Make Money Smelting Ingots - Pewter - Simple DIY Melting and Casting Metal at Home

A common scrap question; Is melting metal into ingots worth more than the scrap price? Sometimes! And one of those times is when it's with tin, or pewter. Interested? How to make money melting and pouring ingots. Simple diy metal casting at home.
Watch the melting and pouring lead here: • Melting Wheel Weights ...
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[@hendonburgism]

Several years ago I needed tin to make bronze and I started doing precisely the same thing. Now I have about 200 lbs of various tin and tin/lead alloy ingots. It's just fun. The picture frames are usually a tin/lead alloy that occasionally have zinc, most modern pewter is tin/antimony/copper. Selangor pewter is 97% Sn, so keep a lookout for that. All pewter holloware is going to give you shrinkage defects in your casting of open faced ingots, that is the price of convenience, using a mold (sand/plaster/wood etc.) with a sprue will allow the Ingot to pull liquid metal from the sprue as it cools, thereby transferring the shrink hole to the sprue . If using muffin pan: you can lessen it by preheating the mold slightly and spraying dry graphite lubricant over it. If in a humid area - water will get back onto the pan almost immediately ,not enough to cause a steam explosion, but enough to make bubbles and defects for all around the Ingot, so hit it with torch right before you pour. Be aware when you go to purchase pewter that most items labeled pewter (by the seller) are cast aluminum/silver plate/zinc. Zinc in pure form makes the characteristic cry similar to tin so be aware of things that resemble pewter,are heavy and bendable, yet hard. The tin/lead alloys that are usually in picture frames, and other items not used for eating, cast beautifully, almost no defects most of the time.

[@vincedibona4687]

Doesn’t tin have a much lower melting point than zinc?

[@ishnifusmeadle]

As one of the aforementioned bullet casters who does my own lead/pewter/tin/antimony smelting, few hints on makin ur cast look cleaner. Most the time those muffin tins have residual oils or crap on em. New ones have manufacturing oils. Degrease them, even just a dawn n water scrubbing, just make sure they are completly dry b4 pouring molten metal or fun personal injury may be in ur future. Second, as a bullet caster we typically preheat out mold (hot plate,oven,toaster, anything available) b4 hand, which also helps make sure theyre dry enough. I usually aim for a mold around 150-225 depending on various factors. Ull find cast iron molds work far better as theyll hold the preheat longer than aluminum molds. If u do use muffin tins (which is fine, most folks do, avoid the tins that have the muffin cups pressed into the tray as a seperate piece. They tend to break after a few casts) Third, when cleaning my melts i usually flux and thoroughly scrape the pots a handful of times for dirty metal (at least twice, but have had to as many as 5 times once). I also tend to let things heat back up for awhile after fluxing b4 moving on. Hopefully this helps. Any casting is better than no casting.

[@thubprint]

Thank you so much!!! I’m clearly new at this and I have no perspective as the end user of cast lead so I really appreciate you sharing yours! 💙

[@ishnifusmeadle]

@@thubprint anytime. As casters typically we arent too concerned with the looks of the ingots, so long as theyve been fluxed well enough to remove impurities and the advertised weight/price is fair. The reason i wait a lil bit after fluxing is it allows any of the target metals to remix into the alloy, so ur not tossing out valuable alloy weight. All that said, most casters have an appreciation for craftsmanship and thoroughly enjoy having ingots thats are fairly smooth or shiny and so if u get great quality ingots, its totally possibly to put a higher than usual price for the quality on em. Good luck on any future melts. Its addictive!

[@ishnifusmeadle]

One final thing, which as a scrapper your likely well aware of but others may not be. Before you melt any objects, double check the goin rate and easy of sale for tge intended scraps. Like i mentioned i cast for reloading ammunition and many times has it been more economical for me to sell thrift store/flea market/yardsale finds on sites or to antique stores and use the profit to buy more scrap. Ive had a few pewter tea pots in my hands above the "crucible" (my cast dutch oven) ready for smelting and stopped to check the goin rates and found that that single pot would pay for the entirety of my haul and then some, or pay for commercially available lead ingots already cleaned n weighing more. Obviously if u dont wanna add an extra step (having to sell the item) then go for it, but sometimes certain pewter items (and many other "scrap" items do too) can command a market price far far above their weight value. Love the new vids ive seen. Keep it up.

[@jeremyfirth]

@@thubprint Acetone is really good for removing residual oils. It's what is used to remove oils from stainless steel before welding in clean environments where you need high-quality welds.

