Fluxing Zinc

[Thompsoncustom]

I have been playing with zinc lately and wondering if anyone knows what you use to flux zinc as candle max does not seem to work. and I looking for something I can make or get at a local store like walmart, hardware stores, ect.

[The Double D]

Borax.

[Thompsoncustom]

cool thanks

[Reload3006]

i don't know if its true or not but I do know that when welding Galvanized steel its bad juju for poison. is that from the zinc or the chrome. or the combination of the two together?

[Jim]

Did a lot of welding on galvanized stuff in my years in construction work. When you get zinc hot enough to actually BURN, it creates some nasty fumes. Got throwin' up sick as a dog first time. Never more.

[lavenatti]

Zinc fume fever.

It happens sometimes with pyrotechnics also. Zinc used to be used a lot a to get a bluish-green flame.

[oldred]

Zinc fumes can be bad news even when just melted for the same reason as lead is when melted, actually it's much worse than lead if working with pure Zinc. While not as much of a hazard as welding on Zinc coated metal molten Zinc should be treated with caution and never melted in an unventilated area, Zinc fume poisoning can be very dangerous. An old welders trick was to drink milk when working with galvanized metal but this old "remedy" is pure BS and it DOES NOT WORK! If after working/welding on Zinc you get an upset stomach and a tightness in the chest go to a doctor and do not try to treat the symptoms with an old home remedy, drinking milk is no antidote for a systemic poisoning from an inhaled toxin!


This is not to say we are in danger from melting a few Zinc wheel weights accidentally mixed in our wheel weight melt but if melting large amounts of Zinc by itself then it should be treated as the hazard it is and should be considered at least as hazardous, or more so, than lead.

[Jim]

The ol' man told me all the milk did was to take that sickening sweet taste out of my mouth and settle my upset stomach. Had nothin' to do with removing any toxins or anything like that.

[oldred]

The ol' man told me all the milk did was to take that sickening sweet taste out of my mouth and settle my upset stomach. Had nothin' to do with removing any toxins or anything like that.

It may do that but it's a very common myth among welders that milk will either prevent fume sickness, cure fume sickness or both-it will however do neither! Metal fumes fever can be fatal although usually a bad case just makes a person so sick they feel like they would have to get better in order to die! All joking aside Zinc fume sickness is not something to mess around with and if it happens then a trip to the ER is the best thing to do, it can cause chemical pneumonia which can be very serious or even fatal. There was a well know blacksmith who died a few years ago from breathing Zinc fumes released by heating some galvanized pipe (at least I am thinking it was pipe) in an oven. This fellow did not go to a doctor and lived a couple of days before he fell so ill he could not be saved so it can and unfortunately sometimes does happen. I dealt with welding and maintenance safety at the mine equipment rebuild shop I ran for many years and along with a few other dangerous fumes Zinc was something we ran into quite often.

EDIT:

Well I actually found it! It's been several years and I wasn't sure it would be so well known now but apparently it is.

http://www.anvilfire.com/iForge/tutor.php?lesson=safety3/demo


This example is an extreme case and is far removed from just melting down a few Zinc ingots but still the potential is there if exposed to Zinc fumes in an enclosed area or for long periods of time, either way just because a person does not have any immediate effects does not mean he has not had some exposure. Melting Zinc should not be cause for alarm and I am not trying to make this out to be especially dangerous because it's not, all I am saying is to use reasonable caution because under the right circumstances it certainly can get serious.

[Moonman]

oldred,

Thanks for that link and info. ABSOLUTELY IMPORTANT STUFF.

Moonman

[Thompsoncustom]

found some borax at walmart and it worked well in the zinc.

I casted 3 to see how it worked and they turned out great look better in person then in the picture.
http://i117.photobucket.com/albums/o77/danielthompson8588/Picture2.jpg

I used my Lee 125 gr mold and the pure zinc bullets weight in at 81 gr

[Jim]

Tell me about your procedure. Heat source? ladle cast or bottom pour? Preheat the mold? Fill me in on details, I'm interested.

[Thompsoncustom]

lol well I did it all really quick because I didn't have much time. I use the side burn on my grille and a handheld propane torch to heat it up, yes I also pre heated the mold on the side burner. As far as ladle or bottom pour well I just pour it straight from the pot I used to heat it up. Just make sure you don't let the zinc set up to much or you'll need the torch to heat the sprue up enough to get it off.