Question on flux material

[Axton1]

Have an idea and would like some feedback/thoughts.....
I have several bales of wood chip bedding - wife's horse supplies.
Comes in 25 pound "bales" - actually a heavy plastic bag.
Think this stuff would work OK for flux?
They are nice and dry but, would they be too big being chips?
Saw it in the barn t'other day and got to thinking......
Next time I get to casting, I'll give a handful a try anywho....
(No, she WON'T get mad![smilie=l:)

[stubshaft]

It'd be a little large for regular fluxing but may work well for smelting large amounts of lead. You might try some of the "shakes" (the smaller pieces that fall out of the bale) for regular casting.

[WHITETAIL]

+1 on trying it for smeltng.:bigsmyl2:

[Sasquatch-1]

I don't know if would work but if you could find an old blender or cheap food processor you might be able to grind some up finer. I think we picked up a food processor at Wally world for about $35.00. It's also the start of yard sale season.

[Lizard333]

I have used it. Not the best but will work in a pinch. Like others have said, use the smaller stuff. Better than candle wax or other fluxes, so you are on the right track!

[trixter]

If you cannot generate sawdust, try a neighbor or a cabinet shop, sawdust works so good. I think most places will give it to you.

[geargnasher]

Just as an experiment, a few weeks ago I made some excellent flux from a sappy, yellow pine 2x8 scrap, electric drill, and a 5/8" paddle bit. Made a year's supply in about ten minutes.

Gear

[DrCaveman]

Gear,

I take it your experimental flux is working well? Do you think that coming from sappy wood is a plus? Also, my experience with paddle bits produces larger chips than, say, a skilsaw or metal drill bit. Did you do any sifting, or just use it as-is?

[runfiverun]

pine resin is a very good flux.
i pick it from the trees when i see it.
let warm up on top to char some, stir it in, and then light it off with some candle wax.

[DrCaveman]

Runfiverun

I like that. Pines in my backyard seeping all the time. Will try it right now.

[geargnasher]

I like the multi-sized stuff the paddle bit produces, it smolders stronger, longer. I've used all kinds of sawdust/chips/planer shavings, chainsaw debitage, etc. in a variety of hardwoods and softwoods, but a few months ago I decided to try some of the drill shavings because I was generating piles of it running the wiring in my house. I tried a handfull and it works great, so I made some more to see if it was worth recommending, since most people have some sort of drill and short yellow pine scraps are free from any construction site or home store.

There are advantages to using hardwoods, more of the stuff that actually helps "flux" the melt, but the yellow pine smells better and the sap "wets" the surface of the melt. Like Run said, throw in a small bit of wax and light the whole mess, it will work even better that way.

Gear

[DrCaveman]

Alright, I ran a few dabs... Maybe 5 peas worth...of pine sap. It seemed to melt & stir pretty well, then threw in some candle wax, flamed up for about 5 seconds. Stirred everything once again, and got a nice grey/black crud on top of alloy,and skimmed it off.

Excellent mirror shine to the alloy. But my only real subjective way to judge the flux is by how it pours.

It poured great! With two brand-new molds, no less.

I have had this experience with other fluxes/temps/alloys/molds, so I won't log it as the absolute deciding factor on good boolit pouring. But it sure as heck didn't hurt, and I will be including pine sap, along with saw dust & candle wax in all my upcoming fluxing.

[DrCaveman]

I should add to my previous comment that the '5 pea' dap was for about 15 lb of melted ingots, already fairly pure. I dropped in a nice chunk about 3 times that size into a pot of recovered lead I was ingot-ing and I seemed to help separation quite a bit.

[DrCaveman]

And, as gear mentioned, the smoldering pine sap had a quite pleasant smell. As pleasant a smell as I frankly find lead to emit, this one was nicer and surely less toxic to enjoy.

[huntrick64]

My best flux has been the chips that comes out of my jointer from Osage Orange (hedge apple). I joint pieces of osage orange to flatten the wood so I can glue on bamboo when I make bows. This is the best stuff (working and smelling) that I have found. I use about 1/4 cup when I smelt 40-50 lbs and about a tablespoon full in my Lee 10 lb pot. It is coarse enough that it chars instead of burning up and stays on top during the whole casting process to protect the melt from the air.

[Axton1]

If you cannot generate sawdust, try a neighbor or a cabinet shop, sawdust works so good. I think most places will give it to you.

Yep,
Can generate sawdust pretty easy - just thought that there was several 100lbs laying the barn by the gobs full - just stick a hand in and grab...............
So, sounds like SAWDUST SHE IS!

[noylj]

Buring organics are still burning organics. We evolved over camp fires, but we still don't sit in the smoke and enjoy it.
I'm still in a wax and bullet lube flux world...I've been using a bottom pour for over 30 years and haven't changed much if anything. I only remove the dross on the top when I really need to and keep the lead covered with vermiculite. Flux often and have fun.

[Elkins45]

Misread-never mind.

[geargnasher]

Buring organics are still burning organics. We evolved over camp fires, but we still don't sit in the smoke and enjoy it.
I'm still in a wax and bullet lube flux world...I've been using a bottom pour for over 30 years and haven't changed much if anything. I only remove the dross on the top when I really need to and keep the lead covered with vermiculite. Flux often and have fun.

FYI and those others reading this, if you aren't introducing carbohydrates to the alloy and stirring, you aren't "fluxing", you're only establishing a redox reaction that frees the oxygen from the alloy and chemically "reduces" the metal oxides while creating oxides of carbon in the process. Fluxing is the process of removing impurities. Wood both fluxes and reduces.

Gear