What other Flux's can i use, do you use

[melter68]

I think this is the right forum for this question, sorry if its not guys.

I was wondering what flux you guys use.

Here in england, i use beeswax to flux etc, but what other flux works as i was wondering to try another flux and find out the results.

Ok so i am in england and flux's for casting can be found, but not as common as in the states or larger country's were shooting is a home defence or carry too.

If you could please help, i am just intrested in trying another flux to see if i can better cast.

I can get these products from ebay etc but need to know there names.
cheers chris

[Bret4207]

You don't need anything fancy, What you need is carbon, so stir and scrape with a dry wood stick. Paint sticks, used for mixing paint, work fine as do trimmings from shop work. Anything dry and fairly sturdy. THe more you scrape with them, the more charcoal gets into the mix. Sawdust also works fine but is a lot smokier. Use it and a stick together and it works great. No flames, not as much smoke and smell.

[melter68]

Yes the smoke and smell from beeswax is at times unbearable, even if you burn it off.

[dnotarianni]

I use old birthday candles or tea light candles to smelt with. Sawdust works also. No need to buy anything.
Dave

[Boondocker]

I break up old crayons wrapper and all. We take the grand kids out to eat and I skoff up the crayons when they are done . Old candles work and I also use pet bedding wood chips for a nice piney smell. I have a can of Marvelux moisture absorber that got me a shower of lead years ago, won't use that anymore.

[dragonrider]

You don't need anything fancy, What you need is carbon, so stir and scrape with a dry wood stick. Paint sticks, used for mixing paint, work fine as do trimmings from shop work. Anything dry and fairly sturdy. THe more you scrape with them, the more charcoal gets into the mix. Sawdust also works fine but is a lot smokier. Use it and a stick together and it works great. No flames, not as much smoke and smell.


AND your pot will stay clean, if it is already dirty, and if you are using wax or any petrochemical it is, sawdust and a stick will clean your pot without having to dump it and scrape it out. A clean pot means clean lead.

[mdi]

Sawdust here. I dump a half handful in my pot and stir with a stick (I found some "shims" at the local hardware store which are about 1"x12" about 3/8" on one end and tapered to a point at the other end. A bundle of 24 for about $5.00). Scrape sides and bottom and get sawddust mixed in well. Works great...

[Char-Gar]

I have used beeswax, candle wax, parafin, olive oil and motor oil and they all work but smoke a bunch. The stick or sawdust works just as well and produces less smoke and smells better to boot. Pat Marlin sells some high pitch residue pine flakes that I use. Good Stuff!

[Moonman]

I use Pat Marlin's Flake Flux.

[melter68]

Well guys, i will try sawdust and crayons and see if that works.
any more comments welcome

[Bill*]

I think you'll be very happy with the sawdust results.

[gwpercle]

melter68

I use wood shavings , a wood plane and whatever board I have on hand will create some shavings quickly . I do this because I don't have a ready supply of sawdust. another suggestion was to use the shavings from a pencil sharpener... cedar wood and a bit of graphite. The shavings turn to bits of charcoal , while stirring them into the mix. last time I melted a bit of beeswax into the bowl of my skimming spoon and poured it onto the wood shavings...the wood absorbed the wax and when stirred smoked less, didn't flame up and seemed easier to stir into the melt.... this worked well. You could use crayons or whatever wax is availible in place of the beeswax.

gary

[Hardcast416taylor]

I bought a 2 cup food processor at a yard sale for $3. I have 2 large 5 gal. pails of dry chainsaw chips. I put a large handfull of chips, minus any bark or large pieces of wood, into the processor and surge it 4 or 5 times. Reduces the saw curls into near pencil sharpener grindings ready for the melt pot.Robert

[MT Gianni]

Find a beekeeper and get the stuff that he tosses out. It is full of bee parts and unmarketable wax. If it isn't free he should pay you to take it. It will flux more metals in than anything else. It is an old Dan Conglosi/Bullshop trick.

