High Prices for Tin

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  • Last Post 07 February 2012
.452dia posted this 01 August 2011

I've been checking out the prices for bar or wire lead free solder.  Cheapest I've found is still over $20 per pound.  I've got about 200 lbs of lead sheeting, plumbing pipe and stick on WW which I believe is close to pure lead.  To make a 20 to 1 alloy will cost over $200 just for the tin.  I know you pay to play but are there any other sources for tin that may be cheaper?

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JeffinNZ posted this 01 August 2011

I have a client for whom I fly in 1000kg of tin ingots at the time from AU. I have eyed them up more than a few times! A lil srape here, a lil scratch there......

Cheers from New Zealand

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runnin lead posted this 01 August 2011

Sometimes someone is selling solder at cast boolits. You would have to keep checking till you find someone selling some.

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Notlwonk posted this 02 August 2011

If you can get the old lead traps (plumbing) and cut around the solder joints you can heat the joints, just enough to melt the solder, and end up with 50/50 tin lead. The solder is suppose to be 50/50 but I'm not sure it works out that way all the time.  

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fc60 posted this 02 August 2011

Greetings,

I have some one pound spools of Lead Free Solder. Alloy is 97 Sn 2 Cu remainder Sb and Ag.

$15.00 a one pound spool plus shipping.

Cheers,

Dave

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John Boy posted this 13 August 2011

John Walters advertisement in the August issue of The Single Shot Exchange has tin for $10 per lb, plus shipping

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Thomas Trevor posted this 13 August 2011

Contacted Mr. Walters, Add was place some time ago to meet publishing deadline, causing him some grief as price is now 19.00 a pound.:shock:

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CB posted this 13 August 2011

I've been using 95/5 lead-free solder I bought by the roll at the local mega-hardware store. I'd better check and see what it is now, I bought 10 rolls back then, and still have 4 left. RotoMetals has it for about $18.00/lb.

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TRKakaCatWhisperer posted this 15 August 2011

If you look at what recycler's are paying for lead-free scrap in LTL (less than truck load) quantities, you will quickly realize you can double or tripple that and buy the scrap from those that do a lot of soldering - and still pay VERY LITTLE $. (I make good money selling it for $6 a pound to friends at the matches - I don't sell it any other way.

Who uses it? Any manufacturing that uses wire and PC boards. I get all mine from where I work - we make motors.

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deltaenterprizes posted this 29 November 2011

Radiator shops have drippings, dirty and nasty but can be refined to yield good metal.

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parkerhale1200 posted this 05 February 2012

Notlwonk when i read your artikel i run into my barn and getting some of those joints, to try it out in the woodstove. there right now heating up,LOL

TRK can you divine for me, what you mean with your lead free scrap? or can you tell me what kind of things that they are?

Delta what exectly is/are drippings.

Thanks very much and best regards parkerhale.

ps a friend of mine has his own scrapyard thats why these quistions

And above all, its very hard these days to get some good shooting lead for little money

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parkerhale1200 posted this 05 February 2012

Notlwonk, stupit enougf it workt, but i wasnt supprist really. its a little bit, what can i say....

regards parkerhale

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JetMech posted this 05 February 2012

.452dia wrote: I've been checking out the prices for bar or wire lead free solder.  Cheapest I've found is still over $20 per pound.  I've got about 200 lbs of lead sheeting, plumbing pipe and stick on WW which I believe is close to pure lead.  To make a 20 to 1 alloy will cost over $200 just for the tin.  I know you pay to play but are there any other sources for tin that may be cheaper? RotoMetals has if for 16.69/lb with free shipping. That works out to $0.79/lb for your 210# batch of 20:1. That's not bad. Unfortunately, the days of free shooting alloys are gone for many of us.

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Notlwonk posted this 05 February 2012

parkerhale1200 wrote: Notlwonk, stupit enougf it workt, but i wasnt supprist really. its a little bit, what can i say....

regards parkerhale It helps to have a son who has a plumbing business!  :D

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TRKakaCatWhisperer posted this 06 February 2012

parkerhale1200 wrote: ... TRK can you divine for me, what you mean with your lead free scrap? or can you tell me what kind of things that they are? ...

The company I work for makes motors. They must be lead-free (everything that goes into them (ROHS)).

