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Poured pewter bolster.

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Bagman

40 Cal.
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Sep 4, 2014
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Made a 19th century small antler handled knife. I used a wheelweight to pour the bolster. Worked really well and has a correct look. I still need to add two steel pins.

 
GW....I've been casting from wheelweights for about a dozen years. You can get a brinell test as high as 24 with water quenched. It reduces over time. Air quenched it's about 17 to 19.

Rotometals sells pewter ingots and the say about 18.5 on their pewter.
 
Any problems with the higher casting temp of wheelweights against bone/horn? I'm getting ready to do some pewter because I was worried about higher temps, but it appears my concern may be misplaced.

Nice knife, and thought provoking technique. Thanks!
 
The more Lead content....the more it seems to expand as it cools. The bolster is cast high up on the antler tip. Not flowing deep into the area hollowed out for the half tang. I left the tang slightly above the ricasso so it could form a ring around the tang. That locks the casting in place.
 
I have a curved stag I've been wondering what to do with. Has anyone also done a poured pewter pommel?
I was going to use the non-lead, melt at 30 degree solder. I think it is tin and other low based white metals.
 
Maybe undercut the area where the cast pommel and antler meet and put in a screw withe a small head...as an anchor. Then pour your pommel.

Was actually thinking of doing it to this one. I'm not in love with the extra curl beyond the tang.
 
The Catlanite pipes I saw at Pipestone, MN had inlays made of high tin solder cast into the stone. The inlays were bright. I've cast parts using babbit metal, which is sorta similar to pewter and looks old timey after a little while.
 
Kansas Volunteer said:
The Catlanite pipes I saw at Pipestone, MN had inlays made of high tin solder cast into the stone. The inlays were bright. I've cast parts using babbit metal, which is sorta similar to pewter and looks old timey after a little while.
The inlays were lead, at least in traditional/original pipes...
 
BrownBear said:
Any problems with the higher casting temp of wheelweights against bone/horn? I'm getting ready to do some pewter because I was worried about higher temps, but it appears my concern may be misplaced.

Nice knife, and thought provoking technique. Thanks!


Wheelweights are no longer made of any one material. Depending on the maker they could be anything. Personally, I would prefer to go with a known, consistent, material.
 
Same here. I have some pewter waiting for a current project. I'm using the forearm bone (ulna?) from a young brown bear for the handle on a small knife, planning on a pewter bolster. Kinda interesting, but more personal than historic. I found the scattered skeleton on one of my favorite hunting patches, so nice to have.
 
I have some early pewter. It's very soft and must be mostly lead. My wheelwright are from 20 years ago. The modern stuff gets contaminated with zinc. No good...
 
Can you use some of the non-lead solder for pewter? Is it the same stuff?
On the pommel....What I was thinking was a full tang with sort of bolsters on the scales or maybe a hidden tang much wider than normal.
There is an art institute near where I live that has classes in casting bronze, etc. but it is an expensive class. I was also thinking of sand casting a pommel from pewter but I wasn't sure the metal was tough enough.
Actually what would be my preferred goal. You could melt plain brass and recast it into a pommel but I'm not sure how much heat would be needed and if a home hobbyist could do it. If you got air bubbles- just re-melt and cast again.
 
crockett said:
Can you use some of the non-lead solder for pewter? Is it the same stuff?
On the pommel....What I was thinking was a full tang with sort of bolsters on the scales or maybe a hidden tang much wider than normal.
There is an art institute near where I live that has classes in casting bronze, etc. but it is an expensive class. I was also thinking of sand casting a pommel from pewter but I wasn't sure the metal was tough enough.
Actually what would be my preferred goal. You could melt plain brass and recast it into a pommel but I'm not sure how much heat would be needed and if a home hobbyist could do it. If you got air bubbles- just re-melt and cast again.

I poured a nose cap for a rifle and a bolster for a knife using lead free solder. Tin-Antimony, it worked well.

A recipe for lead free pewter was tin-antimony-copper.
If you could grind copper fine enough it would dissolve in molten tin-antimony at temperatures well below the melting point of copper. So you could make lead free pewter without a furnace. Copper would harden the pewter, I didn't bother with it.
 
Truth be known, your tin-antimony-copper solder is just about exactly what many of the traditional pewters was made from "back in the days".

Many lead free solders are made of similar stuff.

As for crockett's question about brass, its melting point is well over 1300°F. Much too hot for even a oxy-acetylene torch to melt in larger amounts than a few thimblefuls.
A dedicated furnace is needed.
 
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