Pewter Scrap- More pictures and the finished bar!

[Robarons]

As you guys may have known I am a avid Pewter scrap fan because I see it as a untapped source of hoarding.

Most Pewter is made mostly of Tin (and antimony along with other cool materials). Tin trades at $8-18 a pound in the past couple of years making it a nice metal.

I collect the stuff until I can cast it into bars. Tin melts at a low temperature so any campfire can melt the stuff.

So I plan on photo graphing the process and showing it here. The pictures below are the 'before' of this process on how pewter looks like. Most of it is very old, ornate, and antique. The candlesticks are from Germany and some of the Dishes are from Finland. Some nice stuff, but sadly arent worth beyond their tin content.

Then I will throw these into a fire and fashion a nice bar!

[Hades12]

Interested to see how this goes. Breaks my heart to see nice stuff go.

[hobo finds]

So you could sell tin in a bar better than as pewter as is?

[Robarons]

Sorta

Pewter is far better off being hallmarked as the photos show to prove what metal it is. Pewter has many of the same characteristics of Lead so thats a problem when you have a lump of metal your trying to sell as pewter (but once again there are ways to prove thats its pewter and not Aluminum or something). Only a handful of metals can metal at low temperatures and they all have characteristics that prove the metal. Another issue is proving purity of the bar to make sure you didnt add any impurities, but this can be proven by methods as well.

Pewter is bulky so it would have to crushed down to save place yet retain some figure of what it was (a pitcher or bowl) and the pewter hallmark. This is uneconomical when shipping because even a completely crushed pile of Pewter takes up room.

I sent a crushed box of pewter once that retained the hallmarks in medium flat rate box, it could hold 20 pounds. A casted bar of 69 pounds could easily fit in the box, with room to spare (I assume a bar well over 100 pounds could fit into a medium flat rate box).

Went I am able to cast this I will post pictures

[AGgressive Metal]

Interesting - so I guess the idea is that you can capture more value by selling a bar than selling the scrap to a metals yard? Tin is definitely a cool metal to have.

[Robarons]

Yup

When asking yards if they take 'Tin' they look at you like your an idiot and say 'your surrounded by Tin, we pay $220/ton'. After explaining its not Steel but an actual metal/element they really dont know what it is. The yards I asked do not take it or will give it yellow brass prices, $1.50/pound-ish

I figured if you gathered something like 100 pounds or more it would give the metal something like $800-$900 in value which they might be able to work with you, but I havent found enough to try that yet

[avidbrandy]

Thank you for this. Thought it was interesting reading.

stumbled across this a minute ago on ebay and decided to link it. pewter bars.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/10-OZ-PEWTER-99 ... 500wt_1183

[Tantalar]

It's depressing to see some very nice pieces in that pile! I have excellent success selling pewter tankard/stein/mugs. I have sold them as well as what looked like pewter shot glasses. I have had excellent success with Steiff pewter, as well as Metawa but particularly "English pewter" like Leonard. Even pewter that is inscribed to people sells well unless it is horribly disfigured or stained. For a set of 8 small shot glasses I got $30 and on multiple occasions I have sold steins with or without lids for $20+. I have sold the companion small pitcher to that huge one you have for 18 and have seen that one command prices over $25. I NEVER have any luck selling pewter plates or bowls.

For anyone that comes across armetale, don't confuse it with pewter. They look and feel similar and a scrapyard would probably give you cast aluminum for them. They can be very valuable. I once sold a set of 8 wilton columbia plates in well used condition for over $90 on ebay

But I guess if ebay is not your thing and you just want to melt it then so be it lol

[Hades12]

The big yard in SC has bought melted Al from a buddy, they took and tested each "cake" in their lab and paid based on the result.

I would assume that they would do the same for your Pewter. I could call and ask if you like.

[hobo finds]

Robarons pewter bars you should stamp that on them! I can't wait to see final results. You could even KSA them here.

[cyberdan]

My local scrap yard does not take pewter. but the mgr did say (if I got a lot) he would call someone and make an offer, but it must be lead free.

in the mean time I buy it when I can. I might have 6-10 pieces by now.

[Robarons]

And here are the after pictures and processes making the bar!











Used a old bread pan that was placed on a grill on a fire pit. Heated pan and started dropping stuff in, when it gets hot enough it melts instantly. Had to scoop all the junk off the top and all impurities.
Let it cool and it came out a nice looking bar. Looks and feels identical to Silver, looks like a 100 oz bar old pour you would see on line. Came out 10.5 pounds, so with a little tweaking I could have done a 10 pound even bar

I have traded one of these in past on here with little fanfare, but that was without the photos of the process. I still have some interested parties, but if the deal falls through I will post here.

Nice old bar of Tin/Pewter. Can be used as Silver decoy no problem!

[jasmatk]

you could put a couple of those in a dummy safe to keep theives away from your real safe.

[Robarons]

I am thinking about casting some smaller bars, even some 1 troy ounce ones for trade on the site

Would there be any interest?

[Saabman]

That's a good looking bar you made!!!

[everything]

If you can make it look anything like a rodebaugh I'm sure people would be interested, but I would just stack those and wait until you can get something for them. I'd like to melt down my own aluminum and copper.

[NHsorter]

Cool pics, that looks really easy. Thanks for posting this. I think I'll pick up any pewter that I come across at the right price. It would be fun to give this a try.

[Engineer]

Melting the pewter in Pyrex might produce a cleaner result. It looks good anyway, but it might we worth a try.

[Robarons]

Thought about using glass- but I am not sure if it would be more difficult

In the process of making some small bars for the future as well- sizes Pyrex may not be in

[Dr. Cadmium]

Looks good. I prefer using old muffin tins to make my own ingots. Also, a gas powered fryer or camp stove is a far more efficient heating source than a campfire.

Note: Do not pour molten metal into glass. The glass will crack and can even explode. Some of the old pyrex made of borosilicate glass might be able to handle it, but it's still not a good idea. Special laboratory glass can handle it, but it's for an application like this it's easier and cheaper to use an old cooking pot or kettle.

[stlouiscoin]

where do you get your pewter and how much does it cost? ive done this with aluminum.

[Robarons]

Pewter can be obtained at Antique stores, garage sales, flea markets, garbage day- most like any metal

And prices vary at these venues, but can be had under spot.

I do this more as a hobby stacking metal and do not turn any profit after gas, time, etc.

[OtusLotus]

I just called my local scrap yard, and they said they pay $1.00/lb

Think the way to go is to melt it and then sell it on the bay.

[flbandit]

Interesting. I have a little pewter that has been sitting around for awhile. Might have to try melting it.

[Engineer]

Looks good. I prefer using old muffin tins to make my own ingots. Also, a gas powered fryer or camp stove is a far more efficient heating source than a campfire.

Note: Do not pour molten metal into glass. The glass will crack and can even explode. Some of the old pyrex made of borosilicate glass might be able to handle it, but it's still not a good idea. Special laboratory glass can handle it, but it's for an application like this it's easier and cheaper to use an old cooking pot or kettle.

I agree not to pour molten metal into glass because the thermal shock would almost certainly crack it, but that wasn't what I was proposing. If you melt the pewter in the glass to begin with, thermal shock isn't an issue.