Old vigor casting alloy info

-Found a few pounds of a Mystery Metal Shot… has paperwork sealed
in the bag that identifies it as “Pewter” Vigor casting alloy
CA-1317… I cannot seem to find the makeup of this alloy online…
any body have any clues or directions to try? I have an older “VIGOR
COMPANY” catalogue- but there is no listing for this alloy.

-FYI/Specs: Melt @ 450 F, Cast @ 550 F, No Nickel, No Cd, No Be,
Max. 1% Pbin some alloys…

-Poured a couple of ounces and it seems to flow like babbit.

-Any direction or clue is welcome- Thanks in advance to the
Orchid-collective!

Kerri

Kerri, it looks like you already have all you need. Pewter, all
pewter, is mostly tin, with small amount usually of copper and/or
antomony. The main variable that might affect what you do with it
would be whether it has significant amounts of lead, and you already
have the data that says it doesn’t. So, it’s lead free or low lead
pewter, likely about 95%tin, which would be suited to jewelry use as
well as most other things you might make with pewter.

Pour an ingot and roll into sheet if you’d prefer to fabricate with
it (pewter is a lot of fun and easy to work with, just keep from
getting pewter residues on your silver or silver soldering areas)
You’ve got the melt and casting temps already. What else do you
need?

Peter Rowe
Seattle

I would contact grobet as they acquired vigor. Did a quick search of
their site…

http://www.grobetusa.com/metals/casting_metals/pewter.html

The ca listed here is product number 43.01317. Since the last four
numbers match your old product number I’m wondering if they might be
the same?

Hope you find the info…
Joann

The ca listed here is product number 43.01317. Since the last four
numbers match your old product number I'm wondering if they might
be the same? 

We are long-time Grobet dealers and what you describe is pretty much
what our rep told us about 5-6 years ago after Grobet’s acquisition
of Vigor.

In general Grobet part numbers with 3 digits after the decimal are
former Grobet items, those with 4 or more digits are ex-Vigor items.
During the last 5 years Grobet has done a lot of work consolidating
the two lines.

On the sheet that comes with Grobet’s pewter shot, they describe the
alloy as “CA 1317 43.01317” but do not give the exact alloy
composition. It gives the melting temperature as 450F and cast
temperature of “550+F”. This makes me 95% confident we are talking
about the same product.