Melting pewter

If you mean you got pewter flatware, depending on the source, you'd be well advised to check the marks etc. or have an expert do so. Could be some very old and valuable pieces you are thinking of melting down.
 
yomomma said:
Got a bunch of pewter at a good price. Anything I should be aware of before I turn it into ingots?
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Just make sure it really is pewter. There are a couple of ways to make sure. The easiest is the BEND test. If you can bend it very easily it is usually pewter. If it is hard or very difficult to bend, it is likely something else, like zinc.

The other test is the drop test. If it's pewter, the sound of the object dropping on concrete will be a dull thud. The sound of something else, like zinc will have a sharper sound.

You can also use one of many various ways to test Brinnell hardness.
 
I got a 15lb champagne cooling bowl, it was damaged already (why I got it free) but it turns out it sells for $400 euros!

I melted it in a small cast iron pan and used the lee ingot mold. Fluted a few times and that's all. It should flow if you melt it in your bottom poor casting pot, pure tin however does not! I tried it with 95/5 solder and it was very thick and didn't come out the spout.

So short answer, treat it like normal lead for melting assuming it is actually pewter.
 
My sister in law is picking them up for me, so I'll probably won't get my hands on them till tomorrow.

Pictures show manufacturer marks so I am hope full.

Five beer steins for $15, just couldn't pass that up.
 
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