anyone ever make their own Tins?

[zacs]

wow. good stuf!

A couple of questions.

- why would one want to separate the tin and lead once combined?
- are there 'pre-mixed' alloys you can buy all ready or do you have to mix your own?
- what temp does the copper melt at?

Thanks a million

Zac

[Diamond Tackle]

Originally Posted by zacs

wow. good stuf!

A couple of questions.

- why would one want to separate the tin and lead once combined?
- are there 'pre-mixed' alloys you can buy all ready or do you have to mix your own?
- what temp does the copper melt at?

Thanks a million

Zac

good questions

-seperate? , i guess normally you would not need to, just that if you melt a large batch of it, you are comitted, its no longer lead free and never will be. I am very careful not to ever get the 2 mixed together (to meet Californias strict Prop 65 laws) so I guess thats where that comes from. In other words if I get lead into a large pot of Tin, its now no longer Lead Free Tin, periond. even a bb size is enough to "contaminate" the pot.

-yes Im sure you can buy 6/40 blend of tin lead or whatever Alloy you desire, mixing it is ok too, just make sure you use a good flux to blend it all together nicely. only thing is to make sure you use LEAD, not tire weights which had many tramp(unknown) metals, these can greatly HARDEN the finished product. In fact Antimony will really harden it, so much so that it may become very brittle, whereas tin bends easily

-Copper melts? I dunno, i can look it up i guess.
I think your question is how does it get into an alloy if its melting point is obviously HIGHER than the Tin at 459 F ?
great question, I dont have the answer, same way I cant explain how SALT which melts at about 1400 F gets into salt water. Thats why they say its in Solution, not Melted . And it will just as readily Crystalize right out of solution too, just like Rock Candy, or salt crystals.

[Diggin Jiggin]

Tinman, thanks you've been very helpful. I'm not sure how far I'll get with this but atleast I have a place to start. I'll start making the shapes I want and then make a mold from that. I can get some of the solder like Fishpart mentioned and see how it all works and then if its something I want to persue I can try and find some bulk tin.

I saw some on the net for like 8$a lb from a place in cranston RI. 8$ is kind of steep but 5 or 10 lbs would last a long time. If I make 3 - oz lures out of a pound its still somewhat reasonable. When you add up what we pay for wood,wire,paint,epoxy, when building a plug, the tin comes out much cheaper and I wont have to deal with epoxy . Plus I'd get to fish the tin everyday in the canal.