Looking for tin!

[Rreyes097]

Try www.mcmaster.com. Tin is used in bearings for a variety of uses and alloys. I don't know where you are located, so a search for "babbit metals " will give you a bunch of hits. Look for the pure tin . Last time I bought some for an old jaw crusher, I bought 100 lbs. Still have 30 lbs left. Needless to say, tin is not an issue for me. If others are experiencing a hard time getting some, let me know. I might recast some into smaller portions if the need is there. How much would suit people for their needs? I am thinking a 2 -3 oz. ribbon. Would only sell in the US.

I need like a few bbs worth. I just need some suggestions on where to look for good tin I'm my home.

 

[Rreyes097]

Yeah I'd take some shipped to me but if I could locate some around the house that would be easiest for me. But I'd take some if I couldn't find any here. Of course I could go buy some but trying to be frugal.

 

[goldshark]

Could always look on the copper water lines in someone's exposed walls or crawl space. Maybe the plumber was in a hurry and didn't wipe the joints. Bring a sharp chisel and hammer. Look on the floor in a mechanical room for possible drips where copper joints were soldered.
If I melt some of my 10 lb. bars, would people prefer bars, thin sheets, or prills (B B's), and what amounts desired. Moderators are welcome to chime in here.

 

[Alondro]

Could always look on the copper water lines in someone's exposed walls or crawl space. Maybe the plumber was in a hurry and didn't wipe the joints. Bring a sharp chisel and hammer. Look on the floor in a mechanical room for possible drips where copper joints were soldered.
If I melt some of my 10 lb. bars, would people prefer bars, thin sheets, or prills (B B's), and what amounts desired. Moderators are welcome to chime in here.

I'd say thin sheets or prills. Something that would allow easy partitioning into small amounts.

A few ounces of tin will last a small recycler like me a long time.

 

[Helian]

Pewter is mostly tin and is commonly available at auctions. Sometimes you may run into German pieces marked "Rein Zinn," which means "pure tin."

 

[Alondro]

Could always look on the copper water lines in someone's exposed walls or crawl space. Maybe the plumber was in a hurry and didn't wipe the joints. Bring a sharp chisel and hammer. Look on the floor in a mechanical room for possible drips where copper joints were soldered.
If I melt some of my 10 lb. bars, would people prefer bars, thin sheets, or prills (B B's), and what amounts desired. Moderators are welcome to chime in here.

Hey there. Still looking for some tin for myself. What sort of price were you looking at? Sheets or prills/BBs would be best for the small amounts of solution I make at a time. I'm looking for about 3-6 oz (roughly 100-200g).

I've exhausted all my local shops, no one has any high-tin ANYTHING around here. Not even lead-free fishing weights! Very annoying.

 

[Justincase]

Hey there. Still looking for some tin for myself. What sort of price were you looking at? Sheets or prills/BBs would be best for the small amounts of solution I make at a time. I'm looking for about 3-6 oz (roughly 100-200g).

I've exhausted all my local shops, no one has any high-tin ANYTHING around here. Not even lead-free fishing weights! Very annoying.

modern pewter can be anything from 85–99% tin and above.
So if you find a peace that has been made out of the purer side of the spectrum you should not run out again.

 

[goldshark]

Been busy with mom's death, setting up furnaces, burning slash before fire season hits, building drilling equipment, doing a couple jobs, etc,, I will have some time this summer to get up and running to produce some thin sheet Tin. Thanks for your patience, a lot going on.

 

[Alondro]

Been busy with mom's death, setting up furnaces, burning slash before fire season hits, building drilling equipment, doing a couple jobs, etc,, I will have some time this summer to get up and running to produce some thin sheet Tin. Thanks for your patience, a lot going on.

Ah, that is a lot all at once.

 

[kurtak]

Hey there. Still looking for some tin for myself.

