help with Pewter

[flintbuilder]

So I am going to be pouring a pewter nose cap on a long rifle and I thought I would concider pouring the entry pipe as well. Only Problem, I have no idea what I am doing. Can anyone forward me posts, or tutorials on pouring pewter, and any advice would be helpfull. Thanks in advance :hatsoff:

 

[necchi]

Here's the search for this forum.
19 pages worth,, http://www.muzzleloadingforum.com/fusionbb/dosearch.php?p/1/
There's plenty of good info if you take the time to read.

Here's the basic instruction by Track of the Wolf; http://www.trackofthewolf.com/pdfs/pewter-muzzle-cap-instructions.pdf

 

[mikemeteor]

here's some pics from my first effort.
poured nosecap

I suggest a practice pour first. learn what to expect as far as pouring properties.
then remove and re-melt for your real job.

there will likely be a small amount of "slag" on top of the molten pewter.
If you stop the pour in the middle of the job, even just briefly, and then re-start the pour, I think you increase your chances of incorporating that slag in the body of your pour.
that's bad news.
try for a nice smooth continuous pour to your fill line.
that's why a practice pour helps.
get the feel of how it flows and when to stop.
good luck.
let us know how it goes !
/mike

i know nothing about pouring an entry pipe.
that sounds difficult to do in place.

 

[Bill Hall]

i know nothing about pouring an entry pipe.
that sounds difficult to do in place.

That's what I was thinking also. I'm having trouble picturing what that would look like, and it sounds really problematic. You need to have a ramrod in place when you pour, and I think the metal would need to flow around it in a very tight space. If you're familiar with the way mercury acts, you can think of molten pewter as acting much the same. It's thick and doesn't like to flow into tight spaces.

This is just my uninformed intital reaction. Maybe someone will post a pic so we can get a better idea of what we're talking about. I know I'd really like to see a poured entry pipe as well. Bill

 

[BrownBear]

No pics, but I learned two things worth passing along about pewter, especially for small places.

Best buy for consistent results is a lead thermometer. They're available from Lyman for not many buxx. If you're casting ball or bullets, you'll be happy using it there too long after the pewter job is done.

Second lesson for small pours is to preheat the area you're pouring into. I borrowed a bud's small heat gun last time I poured on a hawk handle, and it's the first time I felt like I got the results I wanted. The stuff just flows a whole lot better if it's landing on something that's hot rather than cool.

Never tried an entry pipe, but in addition to those steps my impulse would be to make your form a little oversize, planning to file it thin as you want after the pour.

 

[hoochiepapa]

Like maybe wrapping the ramrod or facsimile thereof with brown paper bag or wrapping paper.

 

[flintbuilder]

Hey guys, thanks for the pointers. I have a neighbor who has poured an entry pipe and it turned out great as far as I can tell. He did say it was a bear and would hesitate to do it again because of the difficulty. But I loved the look of it. I will see if I can get him to post a pic of it. If I end up doing it I will deffinately have him help and I will certainly post pictures of it. Should be real fun.

 

[flintbuilder]

Thanks for the posts. The link for this forums post doesn't work for me, can anyone help me get to this info? I would love to soak it up.

 

[necchi]

Sure, guess it doesn't like to link to searches.

On top of the page is a blue bar with "Search" in one of the sections, click that, then type in "pouring pewter" and be sure to check the small box under it that says to
search only this fourm then click the blue search.
That keeps it looking in the Gun Builders Bench for those two words