Casting alloys (1 Viewer)

[Igor]

Try looking at rotometals.com. They have lots of great metals at fair prices. Personally I would use pewter. Though expensive it is safer,melts at a lower temperature, and fills details much better than any lead alloy.

We also use the pewter (two different composition) and zinc alloys
Some parts cast from bronze and brass

 

[blaster]

Can you add lead shots to molten lead/tin alloy

Hi All,

Just thinking aloud here. If I have molten lead/tin alloy of 40:60, can I add lead pieces and will it melt to increase the Pb content of the mix?

Rgds Victor

 

[Captkronos]

Blaster,

I have done that, just tossed in some lead sinkers to lower my overall cost per soldier. I believe lead will melt somewhere over the 600 F mark. If you want to bring down the melting temp of lead while adding it to a mix, you can add a little bit of Bismuth. Apparently bismuth acts on lead and tin at the molecular level in some way that lowers the melting temp of those metals. I add bismuth to my lead and tin, and I'm then able to pour it into an RTV silicon that is only rated to about 450 F, so I think the bismuth is very effective for this purpose. It is priced about the same as tin at Rotometals.

 

[Martin Tabony]

Be careful with the bismuth, too much will make the casting brittle.

Martin

 

[Captkronos]

Be careful with the bismuth, too much will make the casting brittle.

Very true.

 

[blaster]

Hi Capt Kronos and Martin,

Thanks for the inputs. I was considering to buy about 50kg of metal and the standard alloy supplied over here is tin:lead 60:40. So far, I have been mixing this with a small supply of tin:lead alloy of 40:60.

An alternative offered here is tin:lead with 14% bismuth, but I think that this % is too much and the prices are not easy on the wallet.

Rgds Victor

 

[Captkronos]

I have actually gone as far as a 1:1:1 mix of the three and figures have held up fine so far, BUT, I would love to get some of that 14% stuff you mention. I like the bismuth because in gravity pours like I do (no spincaster) I need the stuff to really flow, but it is definitely a tradeoff, the more bismuth, the weaker it becomes. But like you said, if cost prohibits, just go with what is already working for you. I know at Rotometals a lb of tin and a lb of bismuth are about the same price these days. I think tin has gone up recently. If only I could just do it all with lead...Tin gives superior detail to bismuth without question (in either/or attempts) if a guy was trying to pick one or the other. Good luck, and whatever you do, don't melt any acid-core solder wire by mistake. I know a guy who nearly killed himself with that...but I won't mention his name.

 

[blaster]

Hi CaptKronos,

I probably will try to increase the lead content as much as possible. I find that this gives me better malleability. I sometimes customise my pieces. Right now, I am busy making more masters and moulds for all this metal.

Rgds Vic