Question about fluxing / reducing clean lead in casting pot

[MAGA]

I am still a little confused about this part. Last week I had my first smelting session with wheel weights, I fluxed 3x with pine pet bedding and some candle wax on the last time. I now have about 30lbs of clean ingots.

So I will be using a lee 4-20 bottom pour pot for casting I have read some very conflicting info some say do not introduce anything but lead into your bottom pour pot, some say only use wax ( or beeswax), some say use more pine shavings and form a layer to protect the melt from air.

My questions :

1) How much wax would I use? would I keep having to add it whenever I see the tin on top?

2) When I fluxed with pine shavings while smelting after they burned off the char only covered maybe 1/4 of the melt, to form a layer would take a LOT of shavings to completely cover the melt right?

and yes I read the sticky about fluxing but I still have these questions :mrgreen:

thanks!

[country gent]

I fluxed my bottom pours with beeswax or bullet lube. A couple lubed bullets are enough. With beeswax or paraffin a pea sized chunk does it nicely. I didn't use sawdust or wood chips in my bottom pour pots. Depending on the boolits you cast ( a 22 caliber 50 grn the 20lb pot last several sessions, a 550 grn 45 caliber the pot lasts maybe 20-30 mins LOL). will determine the fluxing regime a lot. I always fluxed at the start or when adding more to the pot. This includes when I added the sprues back to the pot. as adding induces a lot more air into the mix than casting does.

[runfiverun]

introduce too much carbon to your alloy and you'll regret it.

I just leave the oxides on top of my casting pots.
what is it gonna do?
yep keep the rest of the alloy from oxidizing.

about every 300 to 5 million pounds of alloy I get all worked up and reduce the oxides back into the pot.
sometimes I just scrape it off and send it back to the clean up pots.

[Grmps]

You'll have to experiment and find what works best with your style of casting, people have thrown the kitchen sink in for fluxing.
more common: a pea sized chunk of bees wax, pine shavings, pine sawdust, stir with a wooden paint stick, commercial flux.
My preference- cover the top with pine sawdust, burn it off then incorporate it with a potato masher. Looks like silver cottage cheese on top then I give it a quick stir with a screwdriver. Now I have a layer on top that protects the lead from oydizing and keeps it from splashing when dropping in the sprues

[mdi]

Once you have clean alloy (not sorta clean, but good and clean) just melt and cast. Don't overthink this. If you see tiny dark spots in your finished bullets, perhaps your alloy still has some dirt/carbons floating around in it. If your pot's valve gets leaky or clogged, you may have dirty alloy (the only time my Lee pot drips is when the alloy isn't truly clean, like when trying to flux in my casting pot). I clean my alloy pretty good when cleaning scrap lead and making ingots and only use a wooden stick to stir my alloy once in a while when casting...

[lablover]

introduce too much carbon to your alloy and you'll regret it.

I just leave the oxides on top of my casting pots.
what is it gonna do?
yep keep the rest of the alloy from oxidizing.

about every 300 to 5 million pounds of alloy I get all worked up and reduce the oxides back into the pot.
sometimes I just scrape it off and send it back to the clean up pots.

So you don't use saw dust or anything on top of your alloy in the bottom pour? I like that idea, I always end up with canon in my boolits and I blame the saw dust!

[Yodogsandman]

I never, ever introduce anything but a wax or old boolit lube into my bottom pour casting pot. I get the alloy melted, toss in a pea sized chunk of wax and then touch it off with a match. While it's flamed up, I stir with a metal spoon while scraping the sides and even the spigot rod. Then gather up all the crud on top, scoop it out with the spoon and dump it in a metal can. That's it. I do this once at the start of a casting session. I don't refill the pot until I'm done. If I added ingots, I'd do this each time. Again, only at the beginning of a casting session. The little tin that forms on top will not effect your boolits any or cause inconsistencies. Use the sawdust, pet bedding or grass clippings only when making clean ingots in your smelting pot.

