Fluxing with Sawdust and Wood Stick

[caseyboy]

I must be doing something wrong, I end up with bits of black charcoal in my ingots and boolits (from bottom pour). What is the procedure that works? Am I not stirring enough?:?:

[1bluehorse]

Ditch the wooden stick, stir with a spoon, ladle, or something of that nature. See if that clears things up..

[cf_coder]

If you are going to stir with a wooden stick, make it a point not to scrape the sides of the pot. You will deposit charcoal along the edges that will ultimately get pulled down to the spout and into your boolits. I will use a wooden stick and follow up with a good scraping down the sides with my standard stirring stainless spoon.

[Dan Cash]

Wax, shortening or vegetable oil does not present this problem.

[cf_coder]

But those won't leave a layer sitting on top of your melt to help prevent further oxidation. After I'm done fluxing, I leave it all sitting on top. I'll give it a good mix after I add the sprues and any rejects.

[Lizard333]

I agree. Ditch the stick. I find they are kinda dicey if they are even remotley wet, as the tinslel fairy can visit. I use sawdust, great fluxing agent, and use a metal spoon to stir and mix. Leave the burnt sawdust on top to prevent the oxidation. Oils don't work as well of a flux. If you have a problem with the smoke just light the mix as it starts to smoke, and all of the smoke will burn.

[caseyboy]

I will try it without the stick. Thanks.

[geargnasher]

I bet you touched the bottom of your casting pot with the stick, didn't you? If you do, it will slough off bits of carbon and ash UNDER the melt, where it gets trapped by the weight and surface tension and eventually migrates to the spout where it ends up in your boolits.

When smelting, scrape and stir along the sides and bottom of the container to try to bring the junk up to the surface. Unless you have a bottom-pour smelting pot, nothing should end up in your ladle when you're dipping to pour the ingots.

Gear

[Longwood]

I worked one summer in a metal refinery a little about the how and why of fluxing during metal refining, AKA, alloying.
Anything that causes the melt to roil and boil but not violently erupt, will help speed up the alloying and cleaning process which can take a surprising amount of time to do completely.
Sawdust and other wood products, work great for fluxing lead and lead alloys.
If you use a stick, it will wok but you will leave carbon pieces in the melt.
When I did try a stick, I used a spoon that I ground a flat on the side and end of to scrap the carbon and other pieces of junk from the sides and bottom.
I get a more complete alloying with a stick but I can do the same thing without having to re-clean the pot by stirring after coating my spoon, by rubbing it on paraffin or dipping in old bacon grease, which smells better.
I cast about 55 lbs today and everything went much smoother than it used to before I learned about fluxing with wood..

[jlala504]

I flux with sawdust and stir/skim with steel tools. As long as you remove those coals before you pour you shouldn't have a problem.