Which flux to use on 1 to 20 bullet alloy?

[tgraves3]

Hello, new to this site and new to casting. Need some help figuring out what I will need to use for flux to clean 1 to 20 (95% lead, 5% tin) alloy? I will be getting the alloy from RotoMetals since I am unable to find a reliable source for WW alloy. Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

[Outpost75]

While almost any popular bullet lube works, the industrial-grade liquid rosin fluxes work much better. You need very little, which reduces smoke. Kester 186 or 951 both work well. A 2 oz. bottle lasts a LONG time!

https://www.amazon.com/Kester-Rosin-...er+solder+flux

https://www.amazon.com/Kester-Rosin-...er+solder+flux

[tgraves3]

Okay, thank you!!

[John Boy]

Go to the grocery store - Canning Paraffin
Or go to Home Depot and scrape a can of wood shaving off the floor where they cut the boards

[fredj338]

Clean alloy doesn't need much fluxing IMO. When I melt scrap, I use sawdust to flux. When casting with clean alloy, I just stir with a wooden paint stick, more than enough carbon for fluxing during bullet casting imo.

[tgraves3]

Okay, thank you guys for all the info. Just what I needed!

[runfiverun]

you'll not be fluxing you'll be reducing.
[returning the oxides to the alloy]
an oxygen free barrier is needed to do this.
wax, a long handled teaspoon, and fire is all you need to do that.

fluxing is also known as carborizing.
your helping the alloy bind together better, and pulling the junk to the top of the alloy with this process, and it requires getting carbon into and out of the alloy.

a clean alloy doesn't need the second process, and getting the carbon back out is a pain.

[gwpercle]

Some common things that work.
Pencil sharpener shavings ( for saw dust)and a little beeswax , bullet lube, candle wax or paraffin wax.
Stir it into the melt with a small wooden stick and skim the residue off.
The wax and wood shavings together does a great job .
Gary

[websterz]

Don't use **** from the floor at Home Depot. They saw plywood, particle board, and all sorts of **** on that saw. You'll contaminate your lead with that junk.

[country gent]

I normally go thru 300-500lbs of 20-1 a year. I use wood shavings and paraffin or beeswax to flux it when casting. I simple spread a light layer of shaving on the lead then the long handle spoon is inserted into lead and allowed to heat while the chips char and dry completely. The spoon is remove and some paraffin / wax melted into it about a teaspoon or so. I then use a long handle spatula to stir. Stirring is the trick to fluxing, You want to work the lead up thru the fluxing material and the flux down thru the lead while scrapping the bottom and sides. This gets everything blended back together and the scraping removes crud stuck to the pot. Just stirring under the flux dosnt do near as well.

[Oklahoma Rebel]

I use pine shavings made for pet ( hamsters and such) since it is for pets im 99.9% sure there aren't any nasty contaminants in it, and it works, I also stir with a paint stirrer also, as someone mentioned. rarely do I use wax, unless it is my last resort AKA really nasty lead being smelted!

[white eagle]

I use a piece of oak I use for a mallet

[kcajeel]

I've used a lot of different commercial fluxes but the one I like best is plain old deer tallow. That's just the fat cut off the venison during processing. Save some in a zip lock bag every hunting season in the refrigerator. It doesn't draw moisture so you don't have to worry about your pot blowing up on you. Just add a small amount, I use about as much as a large pea. It'll smoke a lot so don't use it in your house, especially if a woman is around.

[David2011]

Very hard to do better than pine sawdust. Never use sawdust from treated lumber, plywood or OSB, though. The chemicals and glue are bad stuff.