Flux

[Shotgun31]

I use sawdust. It’s cheap and easy.
Shotgun

[country gent]

I use sawdust an wax mix. It works well and a little goes a long ways. I have found how you "stir" is as important as whats used fluxing. It also matter weather Im casting or smelting. casting is done with the saw dust wax. Smelting the first 2 fluxing s are sawdust and the last is sawdust wax mix. Smelting is also a longer stir time on the pot.

[Land Owner]

I too use sawdust, cedar sawdust (and candle wax or crayons), that smells GREAT.

[georgerkahn]

I use sawdust. It’s cheap and easy.
Shotgun

... as do I. And, I pretty much always also use some of that red wax from Edam or Gouda cheese balls (if I have some left) -- or candle-butts, etc. -- "any" wax. HOWEVER, albeit many write not-so-great things about the product, I have had several occasions where "all the saw-dust/wax in the world" did not totally do the trick. Hence, I flux with Brownell's Marvelux ( https://www.brownells.com/gunsmith-t...-prod1132.aspx ). In every case, it "bailed me out.". Yes -- it may compromise alloy a teeny bit (IF it does in fact remove some tin by its use?) -- but, again, I end up with a very usable alloy casting as close to picture-perfect bullets as I may create.
I repeat it is what I use AFTER saw-dust/wax IF necessary -- and felt this (what I do when necessary) -- might be a germane note to add to a post on fluxing.
geo

[kevin c]

George, I keep reading that the Marvelux can leave a difficult to remove crust in the pot and on tools. Are folks not using it right?

I use pine sawdust and a generous amount of paraffin when processing scrap lead. I use beeswax in the casting pot because I have it. Having read BNE's report that oxide loss didn't change his casting alloy if he didn't reduce and just continually skimmed the dross, I'm not sure the reduction makes that much difference to the final cast product, but habits die hard.

[georgerkahn]

kevin c -- You, indeed, brought up a great point I was remiss in not mentioning. To wit, I make my alloy up in a cut-Freon-bottle (from DavyCrockett on this site ) over a propane stove -- outdoors in driveway, where I do my best guesstimate of coww, soww, tin, "others'" ingots, bar solder, and ?????? in proportions to make a "decent" amount. I then ladle this into ingots. LATER, these fluxed, cleaned ingots go into the Lyman Mould-Master OR RCBS Pro-melt pots for bullet casting.
Sooo, if MarveLux was required, it was on alloy in Freon jug to make my ingots -- now clean/'pure' enough for needing just a small amount of sawdust/wax when in the garage set-up -- actually casting from Lyman or RCBS pots.
YES -- I sometimes get crud of Biblical proportion on walls/bottom of Freon bottle. I assume a lot of that is, well, just 'crud' -- 'specially when unknown pieces of lead pipe, etc., is thrown in the mix. My main concern vis the Freon bottle is that whatever I end up with is clean, pure, alloy. After I eventually cast a few bullets ("boolits" ) with it, I have both a Cabine Tree and a SAECO hardness tester -- and, quite frankly, rather than reinvent the wheel, so to speak, trying to improve upon the alloy -- it is the hardness result which determines -- e.g., revolver vs hi-power rifle -- what bullets will be cast with it. NOT scientific at all, but it works for me....
BEST!
geo

[kevin c]

Funny you mentioned the cheese wax, George. I used it too, but the smell reminded me of grilled cheese sandwiches, a bit too distracting. The beeswax smells nice, but doesn't make me hungry, and while I've heard it draws bees, I haven't seen that yet.

[lightman]

I use pine sawdust or chips followed by some type of wax when I'm smelting scrap. I only use wax in my casting pot. My "wax" varies some and will be anything from old candles, paraffin, bullet lube or beeswax. Its mostly beeswax now days since a friend gave me a huge slab of it.

[bangerjim]

Remember sawdust ( & most other carbon-based stuff) it a flux....removes garbage from your melt. Wax is a reducer...it reduces Sn back into your mix. I only use beeswax, as it smells great and does not flair up due to it's higher melting point. And I sue a pea sized piece during casting when I see surface has lost it's normal shie and looks dull and wrinkled. That's the Sn being oxidized. A teeny bit of beeswax solves that problem.

Be safe when casting

[robg]

wax candle, bullet lube and stir with a piece of wood .works for me.

[old cobra]

I use chainsaw sawdust with the bar lubricator turned up that way there’s oil sawdust and resin all together works fine.

[John Boy]

http://www.lasc.us/FryxellFluxing.htm

[John Boy]

I friend gave me what electric utility linemen used to use in their pots when soldering cables was vogue. I also gave some to a commercial caster with an issue of lead in his dross. Both mine and his dross are black/gray powder ...

Johnson -ANTI-DROSS SOLDER POT WAFERS
Returns up to 75% of Oxides to Metal
Johnson’s Anti-Dross Solder Pot Wafers help you recover metal from your dross before skimming a solder pot. When properly introduced to the pot, this dross reducer brings dirt to the surface, and returns oxides into solder.All that’s left is a powdery dust to be skimmed off.