More uses for tin?

[DA_HOBO2_URLEFT 6]

So, I guess I'm still kind of new to TFC, since I just made my first successful mineshaft. One of the first few ores I found was Cassiterite, and a lot of it. Being the noob I was, I mined all of it, not thinking about how much I actually needed, or was going to use. So, now I have a crap-ton of tin, and nowhere near enough copper to make it all into bronze. 

I was wondering, what are some other feasible uses for tin? Well, I googled it, and found this:
http://www.webelements.com/tin/uses.html

Much of what is said on there is way out of the league of TFC, but one thing did stick out;

"used to coat other metals to prevent corrosion or other chemical action (tin cans are made from tin coated steel)" 

• Could tin be added to tools to make the more durable?

Another link I found - http://www.gsa.gov/portal/content/111762 - says:

"Typical historical uses for pure tin include lighting devices such as perforated lanterns, candle shields, wall sconces, and mirror frames."

 

• Could tin be used in creating alternative light sources?

Is there another use for tin already in game that I'm not aware of? Assuming there's not, I hope I'm not the only person who would like to see some more uses for tin (and many other metals, especially Bismuth, since I have even more of that).

 

Please post any more ideas below. 

[Kittychanley 1,002]

Currently the only use for tin is indeed bronze, which is one of the reasons why the spawning of it was decreased. I believe that it is a mistake that tin spawns in multiple stone types in lower layers, and that the granite only was supposed to be global regardless of height. I'm not sure if this has been fixed in 78 or not. Another thing you need to keep in mind is that the size of ore veins is balanced for SMP, and it is expected that multiple users will be sharing the ore.

 

I'm guessing that the coating of tools described on that site is referring to electroplating, which isn't really feasible for the TFC time-frame. Please correct me if I'm wrong.

 

The primary use for bismuth and zinc is currently for bismuth bronze, which I've been told lately is the most common type of bronze that users make, since they can't find tin, and it uses much less copper than regular bronze.

 

Zinc and bismuth are also both ingredients in regards to making colored steel, with zinc composing about 1% of red steel and 3% of blue steel, and bismuth composing about 2% of blue steel. I'll admit these are minute amounts, since a single small ore of zinc is enough to make 10 red steel ingots, but they do have a use.

 

Zinc will also have more importance with the implementation of brass pipes.

[DA_HOBO2_URLEFT 6]

I'm guessing that the coating of tools described on that site is referring to electroplating, which isn't really feasible for the TFC time-frame. Please correct me if I'm wrong.

Yes, all of the websites I visited did mention electroplating and galvanization, but I think that's separate from the thin coating used to prevent rusting. I'm not sure though.[EDIT: (This is from the second link) "Tinplated coatings generally have good corrosion resistance to:  Oxygen, moisture, sulfur dioxide and hydrogen sulfide"]. Not sure if that clears things up or not.

 

Zinc, on the other hand, is the only ore I've been finding just the right amount of. I'm finding more of it just as I'm needing more of it. But of course, this is on a single player world. 

 

And yes, I have all Bismuth bronze tools. I don't have enough copper yet for other things. 

[starXephir 30]

Tin sucks as most raw elements it's not very useful in practical applications. I think you should revise your suggestion to be more uses for Pewter. Which would be an alloy made mostly out of tin. With a little copper and bismuth. We don't have antimony in the game, so leaving it out of the pewter recipe is fine with me (Real Pewter uses Antimony as well). There are not many TFC-Applicable uses for antimony that I can think of. Using lead in the alloy is reasonable, but this would push Pewter into the mid/late game. There would be little benefit for making Pewter a late game alloy, over an early game alloy. Though that could change if game pacing is modified in b78.

 

Things like plating are outside the scope of TFC. Tool corrosion would be awful. Needing to electroplate (or paint, i guess) certain components is unnecessary micro-crafting. Technically Kitty was wrong. Electoplating is mmost  commonly associated with plating (it's in the name!). Galvanisation (zinc plating) of steel, for example, can be done by submersing the steel into a bath of molten zinc. Plating has been dated back to the Egyptians. Who used methods like Gilding, to achieve a similar effect to plating. Though gilding is inefficient, inconstant, and wasteful compared to electroplating. Metals can also be painted in a carrier. Like ceramic coatings. Which is perhaps the most applicable usage of tin in TFC.