[woody1]

High rosin sawdust and a stick here. Both dry. Regards, Woody

[Linstrum]

Bret4207 is correct about the carbon, and wood is a good source of a carbon-containing compound. That said, all other answers are good suggestions. Personally I like granulated white table sugar, just light the smoke to clean it up. Of course saw dust is a whole bunch cheaper and does the same basic thing. I have also used rosin, vegetable oil, polythene plastic sandwich bags (polythene = polyethylene in U.S.), powdered charcoal, and corn starch. In other words, what works the best isn't exactly rocket science.

rl 1104

[olafhardt]

I use grain that I buy to feed poultry or sugar and sticks. I also leave the tape on the back of stick-on wheel weights. It fluxes. Shreaded paper would also work.

[adrians]

melter68

i use sawdust and a stick,
seems to be a popular choice.
BTW i'm from Halifax, lived here in the states for some years now.:evil:[smilie=w::evil:

[slide]

Another sawdust user.

[melter68]

Saw dust, wood shavings and even sugar, crayonns, well cheers guys i will try these and candles too.

[cf_coder]

Mesquite leaves from the winter drop. I have bags and bags of them. Don't smell too bad and does a find job of clearing out the junk. Stir with a dry mesquite branch as well.

[Old Caster]

I have used sawdust, left over bullet lube, and other waxes and prefer a wax toilet ring. I don't know how much variation in composition there might be between rings or if they are even used in England but I like them because they are fairly soft and it is easy to pull some off with an old hacksaw blade and use it to stir and scrape the pot. I have a magnet on top of the pot and my blade and a bent tablespoon stick to it so they won't constantly fall off. Whatever works for you is best. -- Bill --

[melter68]

Well guys, this is all very intresting, i wonder why i have been buying beewax for years, the best are free.

cheers chris

[Chihuahua Floyd]

Sawdust, but I stir with a carpenters pencil. one of the big, thick ones from the hardware store.
CF

[melter68]

Sawdust, but I stir with a carpenters pencil. one of the big, thick ones from the hardware store.
CF

Great idea, i can do that, easy-thanks

[zxcvbob]

Sawdust is good, and so is lard or cooking grease. Those are pretty much all I use. And stir with a wooden stick.

Sometimes when I have several pounds of it, I will mix slag and skimmings and ash with a little dirty motor oil and cook the heck out of it in a covered pot to recover the lead (the lead oxide and tin oxide will revert back to metal.) Old motor oil is too flammable to use as a general-purpose flux.

[trk]

I fill a salt shaker with borax (poor man's Marvalux) and use a wooden stick (usually a paint stirrer).

[onesonek]

Another vote sfor sawdust/shavings,,,see no need for anything else.

[MikeS]

Sawdust is good, and so is lard or cooking grease. Those are pretty much all I use. And stir with a wooden stick.

Sometimes when I have several pounds of it, I will mix slag and skimmings and ash with a little dirty motor oil and cook the heck out of it in a covered pot to recover the lead (the lead oxide and tin oxide will revert back to metal.) Old motor oil is too flammable to use as a general-purpose flux.

When you use 'dirty' motor oil, rather than fresh oil, don't you run the risk of the oil leaving unwanted dirt mixed into the alloy? I mean there are iron filings (or aluminum, depending on what the motor is came from is made from), ground up bits of bearings, etc.

I realize that using new oil adds to the cost, but you can get some really cheap generic non-detergent oil for a couple of bucks a quart, and you don't really use much, so the quart should last you a LONG time. I'm not saying that I think oil is a good flux, I don't, but if you're going to use it, might as well use fresh clean oil, rather than old dirty oil.

[rintinglen]

I've used motor oil before, and while it is too smoky and flammable, I don't ever recall bits of bearing, galled off chunks of Aluminum, nor anything else being in it. Purolator and the rest have gone to great lengths to perfect oil filters. Use one on your car and not only will you protect your engine, you'll keep your ingots clean as well! (But sawdust, candlewax, powdered graphite all work just as good and smell better).