[@Rudidly]

If you grab the pouring side of pot with a pair of needle nose and give a nice squeeze/nudge it’ll be way easier to pour consistent. Used to cast shot and ya can skip the ladle if ur careful.

[@bradley200711]

WOW, I've BEEN considering getting a BUN too!! AND now, I feel, I can!

[@2mysockitalk]

I don't know why we as viewers ended up being pandas but it makes me happy to be greeted in every video as one :)

[@thubprint]

😁💙

[@newbiegaming6090]

I definitely liked it as well. XD

[@anthonymoses3697]

Trash pandas maybe? Ya know, a reference to racoons? It makes good sense since he turns trash into cash

[@newbiegaming6090]

@@anthonymoses3697 Now that you mentioned it... I like it EVEN MORE now. XD

[@MichaelPerry-ge6yh]

​@@thubprintCan you melt aluminum & Copper in a pot

[@alexmurphy9025]

They look like perfect castings based on what I've seen other casters make.

[@thubprint]

Well I’m fairly new at this, but if you say they’re fine then I won’t complain!

[@alexmurphy9025]

@@thubprint @bigstackd does all that on his channel

[@Pendragpn126]

Cast iron makes for good molds. If you find a small cast iron pan it'll work. Just preheat like you did.

[@SCUDFORCE1]

@@thubprint I make my own lead weights for fishing and the way i get the lead smooth and shiny is to coat the mold in silicon spray. works like a charm.

[@charleslange7619]

@@thubprint The muffin pans with non-stick coatings will cause the discolored and bubble bottoms. After a few uses with your molten tin r lead etc. it should get smoother and less discolored.

[@kevincarter9081]

Borax is your best and most cost effective flux. I love the videos especially cuz you're Canadian but also you're helping to keep the earth green. Keep it up.

[@thubprint]

I’ll have to try borax next time to see how it compares, I’m not sure it will work the same with these lower temperature melts. We’ll find out though!

[@kevincarter9081]

@@thubprint I've done it with lead and it works well, but that's the lowest temps for me. Good luck

[@williammikell2210]

Don't buy weighted sterling silver candlestick holders, you will get 99% weight and 1% silver. Your voice has a smooth professional sound to it. good job.

[@thubprint]

Thank you!

[@oversizedshipping]

Wow good video I usually buy brass castings if they are heavy enough at the thrift store.

[@intheshedwithjohnnyg8894]

I'm not the only one that call's it the VV boutique, nice video.

[@cathifamjourney469]

Cool! Yard sales and flea markets when they open up in the spring will be your cheapest way to get these, unless found in recycle bins! Lol

[@thubprint]

Definitely gonna be looking. I don’t expect to find many in bins lol

[@nomerc3608]

@@thubprint dumpster diving behind certain stores could be a very good resource! Buy a pair of gloves, leg zip coveralls, put a beach towel in your seat and hit them hard....

[@coreyradons7495]

@@nomerc3608 he is very experienced in the world of dumpster diving already

[@wolfmanjackal1427]

So yeah I'm looking forward to doing this myself with the pewter, lead, and zinc myself. I've even taken a few of notes from the three vids here to help me along. Thanks my Canadian brother.

[@thubprint]

Heck yes, happy to help! I was surprised at how easy it was to not melt any zinc weights when I threw them in with the lead, so I’d expect the zinc melt to take more heat than I initially thought. Still doable with a propane stove I’m sure, but probably needs a lid 👍

[@troyhamberg8339]

Your video's are so informative and entertaining for me, a hobby metallurgist who also enjoys finding free scrap treasure to sell.

[@thubprint]

You should try making them sometime! It’s super fun 👌

[@troyhamberg8339]

@@thubprint agreed, this is a great video. Metals that can be easily melted by hobbyist at home have so much more value as ingots sold online than taking to the scrap yard . Using candle wax as a flux is a revelation for me. I've always fluxed with borax.

[@TheUltimateRecycler]

Thanks Thub, that was cool watching the items melt! I didn't know pewter melted at such a low temp - I'm saving all mine now! 😁

[@thubprint]

Neither did I to be honest, it started melting immidiately! I even missed the very first part because I wasn’t expecting it to just melt out of my hands when it touched the pot lol

[@theaussienurseflipper.8113]

Chris u supposed to be getting rid of your junk not collecting more, lol 😆. Just passed a it all into me thanks Graham

[@TheUltimateRecycler]

@@theaussienurseflipper.8113 Haha, I have a small pile of pewter stashed away now! 😜🤣

[@andrewvoigt1133]

cake pan, sand and muffin tin all in the oven at the oven's high temperature. Let cool inside the oven. Sand is cheap thermal mass allows for even cooling over a longer period too let air bubbles escape and stops flash cooling from interrupting crystal formation.

