Noticed after fluxing with wax my PC doesn't coat as well.

[Tripplebeards]

Just a heads up...maybe it's just me, but after I flux my lead with wax i swear I can feel a slick, waxy coating on my boolits. I've also noticed when I PC my wax fluxed boolits I either get spotty, partial coverage or a real thin coverage VS fluxing with paper products or wood chips.

I always wait till my wax burns to a black color and scrape it off the top of my mix. I wondering if some of the wax properties stay in with my mix? Well what ever is going on I won't be using wax to flux my lead any more.

Anyone else or is it just me?

Just wanted to give a heads up on my experience whether it's legit or not.

[Pablo 5959]

No difference to me.
Do you ladle pour?

[Tripplebeards]

Both, but I noticed it out of my Lee 4/20 the other day. Have had issues both ways using wax.

[Pablo 5959]

I was just eating leftover pizza warmed up in the microwave at work. Wiping my hands on my jeans while I was thinking. Maybe they’re getting contaminated somehow between casting and the oven.
Pablo

[Conditor22]

I always flux with wax at least once and haven't had any problems with PC adhering.

I bag all my cast boolits as soon as they cool unless I'm coating right away

[Tripplebeards]

I PC'd a couple batches the other day. Ten pounds of fresh cast that looked like they had a slick coating on them and even felt waxy. They still coated good and even enough with clear...but thin. I also PC's so HP's that I casted up last summer and it was too humid to tumble at the time. They were sealed in a zip lock bag. Clear PC went on almost too thick. I always bounce off the excess in a separate container before standing up. The GC's had to be tapped in place lightly to get them on even before I ran them through my Lee sizer. The fresh batch that went on thin I could snap the GC's on with my fingers...some so loose the didn't even snap but still stayed in place.

[OS OK]

I've had the same thing happen but it was not having wax burned off in the top of the pot.



See the smaller 10 lb. pot there? On the bottom of the pot there is some cut up parafin that I drop into the 20 lb. pot. Well, a piece of that slipped out of my paw and dropped into the cast pan below and ,melted from the heat of the casts...needless to say that the casts that came in contact with the melted wax in the bottom of that pan didn't coat at all wherever they had the wax on them.

Problem solved...I'm more careful now and I still use the wax as it will not get into the valve like charred sawdust will and cause it to make drip art...

[Dragonheart]

OS add one more to the live and learn.

I never liked the sawdust flux and I realize wax is inexpensive, I used it for years. But I had the same wax malady happen 6 years ago just after I got into PC. Except I knocked off a large block of wax off an upper shelf and naturally it landed in my full pan of air cooling bullets. The good part was they didn't need fluxing when they went back in the pot.

It was shortly after that I found and switched to Brownells MARVELUX flux. It's not what I call cheap, but a little goes a long way. It does a great job of blending the alloy and keeping the pot clean with very little fumes and never an ignition like wax and obviously works with PC. If you have never tried it it may be worth looking into.

[scotner]

OS add one more to the live and learn.

I never liked the sawdust flux and I realize wax is inexpensive, I used it for years. But I had the same wax malady happen 6 years ago just after I got into PC. Except I knocked off a large block of wax off an upper shelf and naturally it landed in my full pan of air cooling bullets. The good part was they didn't need fluxing when they went back in the pot.

It was shortly after that I found and switched to Brownells MARVELUX flux. It's not what I call cheap, but a little goes a long way. It does a great job of blending the alloy and keeping the pot clean with very little fumes and never an ignition like wax and obviously works with PC. If you have never tried it it may be worth looking into.

I had problems with rust/corrosion on non stainless parts on my Pro Melt when using Marvelux. Went back to candle wax.

[OS OK]

OS add one more to the live and learn.

I never liked the sawdust flux and I realize wax is inexpensive, I used it for years. But I had the same wax malady happen 6 years ago just after I got into PC. Except I knocked off a large block of wax off an upper shelf and naturally it landed in my full pan of air cooling bullets. The good part was they didn't need fluxing when they went back in the pot.

It was shortly after that I found and switched to Brownells MARVELUX flux. It's not what I call cheap, but a little goes a long way. It does a great job of blending the alloy and keeping the pot clean with very little fumes and never an ignition like wax and obviously works with PC. If you have never tried it it may be worth looking into.

It didn't sink in at first what was going on in the tumble tub...all the sudden my 20 second shake has gone to 2 minutes and they still are not covering. I'm thinking that these are fresh out of the mould...what the hey? Then I spied a little trace of the wax in the pan...duuuuh! Can I be more clumsy?

[Conditor22]

I don't think it is wax IN the mold, wax/lube in the mold cavities causes wrinkles and would burn off in the lead.

I keep the boolits and my hands clean (of lubes/waxes) before coating. Check your process and see if your contaminating the boolits somewhere

[Dragonheart]

I had problems with rust/corrosion on non stainless parts on my Pro Melt when using Marvelux. Went back to candle wax.

I would think you are correct as I suspect an ingredient in Marvelux is boric acid and acid will cause rust and remove galvanize coating. However, untreated ferrous metals exposed to heat will tend to rust as I had rusting parts before I used Marvelux; whoever saw a rust free casting pot?
I personally have eliminated most of my problems on my Pro Melt by powder coating the parts that rust. I made a replacement down rod for the pour spout out of 1/2" stainless round stock so it would not rust and because I wanted additional weight to keep it drip free.