adding sawdust to pot before melting

[farmbif]

I've got a pot full of wheel weights to melt down, just waiting on weather to break.
ive been thinking of adding sawdust to the pot before melting them down but have always added the sawdust after skimming off all the steel clips.
but it seems theres always a bunch of slag that might contain good alloy when skimming off the steel.
was wondering if adding sawdust before melting would keep all the good alloys in the pot.

[BNE]

I don’t think it would help. It will burn off long before the lead will melt.

A slotted spoon, and some tapping will help.

[dannyd]

I use a wooden paint stick and stir well. They separate from the lead good for me.

[Winger Ed.]

Let it get plenty hot.

The alloy will thin out more. As the steel & trash floats up-
stir it well, and push spoon fulls of it against the side of the pot before you lift the trash out..

You won't have much useable metal left in the trash that ya skin & pull off.

Then do the fluxing part.

[farmbif]

I'm just wanting to keep the waste down to be as little as possible. when I was at the scrap yard every day I never worried about not having enough alloy and whatever got skimmed off the top was no big deal and now that the scrap yard has been out of my life several years I'm starting to think I didn't bring enough home with me when I was there. I'm down to my last half dozen buckets

[mac1911]

I'm just wanting to keep the waste down to be as little as possible. when I was at the scrap yard every day I never worried about not having enough alloy and whatever got skimmed off the top was no big deal and now that the scrap yard has been out of my life several years I'm starting to think I didn't bring enough home with me when I was there. I'm down to my last half dozen buckets

I picked up a propane tank for free with some gas still left in it. Not much. So i decided to take the bucket of dross/clips/skimmings and remelt it. As I felt there was some good weight to it.
i did recover some lead. I did learn to crank the heat up once i was sure i had no zinc . Those clips dont hold the heat well and the alloy likes to stick to it.
i dont flux until i get as much of the heavy junk out.

[Bazoo]

I don't think sawdust fluxes good. Wax does much better. I use sawdust to help clean debris out of lead and wax for fluxing at the same time.

[Cast_outlaw]

I’ve taken to doing this and, it tends to speed up my processes and, really lift the dirt and debris out. It also helps heat up faster, I guess it acts as insulation, also helps cover the smell of all the oil and grease burning smell. I’ve taken to doing it but ymmv

[JimB..]

I’m new at this, but threw some wood shavings in the pot with some medical shielding and put the lid on. Yes it charred before the lead melted, but I figured it’d reduce the oxygen in the pot and that’s a good thing.

[fredj338]

As noted, it will burn off long before the metal melts. I add the sawdust before skimming crud. It seems to loosen the lead & leaves just clips & jackets for skimming.

[Drm50]

I never thought saw dust was flux. I thought it was used to gather dross. Saw dust from green wood works better than dry saw dust from common lumber. It also is a guard against oxidation.
There was a Ohio Ferro Alloy plant near here that used green wood in their pots. Plant had its own chipper. I do first melt outside and pour right under the cap the green wood forms.

[bangerjim]

I don't think sawdust fluxes good. Wax does much better. I use sawdust to help clean debris out of lead and wax for fluxing at the same time.

You FLUX with carbon-based items like wood dust, dry leaves, small twigs....whatever you have that will turn to carbon as you stir and stir the melt, fluxing the mix to get good separation of gunk and alloy.

You use WAX as a REDUCER...a totally different function!. The wax is added to the sawdust during the last of 3 processing steps to reduce any Sn back in before pouring your ingots. And also wax (preferably beeswax due to it good smell and high flame point) during your casting sessions to reduce Sn back in. Sn will oxidize on the surface of the casting pot...do NOT skim it off...reduce it back in to get a mirror-shiny surface and do not loose any Sn.

I always add yellow pine dust to my re-melting pots after the alloy has melted and any gunk is floating on top. Stir with a wooden stick or plaint paddle and skim with a large spoon. I flux 3X, the last with added beeswax as mentioned above.

[jcren]

I use Borax laundry additive (about the same as marvalux flux) for melting wheel weights. Stuff fluffs up like styrofoam when heated and the clips float up on top of it. Easily scooped off with a slotted spoon and very little lead in the left overs. Then wax or sawdust to clean the mix.

[Drm50]

I use bulk borax that is used to cure hides. That’s on second melt when I pouring ingots. I may be doing it wrong for 50yrs but never had problems with results.

[Conditor22]

I always use BOTH pine sawdust AND wax. Seem I get cleaner lead and less loss one the slag.

At first I figured it's cheap, what do I have to lose, saw the results and never looked back

[PBaholic]

Pine sawdust makes a good Flux. The Pine Sap is what Rosin is derived from, which is the flux used for soldering.

I would melt without the sawdust, use a stainless slotted spoon to remove the steel, and then flux with sawdust.

Watch out for them Zinc ones, as they will spoil the whole pot!

[bangerjim]

Pine sawdust makes a good Flux. The Pine Sap is what Rosin is derived from, which is the flux used for soldering.

I would melt without the sawdust, use a stainless slotted spoon to remove the steel, and then flux with sawdust.

Watch out for them Zinc ones, as they will spoil the whole pot!

I have found thru extensive testing over the years that up to 5% Zn is totally acceptable in lead alloys that we use for boolits.....so don't throw out a whole pot just because of a few zinkers you missed. Add just a bit more Sn to decease the surface tension and you will be just fine with a few % Zn in your mix. Boolits may be a hair lighter, but no big whoop.

Best method: check EVERY weight BEFORE you put them in your pot!

banger

[lightman]

I've got a pot full of wheel weights to melt down, just waiting on weather to break.
ive been thinking of adding sawdust to the pot before melting them down but have always added the sawdust after skimming off all the steel clips.
but it seems theres always a bunch of slag that might contain good alloy when skimming off the steel.
was wondering if adding sawdust before melting would keep all the good alloys in the pot.

I doubt that putting the sawdust in first will work but you can try it and see. I do like most of the others and use a slotted skimmer for the clips and then flux with sawdust followed by wax. My method might leave a small amount of lead on the clips but I shake the skimmer really well before dumping it so I doubt that I'm loosing much lead.

[GregLaROCHE]

You’re always going to loose some lead when fluxing. I once remelted a bunch of droth. I got less than ten percent more for the same amount of propane. Won’t do that again. You need to accept some loss.

[Martin Luber]

Isn't the dross effectively powdered lead oxide? Has anyone sold that to a scrapyard or recycling center?