[@krazedlunatick]

This is a great tip. I do this with my lead casting and it's very smooth.

[@andthenithought528]

I appreciate you 🙏🏽

[@thebeast8429]

I'm not sure how you incorporate the sand into this?

[@andrewvoigt1133]

@@thebeast8429 the sand goes into the cake pan and the muffin tin is wiggled down into it. It adds thermal mass slowing down the cooling process while at the same time is not very heat conductive so won't pull heat out of the metal to equalize the temperature. most ovens don't reach the metal melting temperature.

[@thebeast8429]

@@andrewvoigt1133 thank you very much, I'm completely new to this but plan on making something out of pewter

[@zTerrordactyl]

pour the molten metal into the mold under a torch flame the "reducing atmosphere" will prevent oxidation as it hardens

[@nihtgengalastnamegoeshere7526]

I'm British so your mileage may vary in the US, but (before covid shut them down) I found a great source of pewter was car boot sales (I think yard sales would be the closest equivalent in the USA?). You'd often find old tankards for sale, and because their condition was usually way worse than that pretty shiny one in your video, the prices were way cheaper- usually around £1 per tankard, and often as low as 30-50p. It's also worth looking at the stalls selling old tools- several times I've found half used rolls of plumbing solder being sold for cheap. I've got a roll of solder which I'm going to use to try making bronze. It only has a small amount used up and is still very close to its original sale weight (missing 20g (0.7oz), but instead of paying the £15 it would have been new, I got it for just £1. Another bonus is that unlike the random candlesticks and mugs, whose metal content could be virtually anything, you know exactly what's in the solder as it's regulated and labelled.

[@thubprint]

I’ve definitely got to get out yard saleing when people get them up and running!

[@boarbot7829]

Ye- very easy to get cheap pewter in the UK.

[@Krazeetaco]

As a hobby caster i love seeing you do these videos, Its always pretty cool.

[@thubprint]

And now I see why people enjoy this hobby 🙂

[@donscottvansandt4139]

Im very interested in casting though I've never done it yet . So only reference I have is watching other casters. And the best ones I've seen take a touch and heat up the mold to make sure there's no moisture. But really enjoyed this video and found it very informative. Thanks!

[@alexmurphy9025]

There's that content I've been waiting for!

[@thubprint]

Thanks for your patience! 😄

[@Okiescrapper]

good video, never melted pewter, I just melted about 54 lbs. of aluminum from scrap, with a home made waste oil burner, it is my latest video,

[@rickyscott9019]

Hey Oki I watch your video with the oil burner and I’m going to make me one . I’m trying to figure out how to add a magnet in the bottom to keep the small piece of metal out of the aluminum liquid. Have you got any ideas on that’s. Thanks Ricky Scott

[@wendyaulis4624]

Like water and sunshine to you. Hahaha, love it

[@thubprint]

Well I mean.. okay that was a bit hyperbolic, but they are important! 😆

[@garethmartin6875]

Duuuuude. Your channel is so good. Thank you for all the content. Keep it up!! Subscribed

[@thubprint]

☺️☺️☺️ thank you so much! I’ve been working on this for awhile and I’ll admit some videos are trash, (lol) but it’s my favourite thing. I’m trying to create value for other people, and sometimes it even works 😉 Thanks for saying hi, glad you found me out here!

[@mr.e1944]

Last year I went to a flea market. A lady had a broken tea pot. I picked it up and my son said, you can resolder that lid. The lady said to me if you can fix it you can have it for free. Chunky solid pewter tea pot. Now that was the cheapest tin I got. Another guy sold me a tea pot and creamer for 3 dollars. I couldn’t pass that up either. I even read the bottom marking in front of him. He didn’t care! My dad got a weight off an old x-ray room door. He gave it to me. It was 150 lbs of clean lead. He could not lift the whole thing, so he cut in half with a chain saw. Stuff is out there. You just have to look. And tell a few people what you are looking for. It is amazing what you can even get for free.

[@thubprint]

Those are all some stellar finds! It’s all about positioning I suppose. I’ll keep letting people know and make sure I get out there, cuz it ain’t gonna come to me while I’m sitting at home 😄

[@pnghits]

Thanks 👍 for the idea.