[357maximum]

I prefer my (FREE) pine woodplaner shavings lightly soaked in liquid paraffin lamp oil. I found a bunch of the lamp oil (for free) and had to use it for something.:veryconfu

[melter68]

Hi Guys,

All good comments and i can try these.
cheers chris

[geargnasher]

I've used motor oil before, and while it is too smoky and flammable, I don't ever recall bits of bearing, galled off chunks of Aluminum, nor anything else being in it. Purolator and the rest have gone to great lengths to perfect oil filters. Use one on your car and not only will you protect your engine, you'll keep your ingots clean as well! (But sawdust, candlewax, powdered graphite all work just as good and smell better).

Have a sample from your next oil change analyzed and you'll discover what your filter is capable of doing, and what it isn't.

Gear

[MikeS]

I've used motor oil before, and while it is too smoky and flammable, I don't ever recall bits of bearing, galled off chunks of Aluminum, nor anything else being in it. Purolator and the rest have gone to great lengths to perfect oil filters. Use one on your car and not only will you protect your engine, you'll keep your ingots clean as well! (But sawdust, candlewax, powdered graphite all work just as good and smell better).

If you take some used motor oil, and put it in a jar for a couple of months or so, then pour it off, there will be a layer of thick crud on the bottom of the jar, that's all the 'bits' of bearings/block material/etc. Just because you can't see them doesn't mean they're not in there.

Gear: You beat me to it! I replied to the same message before I saw that you had already said basically the same thing!

Funny story regarding used oil, years ago I had a Model T Ford, and one day a friend of mine that was a Model T mechanic (if pushed, he would once in a while work on a more modern car, the Model A, but it was under protest) came over just as I was finishing up an oil change on my T, and he asked if he could have the used oil, I said sure, so he poped the hood on his old Ford Falcon, and poured the entire gallon into it's engine! Model T's don't have an oil filter, and the transmission shares the oil, and has cotton bands in it, so there were chunks of burned cotton in the oil, along with other stuff!

[Pb Burner]

I've got a question.
A few years back I bought a bag of cushed corn cob pet bedding/litter. Intended on using it for tumbling media but I found out it wasn't crushed small enough so it got set aside. It's very clean and dry.
Would this work as well as sawdust for fluxing?

[zxcvbob]

I've got a question.
A few years back I bought a bag of cushed corn cob pet bedding/litter. Intended on using it for tumbling media but I found out it wasn't crushed small enough so it got set aside. It's very clean and dry.
Would this work as well as sawdust for fluxing?

It's not quite as good as sawdust, but it works pretty well. That's what I generally flux with in my Lee 4-20 production pot, and leave it floating on top for insulation and to keep the air away.

[dbarnhart]

Here in the States we have a DIY chain called 'The Home Depot', their orange 5-gallon buckets are famous and are called 'Homer Buckets'. When I need flux I go to Home Depot, grab a Homer Bucket and lid off the shelf. I then go back to the lumber department where they cut lumber for customers, and hold up the bucket and say, "I'll buy this bucket if you'll fill it with sawdust." It works every time.

[Bosshaug]

Actually, you don't have to look any further than your tumbler. I use the crushed walnut for flux, stirred with a wood paint stick. Easy peasy...

[melter68]

Well Guys i tryed wood shavings today and i got perfect results after stirring with a stick, perfect boolits in 44 cal.

Well i know home depot, i use it now and again.
Thanks Guys for the tips, now i nick the clean new shavings for the rabbit.:castmine:

[Linstrum]

Hey, melter68, I'm glad you got good results! Sounds like you got everything under control. I guess the name of the game is you find what gives you the results you want while at the same time being easy and economical, and go with that.

