> anteek shops. Unfortunately, I can tell you more about pewter
> than you probably want to know. 

This doesn't sound unfortunate from where I sit :-)

> Jim's answer was a very proper
> one - buy stuff that has "Pewter" stamped on the bottom. If it

I like 'easy'.  I'm best at mastering such skills.

> oddities about pewter is that if it has that pewter marking, it
> isn't really (to many people) pewter; it's a variation called
> Britannia Metal made in the 1900s vs. earlier than that. But it
> will do fine for melt down purposes. 

Interesting.

> Experts disagree to some
> extent, but the most common thinking is that "real" pewter is a
> mixture of tin and lead. Britannia metal has no lead; it has
> antimony instead. 

Ah...I'm not as dumb as I generally think I am.  Last night I went 
to the McMaster-Carr site that Richard mentioned and found 
"lead-free pewter".  That seemed counter to the definition of it 
that I knew.  Thanks for clarifying this.

> Instead of melting down old "pewter", you can simply use solder -
> essentially the same thing but maybe mixed to be a bit softer
> than the "pewter" was.

Well, shazaam....might be worth a try.

I feel edified.  Thanks.

-- 
Cheers --- Larry Marshall
Quebec City, QC 
http://www.woodnbits.com