Pewter advice needed.

[ExDragoon]

I'd like to try casting pewter on my next sgian but I'm not quite sure what type of pewter to order. Any advice would be appreciated. Thanks in advance.

[Piper]

I've used two different types, both lead free. One is marketed as lead free pewter, the other, if I recall correctly, is about two percent silver and marketed as Brittania metal. I get them from a business in S. Brunswick, NJ. Unfortunately I can't locate the contact info at the moment. I buy from the business owner when he shows up at one of the local black powder rendezvous. I heard from another craftsman who buys old lead free pewter mugs and plates (Armetal and such) at flea markets and garage sales. He then breaks them up and melts them down. Considerably cheaper than buying the ingots, but more labor intensive

[AKScott]

I used Lennox brand lead free solder (from Lowes-Home Depot and etc building supply stores) for my preliminary castings.

It is 95+% tin, no lead, melts with a propane torch. Lead free solder melts around 500°F.

Though I haven't tried it yet, I did buy a jewler's metallugry book. You can mix silver and tin, but the melting point of the alloy goes up with increasing silver content.

Likewise I will someday fool with alloys of nickel and siver, but I am going to need a bellows to get a fire hot enough to melt that stuff. I doubt construction paper and masking tape will be adquate for making forms at those temperatures, and you have to start worryng about your blades losing temper when you are pouring liquids at 2000°F.

You can get the silver cheapish, pre 1964 US coins are trading at about 25x face value, currently a well worn 1964 dime would be about US$2.50 based on the (90%) silver content. Ask your dealer about "junk silver" in inventory.