[@MrBmxbrawler]

Hey Thub. Next time use graphite powder in your molds. Basically, take a brush and make sure all surfaces that the metal will touch are coated in powder. And very gently tap your molds as your pouring them. Great video brother. 🤙

[@thubprint]

Yesss, that’s what I was hoping for! Graphite powder doesn’t sound terribly expensive. But the tapping I definitely should have been doing, that was a silly thing to forget about.

[@ariesmariano4592]

Very nice ideas

[@StellanLarsson]

Great job!! I will keep my eyes open and save those tin things i find. Been scrapping NOKIA phones for precios gold tonight. Run my first NOKIA motor. All thanks to you mentioning eWaste Ben. Thank you! And yes he is like a God and also one of us hard working scrappers.

[@thubprint]

Ooo, I’m looking forward to some gold extraction! I won’t be doing videos on it unless I can think of a way to create something that adds value though, there are a number of folks who have that space pretty much covered.

[@jamestipton7872]

Never hurts to expand your market. The people that watch those guys will watch you too.

[@StellanLarsson]

@@jamestipton7872 Good advice, thank you!

[@StellanLarsson]

@@thubprint Good thinking! I am a chemetry teacher so I will collect alot more and try it with the kids as a demonstration of cause. Thanks to your good advice! I finally got me a bigger pick up from a local pizzeria. Lots of stenless steel. And some pizza,, hm whats the name,, shovels perhaps. Good for selling like they are. Tace care, now off to my other job..

[@chuckpoupart59]

I enjoyed your video; if you aren't a teacher beyond this video, you should be, because you made everything nice and clear to anyone else watching! One thing that you didn't mention to look for, are belt buckles, which can be found at many thrift stores and flea markets. I've bought quite a few of them for my own use over the years, and, being an artist myself, you've given me ideas as to what I should do with them. For that, I thank you. Take care brother. Great job on the video. It was very well put together and informative.

[@thubprint]

Thanks! I actually thought about it once but this is sort of my ‘teaching’ gig now. I did see some belt buckles that I wondered about, but the cost wasn’t a good value for this purpose

[@davidhowick3665]

Great to see you’ve finally got onto melting, ! It’s such fun,great rffort

[@thubprint]

Now I need a proper forge lol

[@ScoutsIX3]

Another cool scrapping idea to try!

[@thubprint]

There are SO many little elements to it, no wonder scrappers tend to have piles of buckets and bins!

[@silverlicious2086]

Cool demonstration to see the process. Have a great week.

[@thubprint]

You too!

[@ralphmourik]

The bottom of the piece shown at 2:38 and 3:23 had a sticker in Dutch saying "pure Tin" , it also had a stamp of an angel, that is what I always look for when buying tin/pewter. Got about 40KGs of pewter laying around waiting to be molten down and cast into either ingots or various figures using silicone molds. I have learned that coating a mold in talc does help a lot to improve the quality, and brushing a cast piece with a fine steel wire brush using a Dremel makes it nice and shiny.

[@marc3006]

Hello Ralph. Can I please ask what king of silicone you used to make your mould's?

[@ralphmourik]

@@marc3006 hi Marc, so far I have only used ready made molds that I bought, I plan on making custom silicone molds in the near future, I hear good things about a brand called Smooth-On, but basically any high temp silicone should work. Hope this helps. 👍

[@marc3006]

@@ralphmourik cheers Ralph. It would be a lot easier if they just sold one product.

[@tris10thearchitect66]

Can't thank you enough for this video!!

[@thubprint]

Doin what I can!

[@JohnnySwedishScrapper]

that cool;) i have 11, 500 + grams ingots of pewter, and i know that i can bars/ingots for aout 43 $ each, and i can easy sell mine for same price or better, and each ingot cost me mabe 5 $ each great video

[@thubprint]

You’re killin it at the pewter game!

[@JohnnySwedishScrapper]

@@thubprint ill make profit of it ;)

[@johnramirez5996]

Heat molds in oven. Get them before you pour. Heat just above melting temp. Pour cool and polish

[@bullitt7544]

Very interesting.

[@thubprint]

I thought so too!