[Gtek]

A suggestion if I may, you say you are are going to be using use the Lee dripomatic? Sometimes they behave, sometimes they don't! I have a pan that sits under my pot just in case a little stuff gets in the valve that is large enough to handle the full volume, yes I have the T-shirt. There are several mods you can do if you want, added weight, lap valve, etc. If you can expand your arsenal and have a dedicated melting/cleaning/ingot machine to produce clean ingots to go into Lee it can make things more enjoyable.

[lightman]

When I smelt I use sawdust, preferably pine, and then wax or bees wax. I only use wax, bees wax or bullet lube in my casting pot. A small slice off of an old candle or a pea size piece of bees wax is enough.

[MAGA]

thanks for the info guys, I feel a lot better about the process now!
Hopefully I can cast some tomorrow and try out my Lee furnace. I hope its not a dripper lol
I did all my smelting in a 2.5qt cast iron bean pot I ordered off amazon to keep the nasty stuff out of the casting pot.

[PaulG67]

I don't flux in my casting pot, it is not needed. Thorough fluxing when smelting is sufficient.

[lablover]

Love when I learn something new..Thanks for starting the thread Maga!!! Awesome info for sure. Bad part is now I want to go drain my pot and start over and not add any sawdust...Hmmmmmmm

[fredj338]

Once I flux the alloy & pour into ingots, I rarely flux in my casting pot. I only stir with a wooden paint stick. That is enough carbon to keep things moving along & light dross on the top I just keep stirring in.
FWIW, you don't want a drippy Lee, never empty it, never melt dirty scrap in it. Mine never leaks, ever, never has.

[NikA]

I wouldn't describe myself as especially experienced compared to most around here, but I use a bit of pine sawdust in my Lee 4-20 during casting to flux. I don't let my pot get below a third full for PID reasons, and I suspect this helps keep crud out of the valve. I have a very occasional drip that cools to touch instantly. Of course, I have another 4-20 that I bought used for smelting that will leak if I look at it wrong, so I guess I'm 1 for 2.

[lablover]

I wouldn't describe myself as especially experienced compared to most around here, but I use a bit of pine sawdust in my Lee 4-20 during casting to flux. I don't let my pot get below a third full for PID reasons, and I suspect this helps keep crud out of the valve. I have a very occasional drip that cools to touch instantly. Of course, I have another 4-20 that I bought used for smelting that will leak if I look at it wrong, so I guess I'm 1 for 2.

My new 4-20 leaks like crazy...Hmmmm, could be all the sawdust I keep on top...Not anymore!!!!

[Hick]

Lots of good advice above, but I'll add my 2 cents. I use Lyman #2 alloy and NEVER flux. That said-- its worth noting that I only use 1, 2 and 3-gang molds, and nothing heavier than a 200 grain bullet. This means I can keep my Lee pot set at a lower temperature (use set the reostat at about 7-- no higher). At this setting the bottom pour works very nice, but the lead is still cool enough that I get almost no oxidization at the surface of the melt. Sometimes I flux a very little bit with a tiny bit of wax when I'm done, before turning off the pot-- but never while I'm casting.

[lablover]

Lots of good advice above, but I'll add my 2 cents. I use Lyman #2 alloy and NEVER flux. That said-- its worth noting that I only use 1, 2 and 3-gang molds, and nothing heavier than a 200 grain bullet. This means I can keep my Lee pot set at a lower temperature (use set the reostat at about 7-- no higher). At this setting the bottom pour works very nice, but the lead is still cool enough that I get almost no oxidization at the surface of the melt. Sometimes I flux a very little bit with a tiny bit of wax when I'm done, before turning off the pot-- but never while I'm casting.


Funny, my lee pot at 7 would be over 900 deg. Time for a PID I guess

[country gent]

One thing to remember is its not just what you use t flux but the stirring scraping motion is important to you want to scrape the sides loosening impurities and a mixing motion that pulls the flux down thru the alloy an the alloy up thru the flux to get the best results. A flat wood paint stir stick works good for this.

[Hick]

Funny, my lee pot at 7 would be over 900 deg. Time for a PID I guess

Very interesting-- below about 6 on my Lee pot the bottom pour spout freezes over.