Circuit boards made 2006 & newer use (by law) lead free solder - so the solder on newer CBs use tin/antimony 95% tin 5% antimony solder (mostly) --- or solders of (around plus/minus a few percent) 95% tin with copper or silver making up (plus/minus a few percent) the other 5% of the solder

HCl dissolves tin but not antimony/copper/silver

Therefore the solder on CBs made after 2006 will work perfectly fine for making stannous

HCl will dissolve the tin - the antimony/copper/silver will then settle (as a black powder) to the bottom of your beaker (you now have your stannous testing solution)

Take some newer CBs - put them on a hot plate (or use a heat gun) when the solder becomes molten bang the CB on a hard surface (work bench) pick up the blobs of solder & use them to make your stannous

I use a small 50 ml beaker for making my stannous

AND - for what it is worth - the solder from CBs will also contain small amounts of gold - the gold comes from the gold plated pads on the CBs - when they solder the component to the CB - the solder dissolves the gold (plating) & the gold ends up alloyed with the solder

One kilo of solder recovered from (newer) CBs will yield 1.5 - 2.5 grams of gold - the gold will be in the black antimony/copper/silver powder that settles after dissolving the tin solder with HCl

That is why I use HCl for depopulating RAM (for the IC chips) after cutting the fingers off (10 - 20 pound batches) the black powder that settles to the bottom of the bucket has gold in it

The tin (in solution) can then be cemented out with zinc - after washing & drying the tin cement you can then "smelt" the tin cement with carbon/borax/soda ash flux to recover the tin

If you want more details on the process I can post that

Kurt

 

[GoIdman]

Hey there. Still looking for some tin for myself. What sort of price were you looking at? Sheets or prills/BBs would be best for the small amounts of solution I make at a time. I'm looking for about 3-6 oz (roughly 100-200g).

I've exhausted all my local shops, no one has any high-tin ANYTHING around here. Not even lead-free fishing weights! Very annoying.

I get tin from old (war era and after) household stuff like candle holders, sauce holders, figurines,plates, cups stc. anything that has written "Rein Zinn" over it... That should be about 93-96% pure tin. Sometime i just go to the local flea market and buy the stuff very cheap.

For example see attached pictures.

 

[kurtak]

I've exhausted all my local shops, no one has any high-tin ANYTHING around here. Not even lead-free fishing weights! Very annoying.

That just doesn't make a lot of sense - going lead free is a "world wide" effort (& has been since 2006)

So - though you can still get lead/tin solder - EVERY hardware store now carries lead free solder

It just won't be pure tin - but will be (+/-) 95% tin (read my last post) which will work just fine for making your stannous

Do you have a Lowe's or Home Depot near you - they will FOR SURE have lead free solder - HIGH tin- low antimony - silver - copper - silver/copper solders

do you have a Walmart near you - they will FOR SURE have tin fishing weights which will be pure tin

Most pellet gun pellets are now tin instead of lead

Here in the U.S. they are going so lead free that some states (like California) are even banning lead bullets

Kurt

 

[kurtak]

I get tin from old (war era and after) household stuff like candle holders, sauce holders, figurines,plates, cups stc. anything that has written "Rein Zinn" over it... That should be about 93-96% pure tin. Sometime i just go to the local flea market and buy the stuff very cheap.

Per the bold print - or pewter - works fine for stannous

Kurt

 

[richoc]

Go to your local fishing supply store or Cabelas.com and buy Tin split shot from Water Gremlin.
Plumbing supply store will have Lead free solders of different formulas for sweating copper pipes.
I have received free 1/4 LB sample rolls in the past of lead free solder samples from suppliers websites not even having to pay for the shipping. Do not know if you can find this any more.