Yep, the left-over shavings would be good for the rabbit. Good Luck!

rl 1112

[melter68]

Hey, melter68, I'm glad you got good results! Sounds like you got everything under control. I guess the name of the game is you find what gives you the results you want while at the same time being easy and economical, and go with that.

Yep, the left-over shavings would be good for the rabbit. Good Luck

rl 1112

Hi,

Here in england the temperature is a issue to, to cold, so i wait until the temp goes over 12 oC, but with the wood shavings well i could cast down to 0 oC i recon.

Hi guys thanks for the tips, it makes things alot easier.
cheers chris

[H.Callahan]

Has anyone tried taking a charcoal briquet, the kind that ones uses for barbequing -- Kingsford for example -- and smash it up and use that for a flux? I've always wondered about grass clippings or tree leaves as well. All of those are in HUGE abundance around here...AND with the added benefit of not even having to drive to Home Depot. I SUPPOSE I could shave a 2x4 or something, but that requires work.

:violin:

[zxcvbob]

Got a chainsaw? They make mountains of sawdust in a hurry. Nice big flakes if the chain is sharp. (the bar and chain oil is a bonus)

Seriously, one slice thru a 16" log will make enough chips to half-fill a paper grocery bag.

[H.Callahan]

Nope, no chainsaw. ...and no logs ...and not a single tree on my property.

[Wilsknife]

I've tried most of the suggestions above. I found that the Frankford Arsenal Fluxing Compound works the best. It is about $11 plus shipping from Midway. After casting approximately 75-100 lbs of lead I'm less than 1/3 of the way through the jar. It only recommends 1/4 t per fluxing.
Good Luck. Happy Casting!
:bigsmyl2:
:cbpour:

[paul h]

I use old ski wax, because I've got more of it than I could ever possibly use for fluxing. But I've yet to master not flinching when it bursts into flame.

[Derenius]

Hi guy´s I´m picking this up a bit, hope that´s okay.
I´m about to start casting, and I see a lot of people using both beeswax, and sawdust to flux the same pot of lead? That got me thinking... Maybe I could melt some wax, pour some sawdust in it, and let that stuff cool down for a cheapo compound? Would it give me any gains to use both, or am I messing something up if I blend the two in? I am planning on using a big ole stainless spoon to stir, scrape, and get the crud out with. Then I´m gonna ladle the lead out and into my molds. Like that would matter for fluxing...

[Linstrum]

Because of the excellent results from such a wide range of materials and techniques, I'm sure you will get satisfactory results. I like loose sawdust because it can be sprinkled evenly over the surface of the pot, and sometimes I just empty out my pencil sharpener on the pot because graphite also works to reduce oxidized alloy.

rl 1,172

[Eagle66]

I always used a dollop of solid vegetable shortning, stirred in. Make sure you have a match handy to light it off, the smoke stinks up the house otherwise. The downside is it makes a mess in the pot. I'm definitely going to try the sawdust. I've got mounds of it in my woodshop. I don't use any flux if all I'm melting is for ingots.

[Derenius]

Ok, my thought was really just to get both types of fluxes in at once, and the sawdust would be easier to handle, not making a mess all over if its trapped in the wax. I think I'll try to make some after a while, to see if it makes any difference at all. Do none of you guys flux when making ingots? I thought it would be important to flux then as well, just to make sure that none of the stuff I want in there got thrown out with the clips and other crud?

[10 ga]

The wife shreds anything, mail - paper - etc..., with our address or names on it. The shreds from the shredder bin work just fine. Sawdust is also standard on my smelting/casting table. 10 ga

[dragonrider]

When you are making ingots is the time to flux heavily, several times before pouring your ingots. I seldom flux in my casting pot, only stir it occaisionaly with a wooden stick.

[Derenius]

Then I got that part right...

