When to Flux?

[308Jeff]

This might sound strange as I haven't seen anyone doing it, but I seem to get much better results by fluxing during the melt rather than after?

In my last few melts of WW, I've been sprinkling a bit of sawdust in between layers of WWs. When everything is about melted, I toss in a little candle wax and set the whole thing aflame with a stick lighter.

To me it seems like the whole mess cleans up a lot easier, with little or no top layer of "scum" or alloy materials.

[country gent]

Any flux in the melt that's there even as it becomes molten will help. I normally work a little wax around my big pot as it cools after casting so its there for the next heat up also. I do this more to combat rust though. When smelting I leave a couple 3" of lead in the pot to help with heat transfer and also the added clean metal and the scrap lead makes it easier to stir the first time with clips and heavy crud on the pot still. I flux the first 2 times with pet bedding and paraffin the 3rd time just paraffin This depends on what I'm seeing also. Your way may save on lost tin and antimony a little also

[lightman]

If I'm doing wheelweights I skim the clips and then flux. If I just doing dirty lead I'll flux and then skim. I'll flux at least twice and usually 3 times.

[adam_mac84]

I started fluxing today with a piece of dry pine. Stirring the pot and scraping the sides w it


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[NoAngel]

When smelting wheel weights, I use cedar shavings. A big fistfull mixed in with the weights. Once melted, stir and scrape, scrape, scrape. Sides & bottom. Do it again with a pinch of paraffin to get the last little bit of debris loosened.

I use fine saw dust in my actual casting pot each time I add new ingots. Stir, scrape and skim. That gives me 3 fluxes and a reductant to all lead before it becomes a bullet. Everyone's different but it's always worked for me.

[Budzilla 19]

I always leave 1/2" of lead in the bottom of the cast iron pot, big handful of pine sawdust from the sawmill, put cold lead or wheel weights, slowly bring the melt up to temp,(get the missed zinc out then)when up to temp, stir it a lot, hit it with a big chunk of paraffin. Skim it, then pour up the ingots in muffin tins! I tried leaving the sawdust on top,(after removing the clips) just push it aside to get the ladle in there, seemed to work ok also! I guess as long as you do some kind of fluxing to clean up your melt, whatever works for you and your situations is good! Just my .02

[adam_mac84]

When smelting wheel weights, I use cedar shavings. A big fistfull mixed in with the weights. Once melted, stir and scrape, scrape, scrape. Sides & bottom. Do it again with a pinch of paraffin to get the last little bit of debris loosened.

I use fine saw dust in my actual casting pot each time I add new ingots. Stir, scrape and skim. That gives me 3 fluxes and a reductant to all lead before it becomes a bullet. Everyone's different but it's always worked for me.

I like this idea. I had intended to do an additional flux when I finally cast. For the time being, I have been just trying to get my WW into ingots. Plan to use a bottom pour pot

[Nose Dive]

At the start...with a cold pot...in the middle with a semimelted smelt pot...at the end when all is skimmed and scrapped...GO FOR IT!!

Nose Dive

Cheap, Fast, good. Kindly pick two.

[Toymaker]

NoAngel - be careful with the smoke from your cedar shavings. It's a fact that 20% of the population is allergic to cedar. It can cause some pretty bad upper respiratory problems. In some rare cases the reaction is akin to burning poison ivy and standing in the smoke..........

[Hardcast416taylor]

For sure 3 times. First time after the ww clips are out with a decent sized amount of sawdust. The next 2 times at least are when doing a melt again with sawdust. Old dead and dry finger diameter size broken tree limbs serve as my stirring and scraping tools, their charcoal as they burn doing their job is just a plus.Robert

[308Jeff]

Thanks for the replies, all.

[kmrra]

I too have done this very thing and seams to work great , especially on dirty lead