Bar Solder

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RonW

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New Brunswick, Canada
Seems plumbers, roofers and auto body guys don't use bar solder anymore. At least I can't find any in Fredericton, N.B.
Anyone know where there might be some 50/50 stuff in southern N.B.?
Need it to mix with wheel weights for bullet casting.
 
RonW said:
Seems plumbers, roofers and auto body guys don't use bar solder anymore. At least I can't find any in Fredericton, N.B.
Anyone know where there might be some 50/50 stuff in southern N.B.?
Need it to mix with wheel weights for bullet casting.
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Last time I checked at Rona the lead free solder (95%Sn) was $35/lb plus HST and 50/50 solder dissapeared from shelves as its propably banned b/c lead content for house water pipes soldering. I could image that industrial suply stores should still carry it for radiator repairs, window soldering arts and such. Tin is so expensive now (close to $20/lb) that the times of $10/lb for 50/50 solder are long gone.
 
Funny, I was out trying to find the stuff today too.

Home Despot has 50/50 wire solder at $20 for a 1lb spool. That's ridiculous, I thought, so I asked a clerk and he sent me to a commercial plumbing supply store a few blocks away. The guy there had never heard of bar solder, but they had the same 1lb spool for $10. I'm guessing that's the best deal I'll find. So if all else fails, look for a commercial plumbing supply store.

I bought some decent looking bulk scrap lead at a scrap yard for $1/lb today too. About what I expected. With the supply of line-o-type that I still have on hand I'll be set for blending some No.2 alloy as soon as it warms up again.
 
I was going to suggest hitting up a scrap yard that'll let you sort through thier scrap lead bins. I've been lucky the yard I hit lets me do that. I got some plumbing pipe with soldered connections. Right place at the right time. I don't use much tin, unless I need to, so I have just enough to keep me happy. Gonna have to hit them up again and see what they have, might get lucky.
 
A little lack of knowledge here. 50/50 is no longer allowed in potable water piping but is still used extensively in heating systems. Trust me, I have a few pounds of it in my truck. I know of two wholesalers in Vancouver that sell the big bars, EMCO and WOLSELEY and its not expensive. If you want me to see what it costs just PM me and I'll go tomorrow. Failing that, check with local plumbing wholesalers, it is still used to fix some of the old stuff.

Oh just for useless facts, autobody guys dont use it due to toxicity and because bondo is faster, in plumbing it was used to fill the large joint gaps in a certain type of iron drain pipe that hasnt been used in about 30 years. I have to fix some of it on saturday and its goinf to be cut out and replaced with cheap and simple plastic
 
buckbrush said:
the best place to fins 50/50 these days is Garage sales. Alternatives? Pewter.
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Pewter contains quite a bit of antimony which hardens an alloy quite a bit. Its also found in wheel weights. Great if thats the effect you want. Tin doesn't do so much to harden the mix but makes it pure and fill out the mold very nicely.

I've been looking for tin quite a while but finally broke down yesterday and stopped at Canada Metal in Calgary. Just under $100 for 5lbs!!! Going to be stingy with the mix for sure! Anyone know how little tin you can get away with and still see a benefit?
 
I managed to get 150 pounds of scrap lead/tin from a radiator repair shop. Most of it is floor sweepings and short pieces of solder, and is terrible filthy stuff to smelt, about half of it is dirt, but it has been a good source of tin. He uses a 60/40 lead/tin alloy, so my scrap would be close to that alloy. I don't know how much the recyclers give him, I'll have to ask him, but it's not much because it is so dirty.
 
antiqueguy said:
you guys do know some wheel weighst are pure tin some stick on and even some clip on some are pure antimony just got to look
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I think you may be mistaken about the "pure" WW make up! There are "pure Zinc" which are pure garbage to be avoided at all costs . They will render an entire pot full of ww metal useless for casting.
 
Most lead clip on weights are 95%+ lead and the rest is tin and/or antimony. Most stick on lead are pure or close to pure lead. Of course there are zinc and steal non toxic clip and stick on weights as well to sort out.

If there are pure tin or antimony wheel weights or anything scrap out there I'd love to find them.
 
I loose about 20% when refining wheel weights to something useful. Scrap dealer is paying 25 cents +/- and sells for 50cents a pound. I buy mine from a local garage for 20 bucks a grease pail and weight sure varies. I'm happy.
I broke down and bought the 50/50 solder by one pound spool because it was costing me too much to drive around looking for bar stock. At $11.00 a pound I consider it a bargain.
Casting bullets is so much fun - really it is.
 
blaser.306 said:
I think you may be mistaken about the "pure" WW make up! There are "pure Zinc" which are pure garbage to be avoided at all costs . They will render an entire pot full of ww metal useless for casting.
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ive been casting long enough to know the symbol for tin sn its marked out clear as day on the ww. if you go look on a website that sells bulk ww's to tire shops you will see that the tin wws are a alternative to lead/lead alloy
 
the vagrant and the blaser got it. Tin doesn't make pure lead harder - necessary for all but muzzle loaders and the slowest of revolver cartridges - but tin makes the lead cast better. Antimony makes the alloy hard, hence the love affair with linotype, sweetened with a tad of tin, be it in 50/50 bar stock, or however.
 
Well I went to three different wholesalers in the last couple of days and not one of them sells the bar stuff anymore. Two said they havent sold it in years and the other said its been bout a year. No demand for it anymoe so it just takes up shelf space. Sorry, i tried :(
 
No problem "moosedude". Thanks for the try. Like I said the one pound rolls are only $11.00/lb. at the plumbing wholesaler. Saves driving around and I can probably get closer to the mixture I want with the wire. I doubt that the formulation has to be exact but accuracy is one of the things I enjoy in whatever I do.
 
Most of the time for slow pistol speed bullets you don't need tin. Tin helps fill out if you are having problems with the correct mold/alloy temp only, does nothing for hardness. Last time I used 2percent tin was about 2 years ago when I was casting for .223 in the 2400 fps range other than that it sits in the cupboard, just use WW or pure lead only.

With my digital temp controlled pot and temp sensor moulds , I can keep the temp within 25 deg F and perfect bullets are produced. I laugh when people get all worked up over Lino or mono type for making perfect bullets or getting some witches brew specifically for a type or caliber of bullets. Good old WW and pure lead, water dropped or heat treated is all that is needed.
 
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