Thread: Turning with Pewter

Hi Chris, welcome to a top forum. I've not done any pewter turning, but have had it demonstrated at our woodturning Club, and as living in a regional town, every man and his dog are on the lookout for pewter. We have several OP shops here and that stuff disappears as soon as it's in the shops.
That's a very nice looking bowl, you should be very happy with that one. Have you done any items with pewter on the sides yet?
Kryn

G'day Chris, as KB has already said: welcome aboard!

Nice pieces! I can't say I've even considered pewter as an infill before... I've tried epoxies, brass powders and a few other concoctions but not pewter. Can you guess what I'm trying next?

How does the pewter itself turn, as compared to the timber?

Hmmm... I suspect that if you were to write a quick walk-through on your methods of casting & turning you'd quickly find a few like-minded people on this forum, even if the interest only just started today.

Originally Posted by KBs PensNmore

Hi Chris, welcome to a top forum. I've not done any pewter turning, but have had it demonstrated at our woodturning Club, and as living in a regional town, every man and his dog are on the lookout for pewter. We have several OP shops here and that stuff disappears as soon as it's in the shops.
That's a very nice looking bowl, you should be very happy with that one. Have you done any items with pewter on the sides yet?
Kryn

Mate, I gave up very early on trying to find it in any shops. My son had some at his factory (he is a laser engraver and does labels for a big wine company - hence pewter!) and it didn't turn out too well, probably some adhesive or something mixed inn with the labels? So I purchase it direct from Northern Smelters in Qld. It's not cheap but it's guaranteed lead-free and it does the job.
I haven't tried anything on the side (yet) but time will tell. It would be nice to see some examples if you have any links or references.
Chris
ps: I don't know how to add a quote!

Originally Posted by Skew ChiDAMN!!

G'day Chris, as KB has already said: welcome aboard!

Nice pieces! I can't say I've even considered pewter as an infill before... I've tried epoxies, brass powders and a few other concoctions but not pewter. Can you guess what I'm trying next?

How does the pewter itself turn, as compared to the timber?

Hmmm... I suspect that if you were to write a quick walk-through on your methods of casting & turning you'd quickly find a few like-minded people on this forum, even if the interest only just started today.

Mate, thanks for the compliment. Pewter itself turns quite easily as long as you take it slow and use a scraper with a negative angle!
Pewter itself is quite a soft metal but if you try to take liberties it will bite! The way I go about turning it down is - after casting and its had time to cool - I usually wick some CA in under the pewter, even though I make sure that I have made the socket well keyed so there is a mechanical lock to keep it in place. Then I start turning with a straight scraper angled down a few degrees from the rest until I have a flat/smooth surface, all the little divots and voids scraped out of it. At that point I turn to my trusty bowl gouge and, very lightly, mind you, proceed to shape the metal. It is very slow and painstaking work because one over-ambitious cut means a catch and you are just as likely to pull the whole casting out of the timber and/or wear it around your knuckles - and it hurts!
I'll try to explain a bit more about "keying" in the timber to accept the pewter later on if anyone's interested.
Chris

I'll try to explain a bit more about "keying" in the timber to accept the pewter later on if anyone's interested.

Chris, yes interested.

Thanks for adding to the variety of Turnable materials.

I haven't tried anything on the side (yet) but time will tell. It would be nice to see some examples if you have any links or references.

At the April meeting of our wood turning club Charles Mercer, a club member, demonstrated how to turn pewter in his wood turning.

A full description is in our May 2017 newsletter beginning page 4. Just click on the May 2017 newsletter, about halfway down the page, to see the article.

Peter.

Thanks Sturdee, willco.

Nice article, just read it. Personally I am not keen on casting into a mould and then glueing the pewter to the workpiece. I prefer to turn a groove into the edge of the bowl (for example) including some undercut to 'key' the pewter in place once it has been poured and set. Sometimes I will wick some CA in around the casting (I like belt AND braces!) for some added security.

Chris