Flux

[fishboy747]

Ok I have not recieved my books yet and want to start melting down the ww. Why and when do you flux my assumption is when You are converting ww to usable ingots. I am new so be gentle. Thanks

[GabbyM]

Sometimes there is enough grease and oil on wheel weights so you don’t need any more flux. Just plenty of ventilation. You can use kitchen items. Any grease that has no salt. New cooking oil works great. When you are outside you can use used motor oil for flux.
If you have an y candle stubs or other wax that will work also. Pine saw dust. The more sap the better.

I mostly use cooking oil from a recycled dish soap squirt bottle.

Wheel weights should always be melted outside while you are upwind. Just a bunch of nasty grease and oil smoke. Highest temp I saw today here in Illinois was ten above 0 F.

When melting WW the main thing is to not pile them to deep in the pot so you can identify and remove the floating zinc weights before they melt at much higher temps. Right along with the clips. If you go inside to take a nap and the zinc melts your lead is ruined. If you are working the pot it’s obvious the zinc WW’s don’t want to melt.

You need to keep the wind off the pot but you still need ventilation.

[evan price]

Start a cold pot with wheel weights you know are NOT zinc. This is because starting from cold you'll have the heat all the way up and the bottom may get over 800 degrees before the top melts. Any zinc down there will melt. You don't want that.

Fluxing is a chemical process that adds carbon and displaces oxygen. You are reducing the oxides into their base metallic compounds and mixing them back in the lead alloy in a homogenous blend.

Any carbon bearing material works for flux. I like used motor oil because it works well and it's free and I tend to have some around. Some guys like lard, sawdust, paraffin, old candles and crayons. It all works.

Add enough flux material to the pot carefully- for a 60# pour I use about two ladles full of drained motor oil- and stand back, it will start sizzling & smoking heavily and will probably catch fire. If it doesn't- light the smoke and it will burn. Stir the lead and scrape the bottom and sides of the pot. Long sleeves and thermal resistant gloves are a must or you will lose the arm hairs. Let the fire burn out after stirring and you should see any dirt or residue on top. Skim this off. Shiny alloy is underneath.

[onondaga]

You have gotten great tips so far. Temperature is important for fluxing also. Metal in the pot should be at least hot enough to char severely or burst into flames a tightly rolled newspaper. If the metal is not hot enough, fluxing will not return the tin back to your alloy and the tin will be a lumpy stew on the surface of your melt. New comers sometimes scrape this off and toss out the important tin that can be reduced by fluxing and returned to alloy.

Gary

[frankenfab]

Sometimes there is enough grease and oil on wheel weights so you don’t need any more flux. Just plenty of ventilation.

This was the case on my last smelt. Or at least it seemed so. But I went ahead and put a teaspoon of motor oil in most pots anyway. I think I could see a slight difference. Isn't part of the purpose of flux to help the alloying elements to combine well?

[10 ga]

For fluxin I use shreds from the household shredder, cracklins from renderin my deer fat, old candle remanants, sawdust, old cookin oil and sometimes a mix of these items. Being that I don't have anything that is "bottom pour" and I ladle even when casting I flux whenever the need presents itself. I have some shreds or sawdist in the pot with WWs when I start the melt and after full melt I flux again. Experience will be a good teacher. I like to have a good layer of ash on the pot to "reduce all the alloy" into the melt. Then begin ladeling and after a while I gotta flux again, usually after adding some more "ore" to the melt. I use my Coleman stove to preheat "ore" so that I don't lose so much temp when I add more material. Then flux and begin makin more of those pretty ingots of Pb. Try it, you'll like it! Good luck and remember Safety First. Best, 10 ga

[frankenfab]

I am really starting to believe that a final fluxing, even after smelting and cleaning with the natural fluxes already present, does something on a level that we can't "see".

[bobthenailer]

I use whats left from my wifes old yankee candles and sawdust for outside smelting and sawdust only for indside casting .
The sawdust is free at Lowes, just take a bag and go to the wood cutting dept.
Sawdust is what the large founderies and bullet casters use according to magnma eng book on
commercial bullet casting .

[fredj338]

I use whats left from my wifes old yankee candles and sawdust for outside smelting and sawdust only for indside casting .
The sawdust is free at Lowes, just take a bag and go to the wood cutting dept.
Sawdust is what the large founderies and bullet casters use according to magnma eng book on
commercial bullet casting .
I have tried many diff things for flux & find nothing better than sawdust. It seems to free up any alloy left on the clips & you get nothing but clip & crud when you skim. Flux while the clips are in, then flux again after the clips are out, then pour your ingots.

[HamGunner]

I don't think one can ever get all the impurities out as every fluxing will produce a little, thus, one can not over flux. But, we are just after slick, shiny, well filled-out bullets, and after the initial "smelt" has been deemed fairly clean, then it should be smooth sailing with only an occasional flux as needed as one casts with decently cleaned ingots.