At-home tin melting?

[MDJH]

I'm now in my own apartment for the fall, and I noticed that the oven's dial goes up to 500 degrees fahrenheit. According to twn.ca's conversions, that's 260 degrees celsius.

 

And then I remembered when I read recently about tin, and recalled that it melts below that temperature. So theoretically, I could use my home oven to melt tin and reshape it... such as by placing a tin can (with the paper removed and the remains washed off, if I can) onto some baking sheet and making a sheet of tin. Or adding some spoons and forks or whatever and melting imprints onto it or whatever. Of course, I have a few safety-centric questions about doing this.

 

1. Is there any chance that tin could burn and/or otherwise chemically react at temperatures of 500 degrees fahrenheit?

 

2. If I were to melt tin onto a baking sheet to get a sheet of tin, would I be able to peel the tin off or would it be stuck to the baking sheet?

 

3. How do I make sure it's tin I'm melting? What would happen if what I was melting was either a tin alloy or tin with impurities, would that itself risk more chemical reactions?

 

4. Sort of related to the third, how do I test for impurities?

 

I'll leave it there for now. o.o

[hermanntrude]

i'm fairly sure "tin" cans are actually not made of tin.

 

I'm not sure about what common objects are made of tin, but I suspect some of our members will know. Of course, you could buy some tin... rotometals sells a bunch of elements...

 

as for the safety... check the boiling point of tin and make sure you're nowhere near it and look tin up in a few books, check the MSDS etc, that'd give you a clearer idea of whether it's likely to react at all. Consider not using your oven but using a camping stove or bunsen outdoors to minimise risks. Molten metals have an annoying habit of setting fire to other things by dripping on them.

[CaptainPanic]

I'd like to emphasize and add to two things that hermanntrude already mentioned:

 

1. Safety of any material can be checked in the MSDS (Material Safety Data Sheet). These can simply be found using Google.

Make sure to check more than one: the MSDS for fine tin powder is different than for a single lump of tin (because one can form a dust cloud, and a single lump can't).

 

2. A tin can is not made of tin.

"Tin" cans are made of tinplate which is tin-coated steel. Cans are also made of aluminum or other metals.

[UC]

No common objects are made of tin (or were ever really made of tin). Tin cans used to be tinned steel, but they've been replaced by stainless steel and plastic-lined containers. Others are just made of aluminum.

 

The closest you can get is pewter, which has antimony and copper added for hardness.

 

It's relatively cheap to just buy bulk tin metal. Some places now offer lead-free fishing weights made of tin, but they are very expensive for how much metal you get. For larger quantities, I recommend this place:

 

Knock yourself out: http://www.rotometals.com/Tin-Ingot-s/27.htm

 

It does readily stick to steel and a lot of other metals when molten and it won't come off once cooled. Graphite is pretty standard for nonstick when working with metals though.

 

Tin has a very high boiling point, unlike zinc, where the fumes are a hazard. I'd buy a ceramic crucible and use a bunsen and wire gauze for melting the stuff.

[Pantaz]

I'm now in my own apartment for the fall, and I noticed that the oven's dial goes up to 500 degrees fahrenheit. According to twn.ca's conversions, that's 260 degrees celsius. ...

 

One very important fact about the basic home oven: They do not maintain a constant temperature. The burners/elements (gas/electric) cycle on and off to acheive an average temperature. My oven (natural gas) runs about +/- 30°F around the selected temperature.

[MDJH]

Wow, good thing I asked about this before trying it. So yeah, in terms of fire, if I were to have a campfire-esque outdoor fire and place objects made of tin on it, would that then create a layer of molten tin at the bottom of the fire? And if so, how far away would the layer of tin extend from the fire before freezing? (ie. at what distance would it transition from liquid tin to hot solid tin)

[Pantaz]

What exactly are you trying to accomplish?

[MDJH]

What exactly are you trying to accomplish?

Nothing in particular, other than knowing that I'm able to melt tin with fire and make it a new shape. It'd be like I'm learning a new skill.

[Mr Skeptic]

Maybe if you found some old (very old) tin soldiers.

 

Would tin stick to glass?

[hermanntrude]

Maybe if you found some old (very old) tin soldiers.

 

Would tin stick to glass?

 

don't melt any real tin tin soldiers... they'd probably be more valuable in their soldier form!

[MDJH]

Maybe if you found some old (very old) tin soldiers.

 

Would tin stick to glass?

Tin soldiers? Don't even know what they are, though it sounds very familiar. *Will look it up after this post*

 

But now I think that if and when I decide to get around to it (I'll probably need to check on whether or not outdoor fires are allowed in the city I'll be living in for the next few months) I'll go to a hardware store or something like that.

 

EDIT: As for tin soldiers, I don't have any in the apartment I'm in now, don't think I have any in my hometown, and I'm not that inclined to go look for them. o.o