[TheForge] looking for info

[Roger Degner]

In the UMBA video RD31 Dr Iron AKA Doug Hendrickson used a wad of fiberglass
insulation to swirl the melted tin around the inside of the skillet

Roger R Degner



-----Original Message-----
From: theforge-bounces at mailman.qth.net
[mailto:theforge-bounces at mailman.qth.net] On Behalf Of Mike Spencer
Sent: Sunday, December 21, 2008 12:13 AM
To: theforge at mailman.qth.net
Subject: [TheForge] looking for info



> My friend is looking for information on "tinning" a copper 
> vessel....Any information written or video would be great.

I was about to recommend, as I have in the past, the Canada Metal product
called TinRite.  But a quick check of their web site fails to reveal any
mention of it.

When my supply purchased about 1980 ran out in 2004, I called Canada Metal
with great optimism.  After numerous exchanges of phone calls and email (and
some months), I eventually got a call from a guy whom I took, perhaps
erroneously, to work in some deep cellar of the Skunk Works.  He sent me a
couple of cans.

Ho hum.

But you might ask at one or more of your local industrial supply vendors if
they might have some on hand.  Shelf life is very long if it's unopened or
kept tightly covered.  It's pure tin granules and an ammoniacal flux.  But
it works way more easily and uniformly than using bar tin and ammonium
chloride. I re-tinned one of my own cook pots with bar tin and ammonium
chloride that a friend raided from her now-grown son's old chemistry set.
Did a poor job.  Did it over when I got the new supply of TinRite and got
okay-to-good results. Re-tinned a red brass (? I think, made from an
unrolled piece of 4" pipe that looked like copper but was wayyyy harder to
form) omelet pan with TinRite and got excellent results.

It's also a handy means to solder together flat surfaces such as bearing
caps.  Heat both pieces with a torch or oven, sprinkle on the TinRite, swab
it on  and you get a bright tinned surface.  Then just glom the two pieces
together (in correct alignment, of course) and let cool.

You might try emailing Richard Hall <rhall at canadametal.com> if you want to
pursue it beyond your local suppliers.

Otherwise, clean as well as possible, apply heat, bar tin or other pure tin
product and ammonium chloride, swab with cotton or leather as Mike Graf
says. (I don't know about using zinc chloride.) One slight variation I've
used is to swab with steel wool.  But then you have to make a final,
sometimes infuriatingly tedious effort to get any adhering strands of steel
wool out/off of the tin before it hardens.


FWIW,
- Mike

-- 
Michael Spencer                  Nova Scotia, Canada       .~. 
                                                           /V\ 
mspencer at tallships.ca                                     /( )\
http://home.tallships.ca/mspencer/                        ^^-^^
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