[@nomerc3608]

New sub. When I poured my dive weights for my gold dredging days we always poured them once and then melted the first to third casts to get the molds hot enough. You can also use the candles to smoke the molds to get them to release better. I would cut the molds into a group of three, find a deep cast iron bread mold or a pot and mount the molds inside of the cast iron. I personally think the old cast iron molds make much better looking ingots. The more heat the mold holds the better looking the ingots... Maybe try to use a torch to heat the mold while the metal is in it but be very careful because you can make the metal boil and pop out on you! Try sitting the molds on some thick steel, like 3/8” or half inch thick. Preheat the steel so it helps keep the molds hotter? Again you do not want the molds hotter than the metal... Double stack the molds? Hope this helps. I haven’t melted anything in five years now... due to the decline in my health because of the fusion in my spine caused by the Anthrax vaxx we were forced to take for the first gulf war! No more needles for me! Doc ten penny & doc (N) Chair (Coleman)

[@thubprint]

Ahhhh, I think my flimsy aluminium molds are my whole problem then. They just don’t hold heat for any amount of time.

[@TEXAS-SMITH]

MMR shot gave me SJS. No more needles for me either!

[@Khodazmoon]

that was fun

[@thubprint]

😊

[@jonmaegdlin4278]

my jewelry supply company sells 5.2 lb pewter ingots for 169 dollars, so I think you did great!

[@thubprint]

That’s a bunch! I’m sure theirs is a specific purity but these aren’t bad 👍

[@YouCoontsSeeMe]

Very cool my bro!

[@thubprint]

It was a p good time 😎

[@gussuperman7565]

M8 that was an interesting knowledgeable video. I will forward it to my friends who lime to forge metal. Much appreciate it. Keep up the good work. God bless y'all.

[@thubprint]

Well thank you! Wishing you all the best my guy 👍

[@marktaylor865]

Tip for casting. Dust the mould with graphite powder or talcum powder.

[@jean-simondoiron2783]

Your the man Thub! Very cool video! I was thinking about you yesterday and then pow a new video! :)

[@thubprint]

What perfect timing then! ☺️ I definitely prefer to have at least one new one a week. I made good use of the time though! Hope you’ve been well 👍

[@610Alpha]

Yard sales and estate auctions would be a cheap source vs the thrift stores

[@markbean832]

Nice Thub! Looks like you finally found your style of videos and your channel is growing :) Keep up the good work!

[@thubprint]

I am LOVING doing these types 😊 and yes, I know many people miss the picking but these are clearly their own success! I’ve just got a couple more anyway, then on to phase 3 😎

[@mrbilly5282]

PLZ MAKE MORE!!!!!!!

[@thubprint]

OKAY!!!

[@mollynakamori]

This looks SOOO fun! Beware, though. In the '70s, it was all the rage to use serving ware from a company called Armetale. It looks so much like pewter, it's uncanny, but it's nearly all aluminum. It was the era of all things colonial - ew - and everyone wanted to look like 18th century Bostonians when they gave dinner parties. Since original pewter was partly lead, Armetale was a safe pewter look-alike. From the Wilton company. I could watch those bits melt all day. Another idea for an ASMR video, perhaps?

[@thubprint]

Definitely be keeping an eye out for all sorts of it when garage sales return! I was looking forward to doing this one for just that reason, and now I just want to film more melting... the trick is finding some video to justify doing it in.

[@JasonBristow2003]

I just watched the video about lead. I really enjoyed both videos. You should make a video about selling the lead and pewter.

[@thubprint]

Could give that a go! Not sure what exactly I’d be recording though, I’d have to come up with something more interesting than showing me taking pictures and typing on a phone 😆

[@flyingled3176]

I use wax, sawdust and the 20 mule team to clean up my lead

[@plasmaguy5]

Very cool

[@aidasoto2936]

Thanks very good I will try.peltre o pewter o estaño.

[@bigredbullion3883]

Very awsome

[@thubprint]

Iiiiii loved it!

[@geofft3214]

Very nifty! Next gold pouring lol. Have a good weekend!

[@thubprint]

Hopefully! 😜 have a good one yourself!

[@MrChunkydunk]

Now that was fun. I used to make lead balls in my bedroom. Never thought of using pewter. That stuff is hard to find around here now.

[@thubprint]

I’ve noticed that too, they really don’t use it in any new products so it’s just vintage pieces slowly drying up

[@MrChunkydunk]

@@thubprint yeah. Usually all you seem to find is at antique dealers. And those want way too much for it to even be economical. I'm considering getting back into lead casting.

[@chuckintexas]

Pewter looks neutral Grey but is heavier than aluminum . Easy to spot . Perfect for casting with soft lead for hardenable lead for bullet casting . Refer to manuals for exact recipes. With quick water casting , the bullet CAN get too hard, but will usually be just below r20 (~18 or _so_) which is about ideal for your customers who load lead-headed rounds .

[@victorluc66]

For better ingots, your mold must be much hotter before you pour. Use a steel muffin pan and get it very hot before pouring. Or buy graphite molds. Expensive but perfect finish as long as it’s very hot.

