oldguy Posted September 30, 2011 Posted September 30, 2011 (edited) Scrounging around, I ran into & acquired a few 2 kilo metal ingots, with a tag that says 93% tin, 6% antimony, and 1% copper.Turns out that is modern day PEWTER. I know its outside the normal envelope, but wondering if it could have any use in pyro? I'm thinking possibly of smelting down a mix of Mg/Al with it, along with DE (or powdered soda/lime glass), then water quench that mix.......So, it can possibly be further reduced to a very fine powder, for a prime ingredient. Or, am I barking up the goofy tree? EDIT to add.I found the casting Temp range of this pewter alloy is about 550 to 600F. Edited September 30, 2011 by oldguy
Ralph Posted September 30, 2011 Posted September 30, 2011 If you dont find a good use for it you can probably grow some tin crystals via electrolysis its quite a cool experiment/demonstration
hillbillyreefer Posted September 30, 2011 Posted September 30, 2011 Guys casting higher velocity rifle rounds will pay a small fortune for it. Curious to hear pyro uses for it though.
madmandotcom Posted September 30, 2011 Posted September 30, 2011 tin+antimony? isn't that what most mill media is made from?
oldguy Posted September 30, 2011 Author Posted September 30, 2011 tin+antimony? isn't that what most mill media is made from? Cast milling media is usually around 90% lead & 10% antimony.
50AE Posted September 30, 2011 Posted September 30, 2011 If you have it in bulk, maybe casting (a very expensive) media is an idea.
TheArchitect23 Posted October 1, 2011 Posted October 1, 2011 (edited) If you have it in bulk, maybe casting (a very expensive) media is an idea. wouldn't that be a tad light for mill media? and isn't what those "gum ball necklaces" are gravity cast from. Edited October 1, 2011 by TheArchitect23
50AE Posted October 1, 2011 Posted October 1, 2011 I wouldn't call tin light, though it's lighter than lead.
dagabu Posted October 1, 2011 Posted October 1, 2011 The tin by itself is not that great for media, its best use in pyro would be to make lead harder by giving a better crystal lattice structure for the lead to hold on to thus making it much less malleable. Tin is rather fragile and is broken rather easily. I would be interested though in seeing if it could be bound with Mg in a 50/50 alloy and shattered like Mg/Al and then see if it had any special property when used in a composition but I rather doubt it. -dag
oldguy Posted October 1, 2011 Author Posted October 1, 2011 I would be interested though in seeing if it could be bound with Mg in a 50/50 alloy and shattered like Mg/Al and then see if it had any special property when used in a composition but I rather doubt it.-dag I doubt it to. But, it melts at about half the temp of Mg & Al. My goofy thought is it may help ignite Mg/Al faster than without it in a prime comp. My other goofy thought is with a little powdered glass or DE in the alloy it may create sticky molten dross in a prime comp.Just tinkering. I also acquired some anitimony metal shot. For fun, without an inferno, I want to also try an alloy of Antimony - Magnesium - Aluminum.
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