Got a bunch of solder . . .

glassparman

glassparman

"OK, OK, I'm going as fast as I don't want to go!"
Some says 60/40 others are not marked.

Is it good for any casting sweetener and do I need to watch out for specific cores like acid or anything? Or is it all junk?

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fiver

fiver

Well-Known Member
acid core is nasty stuff.
it'll clean the crud out of your pot though [AKA good flux]

i had a bunch of meh solder not too long back.
i figured out what i'd get by mixing this and that [to get about 50-50] then run a 50 foot extension cord out back and put it all in the pot and turned it on low.
when it stopped smoking i went and made my ingots.
 
JonB

JonB

Halcyon member
I schmelted a bunch of rolls of flux core solder.
I use old SS cookware on a coleman gasoline camp stove.
I did the acid core separate-and then threw that pot away, that flux stuck to the pot walls like welding.
With all the batches after that, I'd put saw dust in there just as things started melting. The purpose was to soak up as much of the liquid flux as possible, to eliminate as much smoke as possible.
 
Ian

Ian

Notorious member
^^^^this 100%.

I needed some soft, silver-bearing solder for a recent project, found some in my garage sakle solder stash under the casting bench new in the package.
 
glassparman

glassparman

"OK, OK, I'm going as fast as I don't want to go!"
I thought I read somewhere that Solder goes bad after so long. Well, at least the core or whatever is used for flux goes bad. Anyone else heard that?

I already have a lifetime supply of Rosin core for electronics and plumbing type solder. Not quite sure what I would do with all of this.
 
Rick

Rick

Moderator
Staff member
glassparman said:
I thought I read somewhere that Solder goes bad after so long. Well, at least the core or whatever is used for flux goes bad. Anyone else heard that?

I already have a lifetime supply of Rosin core for electronics and plumbing type solder. Not quite sure what I would do with all of this.
Click to expand...

Better to have and wonder than need and not have. :)
 
Winelover

Winelover

North Central Arkansas
Use it for pot sweetener, when required. However, anything diluted from 95-5 is going to require more. First number is the tin percentage. So for 60-40 you'd need 35-40% more.

95-5 would all be labeled, if on the original spool...........that's the current EPA correct solder for all plumbing. Harder to solder with, compared to 60-40, for the average homeowner........ requires a hotter torch.

Rosin core is to be avoided for adding directly to your melt. PITA

I usually don't add any tin to my alloys, except for the lead/tin ones...........like 20-1, for example. When I make it for hunting solids or HP's, I use 20 pounds of pure lead to one pound roll of 95-5 solder. Close enough for my purposes.
 
JonB

JonB

Halcyon member
It was about 8 to 10 years ago, when I scored a 3/4 full 5 gallon bucket of roll/wire solder of various flavors (from my scrapper guy for the price of scrap Lead). He has a lot of company type contacts and wasn't able to sell it to any of them. It seems that at that time, there is almost no market for solder that has Lead in it.
Bonus for me, there was 2 or 3 lbs of 95-5 in there that I saved for personal use. I also saved a few lbs of 63-37 rosin...just in case, but I ingotized most of it (and sold some rolls to other casters). I used the LEE ingot mold, pouring the smaller ingot cavities only, and then only filling them half way...so they are roughly pencil size.
 
JonB

JonB

Halcyon member
glassparman said:
I thought I read somewhere that Solder goes bad after so long. Well, at least the core or whatever is used for flux goes bad. Anyone else heard that?

I already have a lifetime supply of Rosin core for electronics and plumbing type solder. Not quite sure what I would do with all of this.
Click to expand...
I've experienced acid core flux weeping/melting/seeping out of the ends and then rusting the factory steel spool it was rolled on, as well as the bottom of a steel toolbox. That spool was probably 20 to 30 yrs old...Not sure when the seeping started? Probably one hot summer day?
Rosin...I bet that would last at least 100 yrs if inside wire solder.
I'm not aware of other materials used as flux inside wire solder, but there could be?
 
L Ross

L Ross

Well-Known Member
With tin being the price it is I can do a little cyphering. I am not nearly the among metallurgical marvels that populate this site, but I like tin, a lot. So I'd do the math and melt all that solder up and make useful little ingots to add to the other junk I melt into bullets, jigs, and sinkers.
 
J

Jeff H

NW Ohio
Bret4207 said:
With the price of solder these days you'd likely be ahead selling it off and buying new lead alloy.
Click to expand...

I was thinking the same thing.

I'd set it all back and use out of it what I need for the pot and use out of it what I need to fasten things together. Its current form offers more versatility.

Won't hurt a thing sitting there and, as was mentioned, it's likely a significant amount will make it to your estate sale, but you wouldn't want for solder in the interim, let alone the hereafter.

I think I'd seal it up in something a bit more sophisticated than a cardboard box (coffee cans?) to try to mitigate oxidation to an extent, and there's always the added bonus of snuffling through debris under the bench and rediscovering an unmarked treasure again, five years from now.
 
Bret4207

Bret4207

At the casting bench in the sky. RIP Bret.
JonB said:
I've experienced acid core flux weeping/melting/seeping out of the ends and then rusting the factory steel spool it was rolled on, as well as the bottom of a steel toolbox. That spool was probably 20 to 30 yrs old...Not sure when the seeping started? Probably one hot summer day?
Rosin...I bet that would last at least 100 yrs if inside wire solder.
I'm not aware of other materials used as flux inside wire solder, but there could be?
Click to expand...
I was either told, or I read, that you should always pinch the end of rosin core solder with pliers when done with it to seal the rosin in. Ive seen it leak, but it's pretty rare in this climate.
 
D

Dusty Bannister

Well-Known Member
I saw pewter for sale on another forum and was shocked by the asking price. Then I checked tin price on RotoMetals. I need to start reducing my stash at these prices. You might want to look at these prices before you sell any of your bounty.
 
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