[@stevejackson3041]

You are absolutely correct my friend.

[@Vandal-Vlogs]

Good times 🤟

[@thubprint]

Heck yea bud! Certainly a fun way to spend an afternoon 👌

[@vinecat8451]

Awesome! Kinda wanna buy a propane tank just to be able to start smelting down lead and tin😂

[@thubprint]

I’m pretty into it now honestly, liquid metal is pretty fun. (Just be safe abt it 😉)

[@nihtgengalastnamegoeshere7526]

You don't even need propane for lead or tin/pewter, I've not worked with lead, but for casting pewter I just put it in a metal ladle and stick it in a fire. I've even seen folks melting pewter on a hot plate, it really doesn't need much heat to melt it. You only need proper equipment for stuff like aluminium, copper, brass etc, and even then you can still use wood/charcoal as long as you make a furnace with a decent air blower.

[@demoniack81]

Just bought 650g of pewter for 1,5€ today. It was an old and deformed plate that wasn't even that decorated, so I didn't feel bad about destroying it. It was however super thick, probably more than 1mm. It's interesting that this material appears quite pliable at first, but if you exceed its tensile strength it just rips apart suddenly. I've never seen any other metal behave quite like it. I'm going to melt it down just for fun though.

[@laurens2592]

@3:27 I'm from The Netherlands and it says that it's pure tin from Holland

[@thubprint]

I always think anyone who knows more than one language is so cool 😎

[@t16systdest72]

Panda! the Best kind of bear to not be feared!

[@majesticbuffaloman4327]

very cool!

[@thubprint]

And fun to do ☺️

[@kimhallums9166]

Clicking like. Have some water and sunshine 🌞. Good video. Summer is coming! LOTS of yard sales with stuff like that.

[@thubprint]

☺️👍

[@richardroyles1423]

They look good to me. I’m gonna try. Kansas

[@thubprint]

Do it 👌

[@victorn6065]

Hello! I'm also from Kansas too!

[@anthonymoses3697]

Dude, another great video. Keep it up man, you're going places. I look forward to more great content

[@thubprint]

Thank you!! That’s all I’m aiming for, I just want to make really great videos. Still so much to learn!

[@anthonymoses3697]

@@thubprint hey, I've learned a lot from you already! Thank you again for sharing your knowledge. I wish you all the best bro

[@justinpatel3181]

For a cleaner cast you will need a tourch to keep it hot while pouring. Keep a flame on the metal for about 10 seconds before moving on to the next pour.

[@LifeOfWib]

Thank you Thub, I've been watching your videos for quite some time. I have a question, I've been scrapping for around 5 years now, almost every day. And lately, I've just felt burned out. How do you motivate yourself to get out there, and get things done? Whether answered or not. Another great video, keep up the great work.

[@thubprint]

That is a great question and I can sorta relate. When I was sticking to the bottle picking/trash picking videos, people really seemed to enjoy them but I definitely did get burned out. It was always the same routes for me, and I felt stuck into it because I needed the money. This pandemic was a mixed blessing for me because I was forced to reimagine things, and these guide videos were something different that I really enjoyed making. Plus they’ve been successful enough that they’ve given me more financial freedom. So moving forward, I’ll be able to explore new areas each time and not rely so much on the haul to pay the bills. I guess I just needed some way to make a change to keep it interesting? I’m not sure how helpful that is for you, but that’s my experience and I can’t wait to go see what’s out there now 💙

[@sphereitis2433]

i would hazard a guess at necessity

[@archangel20031]

The bubbles on the bottom of your ingot is from oil or the coating on the muffin tin releasing gas cuz you poured something super hot in there.

[@kevink.2719]

That was a interesting video

[@thubprint]

And fun to do!

[@matthewnz7879]

I did this, and had great success, but one aluminum piece did end up in there and partially melted. Several good pewter frames though for $1 each.

[@toddcasey5986]

Is it tin when melted ? or still pewter ? does fluxing remove lead and antimony (Like refining the tin) ?

[@thubprint]

Some folks have mentioned if you keep the temperature high for too long it’ll burn off the antimony but I don’t think fluxing will remove it otherwise. It would still be pewter the whole way through unless properly refined.

[@normansabel1850]

I get pewter from silver plated brass plates with decorative trim. The silver that floats to the top is substantial.

[@thubprint]

That sounds decent! I saw some silver plated items but wasn’t sure if they’d be pewter. Have you recovered any silver?

