dexterblack
05-04-2012, 09:57 AM
Hi:
'Hope this is the right forum...
My brother got me back into shooting after a hiatus of 4 decades. I had previously done some reloading, but no casting. Now, he's got me headed down that "slippery slope"! ('Just joined the site this A.M., but have been lurking a while.)
I've been scrounging w.w., and have been trying wax, saw dust, and other "stuff" while smelting. 'Seems to work, but sometimes I need to torch it off with a stick-lighter to keep the neighbors from calling the fire department. We have a bunch of old Duraflame firelogs sitting around, and it struck me that they are made of both paraffin AND cedar saw dust. Yesterday, I gave it a try with marble-sized pieces:
I expected it might burn more vigorously than candle chips. Not so. The saw- dust seems to retard the wax from spreading (and vaporizing) all at once. I could light the smoke, but it was actually harder to light than straight paraffin -- and the flames were more subdued. The clod charred & disintigrated gradually, and the fluxing effect persisted for a long time. It appeared to reduce the generation of "skin" on the surface. (I don't smelt large batches, nor very hot)
'Tried searching the site for "DuraFlame" and didn't get a hit, so I thought I'd put it out there.
Best Regards,
Dexter
'Hope this is the right forum...
My brother got me back into shooting after a hiatus of 4 decades. I had previously done some reloading, but no casting. Now, he's got me headed down that "slippery slope"! ('Just joined the site this A.M., but have been lurking a while.)
I've been scrounging w.w., and have been trying wax, saw dust, and other "stuff" while smelting. 'Seems to work, but sometimes I need to torch it off with a stick-lighter to keep the neighbors from calling the fire department. We have a bunch of old Duraflame firelogs sitting around, and it struck me that they are made of both paraffin AND cedar saw dust. Yesterday, I gave it a try with marble-sized pieces:
I expected it might burn more vigorously than candle chips. Not so. The saw- dust seems to retard the wax from spreading (and vaporizing) all at once. I could light the smoke, but it was actually harder to light than straight paraffin -- and the flames were more subdued. The clod charred & disintigrated gradually, and the fluxing effect persisted for a long time. It appeared to reduce the generation of "skin" on the surface. (I don't smelt large batches, nor very hot)
'Tried searching the site for "DuraFlame" and didn't get a hit, so I thought I'd put it out there.
Best Regards,
Dexter