wheel-balancing weights and warns of the lead-poisoning danger.
>
>So, where are the sources of lead-free casting pewter?
>-- 
>=-=-=All the above are OFFICIAL POSITIONS and are ABSOLUTELY TRUE!=-=-=
>Vance Bass                    	  	  Reply-to: [email-masked]
>"It don't mean a thing if it ain't got that certain je ne sais quoi."
>						   -- Peter Schickele

Micro-Mark (1-800-225-1066) sells it in 1 lb chunks.  Their last sale
catalog had it for $12.80 (#80961), but the sale ended last week.  Plead
ignorance, and they might extend the sale price to land a new customer.
I have no idea if this is a good price or not.  By the way, they list it as 
'Type R'.  Anybody know what that means?

Doug White

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From: kaminsky@comp..uark.edu (Hank Kaminsky)
Date: 27 Sep 1994 22:19:46 GMT

>>places, since all the hobby shops I've tried have either looked blank when

I purchased pure tin and antimony (I've done it with copper too but the 
alloying takes a bit longer) from a metals dealer in wholesale quantitys. 
I think their name was Thompson but I'll look it up when I get back to 
the office tonight.

I put the metals in A graphite crucible and put that in an electric kiln 
which I ran up to about 600 degrees. The metal alloyed in the kiln and I 
poured it out into some cornbread molds for little ingots.

My sand-matrix design students are casting it in sand molds now so I may 
make up some more if I can find that dealer. \

I'll let you know

Hank Kaminsky ([email-masked])
543 Assembly Rd. (Home) 501-443-2077
641 West 6th St. (Studio) 501-442-5805
Fayetteville AR 72701

--
Hank Kaminsky ([email-masked])
543 Assembly Rd. (Home) 501-443-2077
641 West 6th St. (Studio) 501-442-5805
Fayetteville AR 72701

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From: kaminsky@comp..uark.edu (Hank Kaminsky)
Date: 29 Sep 1994 03:57:41 GMT

>I'll let you know

OK it's hours later and I have found the address of the company that sold 
me the tin and antimony. They also have many other metals (non-ferrous) 
and will sell in small quantities at what I think are reasonable prices. 
I was quoted tin shot on the phone today at $5.50 per pound in quantities 
of 1 to 99 pounds. Antimony at $5.00 per lb. from 1 to 99 lbs. plus 
shipping by UPS. Tin over 100 lbs is $4.25/lb

The company is the Nathan Trotter Co in Exton PA at 610-524-1440, ask for 
Russ. My source book was the buyers guide of the American Foundrymans 
Society, Des Plains IL, a good source for a lot of casting straight answers.

Hope this helps. Ask questions for more info.

---

From: [email-masked] (William )
Date: 30 Sep 94 13:32:00

>>places, since all the hobby shops I've tried have either looked blank when

For small quantitities, the "Lead free solder" now being sold by plumbing
and electronics stores, is usually something like 96% tin, 4% antimony,
which I believe makes it a type of pewter...

BillW