 

In the second link you posted. Many of those uses for Tin Plate are still relevant today. And usable in game. Tin-plate cans, tin-plate roofing (with a pata-pata sound when it rains?!?!), all potential options. Again, not really something that TFC would benefit from in the short-term. It's more of an Extra-Firma vanity type thing. Should we ever have electronics. Even in a basic form. Tin would jump in demand. Other historical uses were greatly because of how useful tin wasn't, but it was 'silver' in colour, and thus it's affordability was desirable for faux-wealth. Tin is also easy to shape and punch. Making things such as decorative lanterns easy to construct. I'm sure you can find pictures of well polished Tin on the 'net and understand why it would be used for something like a 'table centrepiece".

 

Anyway, Pewter. Simply put, Pewter in practice has every advantage over Tin, Bronze does of Copper. Historically it was used a lot. Probably the chief alloy for making various items. From tableware to pure vanity items. So for the sake of the Modifications. Pewter, could be used in place of tin, for many crafting purposes you suggested. I've seen suggestions of people wanting Dinner Plates. Maybe Pewter could be a step-up from Pit-Fired clay. Making steins that never break (Damn my luck with Cermaic Jugs ). Drinking alcohol from a Pewter stein has a more potent effect compared to glass bottles? These items if placable like the current ceramic items. Allows players to make some cool looking mess halls. It would also be a suitable material for making Lanterns, as others have suggested additional lighting. Really, many non-industrial uses of steal we use today could be made of pewter in game. Browse the suggestion forum. I'm sure there are a lot of suggestions that are relevant to this topic.

[DA_HOBO2_URLEFT 6]

I'm not sure why this wasn't an obvious idea when I first posted this, but with the upcoming food overhaul, why not tin cans for food preservation? Are they beyond the time period of TFC?

 

EDIT: By the way, I totally support the Pewter idea above. Wikipedia (as unreliable as it can be) agrees with pretty much everything starXephir wrote. I wanted to suggest adding Antimony, but like starXephir said, there aren't really any other uses for it in TFC. 

[starXephir 30]

Wikipedia (as unreliable as it can be) agrees with pretty much everything starXephir wrote.

Oh noes, everything I've ever learnt is a sham! Note though, most of what I posted comes from material science and metal working experience. I'm glad it isn't complete nonsense muddled in my mind by the power of time.  

Brass and Pewter should really be the future of metal-based crafting in TFC. Brass is one of the oldest alloys, common to the point it was even used to make coins. Brass isn't a great material for doing work, but it is easy to work itself. So it could be one of the critical alloys for making components. One of the reasons it is still relevant (compared to Pewter) is that it is primarily copper. It can be used in more electroplating processes (And conducts electricity well). Brass plating itself is also useful, forming a substratum which typically then gets plated over. Poor, poor brass. It never gets to show the world it's beauty.

 Things like Tin(/Pewter) Cans could be very difficult to implement, depending on how food calculates decay. Though if it could be a simple inventory that slows decay, ezpz (maybe). If you had to convert your meats into SPAM opposed to soaking them in a barrel (salt water or creosote for example) would require a new method to be programmed in. Canned Tomatoes! Canned Beef! Cube pasta! Candle light dinners. Minecraft Style.

[Strait Raider 10]

It would be kind of neat if you could dip tool heads in molten tin to confer a durability bonus to them. Something like level one unbreaking from vanilla minecraft. Probably a fair bit of work for a minor thing though, and only really makes sense for iron and higher tools, as bronze and copper are naturally resistant to corrosion. (they form a protective patina)

 

The tin can wasn't invented until the 1800s, which I think puts it a fair way outside of what TFC aims for.

[DA_HOBO2_URLEFT 6]

Oh noes, everything I've ever learnt is a sham! Not though, most of what I posted comes from material science and metal working experience. I'm glad it isn't complete nonsense muddled in my mind by the power of time. 

Oh no, I just meant that Wikipedia was there as kind of a... witness to what you were saying. You seem to know a lot about alloys and smithing (certainly much more than my... limited knowledge ). 

Canned Tomatoes! Canned Beef! Cube pasta! Candle light dinners. Minecraft Style.

xD I like this guy. 

It would be kind of neat if you could dip tool heads in molten tin to confer a durability bonus to them. Something like level one unbreaking from vanilla minecraft. Probably a fair bit of work for a minor thing though, and only really makes sense for iron and higher tools, as bronze and copper are naturally resistant to corrosion. (they form a protective patina)

 

The tin can wasn't invented until the 1800s, which I think puts it a fair way outside of what TFC aims for.

