Short vid I made about my Pewter work..

[Adam Pinson]

Metal soup..

 

[MikeG.]

Bloody hell...that music!

Anyway, once I'd turned the volume off, that was interesting. What precautions did you take, given that pewter contains quite a lot of nasties?

 

[RickG]

Since about 1746(?) Pewter in the UK has been Lead-free. Sot it's not as nasty as it's reputation tells you. Many people are still not aware of the change.

 

[AJB Temple]

Nice video Adam. I too had to turn the intrusive music off.

Rick, I thought Pewter contains antimony at around 10% ish, which is surely toxic if mishandled?

 

[MikeG.]

.........Rick, I thought Pewter contains antimony at around 10% ish, which is surely toxic if mishandled?

.....and/ or bismuth, as I recall.

 

[AJB Temple]

Bismuth as well Mike, but despite being a heavy metal it is not noted for toxicity, whereas Antimony definitely is.

I think Pewter is also still made with lead - second grade Pewter. Has an odd colour. I don't know much about the stuff but my ex FIL used to use it in their foundry. Lead is of course still readily available in the UK.

 

[Adam Pinson]

Bloody hell...that music!

Anyway, once I'd turned the volume off, that was interesting. What precautions did you take, given that pewter contains quite a lot of nasties?

Glad you enjoyed the music, i've been told it's too quiet so i'll fix that.... well i try to use only post 1980 Pewter tankards to melt due to them containing no lead and i always melt stuff outside, i generally hold my breath until the dastardly operation is over

 

[Inspector]

Be aware breathing dust or metal fumes from machining ain't so healthy either. Hopefully you are wearing good respiratory protection when you work with it.

Pete

PS. The music is easily turned down or muted but it would be nice if you would edit out some of the unnecessary repetitive footage so one doesn't need to scan ahead an click there. Showing the first sanding grit is fine but an on screen note saying sanded to XXX grit suffices. Normally I stop and move on when there is too much of that.

 

[MikeG.]

Be aware breathing dust or metal fumes from machining ain't so healthy either. Hopefully you are wearing good respiratory protection when you work with it........

That was my point, really. There's now pewter all over the lathe and surrounding area....but hopefully not in Adam's lungs.

 

[bourbon]

Why not turn it in wood, Use high temperature silicon and make a mould with that, All you need to do then, is polish the parts up and you don't waste pewter. I cast in a medieval living history group, In the middle of a field with no thermometers. ( I use more authentic soapstone for the moulds)

 

[Inspector]

Why not turn it in wood, Use high temperature silicon and make a mould with that, All you need to do then, is polish the parts up and you don't waste pewter. I cast in a medieval living history group, In the middle of a field with no thermometers. ( I use more authentic soapstone for the moulds)

For a one off making a silicone mould is kind of wasteful in of itself isn't it? Not to mention of the time taken to make the mould. I thought the chips if clean and gathered up could be remelted again to cast something else.

Pete

 

[RickG]

Separating the wood shavings from Pewter can be done in a bucket of water. Pewter doesn't float.

 

[Adam Pinson]

Separating the wood shavings from Pewter can be done in a bucket of water. Pewter doesn't float.

Good idea, melting the Pewter does that naturally, it just floats on top.

 

[bourbon]

Do you know to add a very small amount of tallow to your melted pewter? It will clear the impurities off the surface. Use this technique when you are recovering the metal. The antimony is rendered inert when combined into pewter. A silicon mould can be reused and I can make a two part mould in a day uk pewter tankards are actually Brittania metal. Britannia metal - Wikipedia