[@normansabel1850]

@@thubprint i have recovered 1 ounce of silver from each 10 pounds of decorative pewter trim melt.

[@Uatemysoul]

a cleaner cast could be achieved with a high temp silicon mold rather than metal. You may need a vacuum chamber to make the mold .

[@thubprint]

That sounds a bit more expensive, but I’m sure there’s a DIY solution too?

[@simeongray2645]

So I've been doing lead for years and getting into pewter lately. My math says I should be making $1/oz or so on pewter and I can typically get it for around or below $5/lb.

[@thubprint]

Nice! Just gotta find the right buyer 👌

[@flyback_driver]

8:45 pulling vacuum on the mold but unless the quality of the casting is detrimental to your product its probably not worth it. You need a specific type of vacuum pump that can handle high temperatures or a method of cooming the air before it reaches the pump.

[@notjustanynoob7868]

Try to preheat your mold right before you pour for a smoother pour . Happy melting !

[@thubprint]

And all the best to you!

[@Jordan-rb28]

You're a great orator. Not quite my style, but really good nonetheless, far better than myself.

[@thubprint]

Thank you! I honestly just want something valuable to talk about lol

[@josephwillis1581]

Love the thumbnail. LETS DO THE THING!

[@thubprint]

😁

[@jodyclark7527]

Pandas are cool!

[@thubprint]

Yes they are 😄

[@AndyMH182]

You should make a video on what you do to melt. Most videos I see people have these $300 furnaces and professional gear etc. I want to give your method a try.

[@thubprint]

Well that’s what I was aiming for with this and the lead videos! I just use my propane camp stove, but that’s why I’ve only done lead and pewter so far. You need to create much higher temperatures to melt aluminium and copper.

[@ThePeterDislikeShow]

Can you get some of the pewter out of the dross with a carbothermal reaction? It works with bismuth slag for sure.

[@catseye10000]

heat up the molds to reduce moister and air pockets

[@jaydoe3707]

Wow... I just looked up the current price of tin in the US per pound and it at $18.78USD

[@BullionBroker]

To get it clean throw some of the glass in when you melt it it'll pull the impurities to the top

[@thubprint]

The glass? Really?

[@leveractiongypsy1848]

I collected pewter for years to make ingots. About 2 yrs regular collecting got me about 30 lbs. I use pewter for bullet casting otherwise I wouldnt bother. I'd say unless you are using the pewter yourself, the time and money involved to get enough pewter to make $100 profit would be like making $2 an hour

[@thubprint]

Yeah it certainly would be a terrible business model haha! I mostly wanted people to know there was something good to do with broken ugly pewter pieces they may come across, I wouldn’t go out of my way trying to hunt it down for profit

[@DLHalverson]

Would campbell soup cans work ?

[@djonpow]

Click the like?....hell...I liked,subbed,shared and......DING!

[@thubprint]

Tysm! I know it’s just a meme at this point, but it makes such a big difference.

[@theaussienurseflipper.8113]

Very hard in Australia get any cheap pewter or silver now thrift shops which we call Op shops.

[@vthelastrun3290]

Wow so you actually melting metals down to make them pure and make more money that way i never heard that before, thom will buy it not a scrap yard is it? Don't known about you guys in Canada but here in UK we got carboot sales where people selling things like you bought but for dirt cheap on Sundays just clearing out they artics full of cheap cheap stuff like this, that might be a spot to get most of the money

[@thubprint]

I’d love to check out car boot sales 😊 Generally melting and pouring metal is more for a hobby than for profit because yes, scrapyards would prefer to buy scrap in its retail form. They can’t trust what’s inside a polished copper block you made at home. The difference with this and the lead is I won’t sell them for scrap value, I’ll sell them to ammo casters for a higher price than the yard would pay me.

[@chrisjames4438]

Keys the shit out of something *eh. aluminum. Put it back*

[@dennisanderson4152]

@ShadowBan Warrior He's at 2nd hand stores, doesn't cost the store a thing, the items are all donated, and trashed if they don't sell. What he did do is save someone else a little extra time in checking for themselves. You must be new around here??

[@thubprint]

In hindsight that wasn’t a great move. I wasn’t thinking about it at all, only thinking of how best to demonstrate to people the best ways to test it quickly and easily. But you’re right, that’s super uncool and I shouldn’t have done it without buying it first.

[@chrisjames4438]

Lol I was jus messing with ya. Video was great !

[@christophereverett5695]

use a foundation powder you should be able to get some from a smelter dealer in your area

[@thubprint]

Oh? Didn’t realize that was a thing!

