Difference Between Lead & Pewter

Lead

• Hallmark traits of lead are its malleability, heaviness, resistance to corrosion and toxicity. Few metals can be bent with the bare hand, but lead can be. Lead is a relatively inexpensive metal. It has many specific uses because of its unique properties. It is often used in corrosive environments such or containers or barriers for highly corrosive substances.

Pewter

• Pewter is a metal alloy; it is composed of multiple types of metals. Tin is the primary ingredient in pewter, which is much lighter than lead. Tin is also a very soft metal, but not nearly as malleable as lead.

Additives

• Pewter's additives can include antimony, copper, bismuth and lead. Tin makes up about 90 percent of pewter and a combination of additives makes up the other 10 percent. The primary purposes of the additives are to increase the hardness and melting point of tin.

Obsolescence in Pewter

• Because of lead's toxicity, it is very rarely used as a pewter additive anymore. It used to be the primary hardener. Though it's very soft, the tin/lead alloy was harder than pure tin. Lead was replaced by antimony because it was shown that lead-containing pewters could cause neurological damage in people exposed for long periods.

Summary

• There are a few similarities in the two substances. And they're often mentioned together because of leads' historical use in pewter. But, they are very different substances. Lead is a pure element; pewter is an alloy. Lead is heavy; pewter is light. Tin and pewter are expensive; lead is inexpensive. They no longer have much relationship at all.