Yeah, dipping the tools into the metals would be a good way to do it, although I had no idea that copper and bronze were already resistant. And as far as the tin cans, yeah, that's what I figured. But!:"Mercury has been smelted from cinnabar for thousands of years. Mercury dissolves many metals, such as gold, silver, and tin, to form amalgams (an alloy in a soft paste, or liquid form at ambient temperature). Amalgams have been used since 200 BC in China for plating objects with precious metals, called gilding, such as armor and mirrors. The ancient Romans often used mercury-tin amalgams for gilding their armor. The amalgam was applied as a paste and then heated until the mercury vaporized, leaving the gold, silver, or tin behind. Mercury was often used in mining, to extract precious metals like gold and silver from their ores."- Wikipedia (That's my go-to encyclopedia )I'm not exactly sure what it is, but something in that paragraph could be applied here. Amalgams? Gilded armor? Extracting gold, silver and tin from other metals? Mercury in Cinnabar?

[starXephir 30]

The problem with corrosion resistance is that tools get used up rather quickly in Minecraft. In real life a steel tool or machine part can last 30 years! There are plenty of German machines and tools left over from the world wars. Still usable today, their demand for quality was insane (Today most people call this "bad buisness"). Many other options to stop corrosion than tin coatings exist. Oil, paint, and alloys (add Chromium to steel for 'stainless').  Though I do agree that TFC needs a replacement for enchanting. I had some ideas for tool working, but I never posted them. I figured they may have been discussed to death by now. Tin cans are usually made of tin coated steel too, all the strength of steel, all the qualities of tin. While you'd be right about being created in the 1800s. That's only Tin Cans as we know them. With the magnificent machine rolled lips that seal the cans perfectly. Similar to those on steel drums. They exist outside of the game period, but the steam engines that could be implemented parallel those of the 1800s. People may have not had an understanding of tins usefulness to preserve food in the 1500s and before (and storing food in an 'air tight' envionment, but I'm only speculating). It wouldn't be a stretch to make some kind of sealable capsule in-game. Conveniently, one of the best materials for general work in TFC is tin!

 

All you would need is a few peices of Tin Plate and a way of cut shapes out. Tin is pretty easy to punch, and there is a tool called tin-snips after all. Creating a canister is incredibly easy. Hammer the sheet into a U and stick a cork in it . Which I guess is something glass bottles and jars is normaly used for in modern times. We make bottles in game in the crafting table. No blowing crequired, the same non-method could be applied to tin cans. What I'm trying to say is that it is to early to write off canisters. They just don't have any particular use in TFC .

 

Edit: @Hobo. I was only joking about the Sham thing. Wikipedia is usualy accurate, if overly simplified. For scientific matters atleast...

Edit2! Murcury would be interesting in TFC. Cinnabar gives redstone... And many processess it is used it are skipped. Not to mention it's so poisonious a lot of people might agrue it's not believable to use it without getting sick...

 

Amalagams are pretty simple, mercury alloys. The Mercury acts as the Carrier. Inside of it are little peices of the metal (or any other substance) you are looking to transfer. Depending on the solution it's viscosity ranges greatly. Hobby paint's like acrylic have pigments carried in white spirits. Oil-based paints, are well, carried oils. So think of it like a Mercury based Paint.

The example of using Amalagams to coat mirrors is still relevant today. I had to look up the name of the techinique but I couldn't find it. Basically, from what I remember, there is a chemical (not murcury) solution with silver and other metals. Glass is glided over the solition to build up a metalic layer. Once the surface has a complete metal film you are left with a perfect mirror. Remembering that glass is an electronic insulator. So coating the mirror in a conductor with such a method would allow you to use electroplating.

Edit3: Fixed spelling errors I noticed.

[DA_HOBO2_URLEFT 6]

Edit: @Hobo. I was only joking about the Sham thing. Wikipedia is usualy accurate, if overly simplified. For scientific matters atleast...

Alright. I just didn't want you to think I was insulting your intelligence or anything. lol

[tyriael-soban 12]

I generated a map last week, using 0.77.22 and the "Strongcraft" mod and have been all over it to a maximum distance of 2 km in any direction, through several biomes that are, according to the wiki are supposed to contain bismuth.I can only seem to find tetrahedrite and sphalerite, the mineral veins i have found consist of copper only(deep sea exploitation) - i must say that i have NEVER had this much trouble locating either bismuth OR cassiterite, i usually have an abundance of at least one of the mentioned ores, infact on my last world which was v0.77.21 i found everything within mostly the same biomes i have in this map, the only one missing is granite.

[callisto8413 19]

A tin flask would last longer than a fired clay jar.