"David Billington" wrote in message
...
Paul K. Dickman wrote:
"Jon Elson" wrote in message
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Pewter alloys are wacky, in that they get softer and more malleable with
cold working.
Freshly cast they are fairly brittle and hard because the crystals are
big and chunky. As you work them the grain gets more refined and they
work like butter.

Paul K. Dickman


Interesting you should say that as the the guy that supplied with the
pewter sheet mentioned it work softening in his experience but he makes
sheet and other products from cast ingots IIRC. My main experience with
pewter (Britannia metal) is with rolled sheet upto 2mm thick although I do
some casting and having just bent a cast handle with about 10mm thickness
quite significantly without breakage, possibly that is a small section and
the grain size is still small due to rapid cooling.
It's not like cast iron.
It is still malleable as cast, otherwise we would not be able to roll out
sheet.

I'll bet you heard it sing when you bent it.

Paul K. Dickman