What do you flux with?

[jonk]

Or rather, with what do you flux?

Personally I use beeswax. I always have some on hand for making Feelix lube, and even before I knew of Feelix lube, kept some on hand for making candles among other things.

I drop a piece in, strike a match, and voila. Stir vigorously, and scrape off when it stops burning.

I have tried parrafin, with less success.

I have tried Marvelux, and while it works, I don't like the residue it leaves on the pot walls, or how long it takes to work. Though I generally use it on really dirty lead.

I havne't tried much else.

[Sundogg1911]

i use just about anything that I have laying around. old candle stubs, bullet lube, saw dust, I have some marvelux, but i'm not wild about it.

[Glen]

Sawdust, stirred briskly then left in place.

[georgewxxx]

Flux? for what? I haven't fluxed in 10 years. I did the beeswax, candle wax, boolit lube thing for 30 years until the light came on about how to handle lead alloy. I scrubbed my pots because of that same mess with Marvelux you mentioned. Found out the culprit was stirring the pot. The nasty heavy stuff will settle to the bottom and anything lighter will rise up and form a skin on top if your not in a super big hurry. That skin is a combination of oxidized metal and dirt plus some Antimony that will never melt no mater how hot your pot is. Antimony stays in a crystalline state in your alloy. After about a half hour of plugging in the pot, I use a spoon to push all that skim over to one side of the pot, then I use a long handled screwdriver to squeeze all that junk against the side of the pot. Keep forcing that crud to the side and watch the tin & lead drop back into the melted pot. It's much like the way you do with rag that you want to rid of excess water by twisting it until most is out. Most of you are going to say, yeah right, you'll lose all your tin and antimony that way. Well I don't think your going to lose as much as you think. Weighing boolits is a good way to tell. With a 20lb pot weigh some of your perfects. When your down to the last 5 lbs, do it again. I've done that several times, and the weights are exactly the same. So your not going to lose much "good stuff" form my method. Anyway it saves you from all the smoke or mess inside you pot....Geo

[omgb]

Generally, I try not to flux with mad dogs, drunks, guys much bigger than me and women other than my wife:roll:

OK, now back to more serious matters .... I use bullet lube. Just a booger in the pot, a careful stir and we're good to go. I have a have used 15 lb tin of Marvelux. It's goos stuff but makes a mess of the pot after a while. I have used bees wax, again, good stuff. But since the weepage that comes out of my Lube-O-Matics would normally be wasted, I just recycle it back into flux. it works great and it's cheap. It does smoke but hey, I don't mind as I case in an outdoor shed any way.

[Nightfisher]

I started out using candle wax from suggestions I got here. I then switched to transmission fluid, sawdust, then just stirring with a wooden stick. I just went back to transmission fluid. I keep an old ketchup squirt bottle filled with transmission fluid close by and just give it a squirt and stir. Will try the next time without flux after reading the post that was going on "new ideas on fluxing".

Nightfisher

[ELFEGO BACA]

My current flux is a mix of sawdust and candle wax. It seems to do the 'job' for me!

[dragonrider]

Nothing but sawdust or a stick of oak.

[handyrandyrc]

Urine.








Okay, just kidding, that would blow the pot up and make a HECK of a mess.

[jonk]

Hmm. Urine or any water.... I don't think it would. I have found a blow up only occurs if water gets down into the metal, such as on a cold damp ladle thrust into molten lead.....pouring it in on TOP it just sizzles around.....not that I try it much. I did so once upon a time when young and stupid, but remember nothing bad ever happened (I wanted to cool the lead faster)

[grumpy one]

I've heard it said that mineral oil may produce carcinogens when heated to the point where it smokes. If true that would make it fairly unsuitable for flux - whether in the form of ATF, or as a component of some bullet lubes.

[cbrick]

I'm with Glen, sawdust. I read somewhere that olive oil added to sawdust was supposed to make it work better. I tried it and can't say for sure if it was any better not, it did work and it worked well. I quit using olive oil after the first time it burst into flames. Not like beeswax or candles, this was a ball of fire that reached to the plastic blades on my exhaust vent two feet above my pot. No more olive oil for me.

I used Marvelux for several years until I just couldn't handle the mess it leaves any longer.

I'm also with the Grumpy One, no petroleum based oils smoking away for me.

Here is a great article by Glen E. Fryxell that explains what a flux is supposed to accomplish and how its supposed to do it. http://www.lasc.us/FryxellFluxing.htm

Rick

[imashooter2]

Urine.








Okay, just kidding, that would blow the pot up and make a HECK of a mess.

Wouldn't do old Roscoe a world of good either...

[imashooter2]

Old candle stubs and wooden paint stirrers do the job for me.

[Forester]

for smelting I have been using sawdust and Frankford Arsenal Cleancast for the casting pot.

The FA Cleancast seems to do a really good job but its too expensive for high volume smelting. A pot goes a long, long ways in the casting pot, I think well into the 20,000 200gr boolit range.

Has anyone used old corncob case cleaning media? Is there any reason this wouldnt be a good idea, and alot better than pitching the stuff?

[Ricochet]

I've heard it said that mineral oil may produce carcinogens when heated to the point where it smokes. That's likely true of anything organic if heated to the point that it smokes.

[randyrat]

Highly reccomended read> Glen E. Fryxell very interesting reading. After reading all i ever use is FREE sawdust and all my lead ingots come out clean as a whistle. Also that web site is a great refference tool for hardness and recipes.

[jonk]

Hmmmm..........will have to try some sawdust. I got a bag full on a belt sander and an arm saw that would go a long way.....