The lead-free solder then is either 100% tin or 96.5% tin, 3% silver and 0.5% copper.

I buy all the scrap solder (drippings from the solder-pots) that would normally be sold to the scrap dealer. I smelt it and cast into ingots and sell ONLY to the people I meet at rifle matches. By selling it for $6 a pound I do VERY well and give a GOOD deal to those that attend the matches. (I make it worth my company's while by paying them 1.5x what they would get from the scrap dealer.)

SO, find the folks that use lead-free solder. Approach them about buying the scrap.

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onondaga posted this 06 February 2012

I think it would be very charitable for some of the metallurgists to step in with creative alternatives to using tin for decreasing the surface tension of molten lead for casting.

Tin hardly hardens lead at all anyway and only .5 - 1.5% tin gives great reduction of surface tension and makes lead nice to cast.

What else will do that surface tension thing for lead?

Antimony really hardens lead well but it is not so easy to get it into alloy with lead. What metallurgical alternatives are there to antimony for hardening Lead. Something easy to work with and get into alloy would be nice.

I really believe that a knowledgeable metallurgist could solve this problem and make this hobby better and less costly. I am sure that by staying with tradition, we have overlooked obvious unconventional answers to the problems of cost, availability and effectiveness of tin and antimony and why we use them.

Gary

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delmarskid1 posted this 06 February 2012

I cast straight wheel weights and straight lead by running the pot at 800 degrees and casting slowly to not over heat the mold. The weight of the bullets vary more than I like but the bullets still look okay. The old body lead filler was around 30% tin if I remember right. It's not as easy to find anymore.

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parkerhale1200 posted this 06 February 2012

We're all testing and fooling around with lead and lead alloys, can't we make our own “metallurgist” topic. With the ins and out of that alloy or i did that with this.

Or i retrieved this out of that

So cant we narrow something down, what works and what dont works.

In Europe we have the same problem.

Most lead ww are gone, body lead is gone, even good cable lead is gone.

Lyno, i still remember what it is

Range lead, the owner of the range will sell it to you, if it where a new box of bullets.

So we have to buy more and more, free lead is becoming something from the past indeed.

For example, a diver has two types of leaden belts, one hard and one soft lead, the hard one was for salt water i believe.

Old boat weigts are most of the time old ww

If jou have enougf tin or lead to melt, so it can melt the solder of a electronic epoxy plate(i dont know if i spelt it all correct), from a tv or stereo or whatever

Maybe those are stupit ideas, but it just a little thinking of what might work

C Ya

 And it helps a lot if you are a good close friend of the srappy man, YIHAAA

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runfiverun posted this 06 February 2012

zinc and bismuth will harden lead like antimony. copper will help make it harder too. now all of them cause problems if used in higher amounts. and the copper needs tin to keep it soluble in the alloy. zinc might help with it but i haven't tried it. sulpher is a grain modifier like arsenic is. there are others that are soluble in lead but are not good for making boolits from.

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RicinYakima posted this 06 February 2012

Avoid zinc at all costs! Zinc / lead alloys form, or try to form, sperical shapes. So when they solidify inside the mould, the sharp edges will not form. This action takes place down to 0.01% of zinc in the alloy. The opposite takes place with zinc and aluminum, it makes a runny liquid and takes good form. That is why zinc is used in “die-cast” metal alloys that used to be used in car parts.

HTH, Ric

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parkerhale1200 posted this 07 February 2012

I can buy some bismuth, but how much do i have to add to lead. With antimony and lead if i want a bhn of 15 it cost me about 3 eurocent (like 4.5 dollarcent)for a 160 gr bullet, and some trubbel to blend it in

Copper is nice, but how do i blend it in I thought it must become an alloy with 5% cu and 5% sn

as far as zinc goes, how do i blend lead in it. I think i cannot meld lead and than blend zinc in The other way around, perheps?,and what will that percentage be?

I think when i have an cold brick alloy of lead with zinc in it, the zinc wil come floting at the top, or doesnt?

Zinc and aluminum with lead? is that possibel? Even castable?, if it can be done i think you get a good hard somewhat ligter bullet. Is alu for zinc the same that tin is for lead?

I certainly hoop to hear back from you guys

Many thanks, Parkerhale

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