[@smsgtbulldog]

Talc will work as well

[@LWM9181]

That decorative plate @2:15 with the designs on it is straight up pewter. And worth more than the $3 price tag that was on it. I picked up 3 dinner plates for $3 total at local thrift shop. Made by the Wilton Company RWP. Should go back and get if its still there.

[@thubprint]

Seriously?? I scratched it and it wasn’t particularly soft, plus it felt and sounded like aluminium.. I guess you’d have to melt it to really know?

[@LWM9181]

@@thubprint They might have a lil more tin in them. But I recognized the logos and stampings on the back of the plate. The Wilton company out of Columbia PA. Look up "Wilton Columbia Pewter" on your favorite search engine and look at images. Go to ebay and etsy listings. Anytime you see words or logos on the back of an item look it up on search engine. You might be surprised about what your holding.

[@Jordan-rb28]

Pre-heat the mold, I cast bronze, brass, and aluminum sometimes, though extremely different temps, it still matters to get rid of water/condensation from the molds. I just take a torch (or my 3000 deg. burner) and wave it over the muffin pan or whatever other mold I'm using until i see all the water clear up (even though it doesn't look wet). I've also seen some jewelers lube their molds with oil, but I've never tried this so I can't say. I'd just use something light to try it out with like mineral oil. Other than that I'm not quite sure. Some of it surely has to do with the purity of the alloy and also if the environment is oxidizing. If you put a flame or something above the mold to kill the oxygen, OR just held the very end of a blow torch flame in each mold (muffin) cavity while pouring each one, you'd be using most of the oxygen and your ingots should theoretically turn out flawless. This is how professional gold and silver foundries do it to great success.

[@mindofmadness5593]

I'm not new to casting except with Copper. Pre-heated muffin Tin [[Steel]] and my copper ingots fused into it. Where did I mess up? Finally got a single Mold from Graphite but not used it yet.

[@thubprint]

See I thought preheating was all it would take, but I think the aluminium muffin tray was where I messed up. It just didn’t hold any heat I put to it.

[@bonez2450]

With a low melting point, just put the mold onto the camp stove. I think a lot of the bubbles come from the metal being poured and cooling with air trapped between. The bottom part of the ingots will cool very quickly since they are in direct contact with the cold mold (cold meaning its not hotter than the melting point). You can melt metals like copper in the mold, but people dont do it because it degrades the molds faster.

[@thubprint]

Ahhhh got it!

[@TEXAS-SMITH]

Thank you.

[@freddabunnyadventures6637]

Look at storage lockers auctions. You can find tons of pewter and other precious metals

[@Gamble9110]

Either use individualized I got molds (because of the size) or cut your tray into quadrants and put them into a pressure chamber. Also you could take and sand and smooth the inside of the molds.

[@thubprint]

Some next level tips right there!

[@cyberpunk004]

another source of tin on the cheap is AT the scrapyard depending on how much they sort and if you can purchase scrap there(not all will do so). the one i got 60 lbs of 60/40 bar solder at did not have a separate bin for it so its "just lead" take your dead presidents out of your pocket and enjoy your "just lead" from these places :) i really really won't need to buy it again nor i will be searching for tin again in my lifetime with this one find it seems so far. Linotype blocks are another SUPER useful source for bulletcasting as its 12% antimony and 4% tin. oh don't try to quickly cast 60/40 solder as the video as it takes forever to cool....sometimes if you have molds for ammo, this is a wise time to cast small amounts this way as you don't need a lot of it for small casting jobs.

[@thubprint]

Sounds like you’ve got your sources sorted! I’ve bought lead from the yard before but I haven’t gotten into the good sources of tin etc like you’ve described here. Thanks for the tips!

[@cyberpunk004]

@@thubprint if you get a pretty constant trip to the scrapyard, its wise to look in their lead bin as you may not find it every time but when you do, you might get a few lbs depending on your scrapyards sorting skills(lazy yards are preffered here), , old linotype blocks are another source to keep an eye for as well for antimony and tin. these are simple to spot as they have reverse printing on them. if you figure 10-20 lbs show up, melting them into ingots saves buying from say rotometals a bar of super hard alloy which is 70% lead and 30% antimony at 31.00 for 5 lbs and then shipping it.

[@silverrose7554]

Try tapping the mold to release bubbles .

[@thubprint]

Ahhh, of course!

[@richardroyles1423]

Can You melt aluminum. Kansas

[@thubprint]

I don’t have the equipment yet, but I will in some time!