sweeping compound

[dragonfire]

Was doing some clean up at work , was cleaning the floor with a sweeping compound thats made up of wood fibers and a wax like coating ,well got me to thinking that this could be used to flux ,anyone else seen this stuff before?,if this could be used work can get this stuff in a 50 pound box cheap .

[Johnch]

We use it at the range to clean up the lead , dust and other junk that ends up on the concrete floor

I smelt down the range lead
A lot of the floor sweeping compound ends up in the pot sometimes
Seems to work as well as anything else

But IMO it smokes more than my normal Sawdust

But I do my smelting outside


John

[Scrounger]

I would check to see if that sweeping compound has any Mercury in it, most of them do.

[dragonfire]

When i get back to work i'll look on the label and see what its made of, if its safe then hey i'm good to go :-D

[truckjohn]

I would think mercury in sweeping compound would be more hazardous than lead.

The stuff we use at work -- "Cheater" recipe is 5-gal bucket 'o sawdust, sprinkle and stir in 1-cup kerosene. Stir well. You want it about like slightly damp sand -- not wet. Just a little clumpy. Quite flammable, so treat it as such... store in a metal flame proof can, cover tightly, etc.

It does make a fine flux -- but it might be hard to use up the amount you would generate cleaning up after one casting session...... I don't think I have ever used 5 lbs of flux all at once...... Some of you high volume folks might be different, though.

Good luck

John

[308Jeff]

I know this is an OLD thread, but I wanted to search to see if it had been discussed before.

I'm looking at the ingredients and MSDS for Superior Sweeps "Fluffy Wax" sweeping compound. It's basically soft wood sawdust and paraffin. Ultimate flux? I'm gonna find out. :-)

[Walter Laich]

signing up to follow this

[popper]

Dad always used sawdust from the table saw with a tad of motor oil or H2O or anything to keep the dust down, for sweeping the floor. Don't see any reason to add anything for fluxing the smelt.

[waksupi]

I know this is an OLD thread, but I wanted to search to see if it had been discussed before.

I'm looking at the ingredients and MSDS for Superior Sweeps "Fluffy Wax" sweeping compound. It's basically soft wood sawdust and paraffin. Ultimate flux? I'm gonna find out. :-)

https://www.newpig.com/wcsstore/NewPigUSCatalogAssetStore/Attachment/documents/msds/MSD-V101.pdf

[308Jeff]

Yup. Looks perfectly safe to use. Just need to get my hands on some and give it a try.

[308Jeff]

I picked up a 50lb box at Big D flooring supply for $22.43

I've gotten into the habit of introducing my flux both while filling the pot with lead before I start melting, and then once more once I've skimmed off the dross.

I'm an admitted novice at this still, and as such I don't see any perceivable different in how the flooring compound performs vs sawdust and wax as separate items.

However, it's very easy to use.

This is how I'd rate it:

Performance: 10-Works just as well as sawdust and/or wax

Convenience: 10-Don't have to try to scrounge sawdust and I don't have to cut up any wax

Cost: 7-Most of us don't pay anything for sawdust, but there's some cost involved with wax. I'm using about 1.5 ounces per pot which equates to about 4.2 cents. The 50lb box should last for 500+ pots.

Other notes: It has a fairly pleasant smell and does a good job of masking the odor of roof tar, wheel weight gunk, and SOW foam.

Conclusion - It's worth the cost for use.