 

[Alondro]

Circuit boards made 2006 & newer use (by law) lead free solder - so the solder on newer CBs use tin/antimony 95% tin 5% antimony solder (mostly) --- or solders of (around plus/minus a few percent) 95% tin with copper or silver making up (plus/minus a few percent) the other 5% of the solder

HCl dissolves tin but not antimony/copper/silver

Therefore the solder on CBs made after 2006 will work perfectly fine for making stannous

HCl will dissolve the tin - the antimony/copper/silver will then settle (as a black powder) to the bottom of your beaker (you now have your stannous testing solution)

Take some newer CBs - put them on a hot plate (or use a heat gun) when the solder becomes molten bang the CB on a hard surface (work bench) pick up the blobs of solder & use them to make your stannous

I use a small 50 ml beaker for making my stannous

AND - for what it is worth - the solder from CBs will also contain small amounts of gold - the gold comes from the gold plated pads on the CBs - when they solder the component to the CB - the solder dissolves the gold (plating) & the gold ends up alloyed with the solder

One kilo of solder recovered from (newer) CBs will yield 1.5 - 2.5 grams of gold - the gold will be in the black antimony/copper/silver powder that settles after dissolving the tin solder with HCl

That is why I use HCl for depopulating RAM (for the IC chips) after cutting the fingers off (10 - 20 pound batches) the black powder that settles to the bottom of the bucket has gold in it

The tin (in solution) can then be cemented out with zinc - after washing & drying the tin cement you can then "smelt" the tin cement with carbon/borax/soda ash flux to recover the tin

If you want more details on the process I can post that

Kurt

I've been saving all my CBs that have gold contact points for that reason. I'll need to use my largest-sized beakers when I get around to doing that.

But I wanted some PURE tin, to make a solution I KNOW should work. A positive control is quite important to have.

 

[Alondro]

Go to your local fishing supply store or Cabelas.com and buy Tin split shot from Water Gremlin.
Plumbing supply store will have Lead free solders of different formulas for sweating copper pipes.
I have received free 1/4 LB sample rolls in the past of lead free solder samples from suppliers websites not even having to pay for the shipping. Do not know if you can find this any more.

The lead-free solder I could find was only 40% tin, and had silver and copper. It was rather pricey to buy simply for dissolving! It ended up being much cheaper to just buy a small ingot of pure tin from Ebay. It should get here before my known working solution goes bad, so I can test the new vs the old solutions in tandem with my gold-positive solution.

 

[VK3NHL]

That just doesn't make a lot of sense - going lead free is a "world wide" effort (& has been since 2006)

So - though you can still get lead/tin solder - EVERY hardware store now carries lead free solder

It just won't be pure tin - but will be (+/-) 95% tin (read my last post) which will work just fine for making your stannous

Do you have a Lowe's or Home Depot near you - they will FOR SURE have lead free solder - HIGH tin- low antimony - silver - copper - silver/copper solders

do you have a Walmart near you - they will FOR SURE have tin fishing weights which will be pure tin

Most pellet gun pellets are now tin instead of lead

Here in the U.S. they are going so lead free that some states (like California) are even banning lead bullets

Kurt

Yeah you don’t want to get lead poisoning when you get shot!

 

[GoIdman]

The lead-free solder I could find was only 40% tin, and had silver and copper. It was rather pricey to buy simply for dissolving! It ended up being much cheaper to just buy a small ingot of pure tin from Ebay. It should get here before my known working solution goes bad, so I can test the new vs the old solutions in tandem with my gold-positive solution.

You could also test the solder that is sold at hardware stores, since that is 99% tin an 1 % copper...used for soldering copper pipes....it is expensive though.

Be safe

Pete

 

[BlackLabel]

The lead-free solder I could find was only 40% tin, and had silver and copper. It was rather pricey to buy simply for dissolving! It ended up being much cheaper to just buy a small ingot of pure tin from Ebay. It should get here before my known working solution goes bad, so I can test the new vs the old solutions in tandem with my gold-positive solution.

I never heared of lead-free solder with 40% tin and 60% silver/copper. That's nonsense how would you solder anything with this?
It would be a kind of welding.
I don't understand this discussion for days about getting pure tin.

Earlier in this thread, I replied to Rreyes097:
"Check out eBay for tin-powder or tin-granules."

 

[war_child]

This is what I grabbed to make stannous chloride. Hopefully it is pure enough for me, I only need it for stannous. I hammered it flat, and I'll snip pieces off to add to muriatic acid when I'm ready to test.