[geargnasher]

Grease, wax, or oil is NOT A FLUX, such things are sacrificial reductants that revert the oxidized metal back to its elemental state. FLUX actually removes dissolved impurities from the melt, such as aluminum, zinc, iron, calcium, etc. These impurities impair the good flow and casting qualities of our boolit metal, and need to be removed with a TRUE FLUX, which for boolit metal is accomplished with the introduction of carbohydrates to the melt, such as contained in just about any cellulose or fibrous vegetable matter. Sawdust is a true flux, but waxes and oils won't remove true impurities at all, so don't fool yourself.

I've been fighting people on this forum on this topic for three years and I don't know why it's so difficult to understand that throwing a chunk of beeswax in your pot isn't going to do a thing for removing impurities. It won't, though. Use Sawdust, oatmeal, fresh coffee grounds, pencil shavings, pet bedding, whatever, and use plenty and stir a lot.

Gear

[Derenius]

Ok, I see. The wax is gone then. But why do people use it then, and for what purpose? Is there any gain in using wax in the pot, or is it just bad?

[geargnasher]

Yes, wax is an excellent sacrificial reducant, meaning it reverses the chemical reaction that caused the oxide scum layer on top of your melt. Rosin, oil, fat, any hydrocarbon is suitable for this, and works well to accelerate the reduction action of sawdust, but it does nothing for cleaning trace junk out of contaminated scrap such as wheel weights and battery cable ends. The wax is fine, but realize that it does only one thing (reduce oxidized metal to elemental metal) and nothing for removing impurities.

For best casting results, you should keep the oxides reduced to a minimum, and flux as much of the contaminants out as possible. Sawdust does both of these things.

Gear

[ku4hx]

Left over wooden shims. Work great as paint stir-sticks too.

[Derenius]

Yes, wax is an excellent sacrificial reducant, meaning it reverses the chemical reaction that caused the oxide scum layer on top of your melt. Rosin, oil, fat, any hydrocarbon is suitable for this, and works well to accelerate the reduction action of sawdust, but it does nothing for cleaning trace junk out of contaminated scrap such as wheel weights and battery cable ends. The wax is fine, but realize that it does only one thing (reduce oxidized metal to elemental metal) and nothing for removing impurities.

For best casting results, you should keep the oxides reduced to a minimum, and flux as much of the contaminants out as possible. Sawdust does both of these things.

Gear

So, in other words, combining wax and sawdust does nothing more than using only sawdust? Sorry if I´m slow here, but I´m not all that good at all the technical terms, since I´m a Swede. Hard to get the shoptalk in a different language, so to speak.

[1bluehorse]

So, it's the popular consensus ( I agree with this by the way) (here and other places as well) that SAWDUST is the best "flux" a person can use in the casting pot.....so can I use cat hair, reptile shavings, horse hoof trimmings, dried deer poo, baawwwaaaaahaaaaaa, ROTFLMAO..... :???:

[AW738]

I tried dried grass clippings and had no luck at all.

[zxcvbob]

Yes, wax is an excellent sacrificial reducant, meaning it reverses the chemical reaction that caused the oxide scum layer on top of your melt. Rosin, oil, fat, any hydrocarbon is suitable for this, and works well to accelerate the reduction action of sawdust, but it does nothing for cleaning trace junk out of contaminated scrap such as wheel weights and battery cable ends. The wax is fine, but realize that it does only one thing (reduce oxidized metal to elemental metal) and nothing for removing impurities.

For best casting results, you should keep the oxides reduced to a minimum, and flux as much of the contaminants out as possible. Sawdust does both of these things.

Gear

I think you are overstating the importance of removing these "contaminants"

[bangerjim]

Actually, you don't have to look any further than your tumbler. I use the crushed walnut for flux, stirred with a wood paint stick. Easy peasy...

Walnut media works well.......as long as it is NOT used media!!!!! If used, it contains all the garbage oxide from the brass and the chemical contaminants from the spent primers (unless you de-prime B4 tumbling). That is very toxic stuff to burn and possibly inhale. Worse than the lead fumes you hear about!