TimBoothe
01-04-2009, 09:17 PM
First off, thanks to everyone that has contributed to this site...such a valuable resource for the beginners like myself.
I'm in the beginning stages of learning this art and am a little confused on fluxing. Upon reading the advice of many on this board I purchased a copy of the Lyman Cast Bullet Handbook 3rd Edition. On pg. #57 "Melting and Fluxing Bullet Metal" it states "As the metal melts, a gray scum will rise to the surface, contrasting sharply with the silver brightness of the molten lead. DO NOT REMOVE THIS SCUM. This contains tin, the most valuable component of the bullet metal." It talks a bit about fluxing materials, how to stir them in the pot and then goes on to say "Metal that has been properly fluxed will leave the surface almost mirror bright and flecked with small particles of black and brown impurities. Skim off and discard these impurities."
Now for the un-initiated such as myself, the way that I interpret this is as follows: Once the metal has melted, sprinkle my sawdust used as flux and the only thing that should be left on the surface of the melt will be these "flecks of small particles of black and brown impurities".
Well...that ain't how it's turned out so far. I melted a 15 pd block of lead in a cast iron skillet over a burner at around 650-700. Once the melt was completed, I sprinkled about half a hand full of sawdust over it. It immediately turned black..smoked up my shop pretty good. I then took a small piece of pine that I used as a stir stick and stirred it in. I'd push the little embers under and they'd pop right back up. I kept doing this until they were all black and essentially lifeless if you will. I had a heck of a lot more stuff on top than just some small flecks. I added some more sawdust and repeated the procedure. Ended up with more dross is all. After this second treatment with sawdust I went ahead and skimmed the surface.
I'm scared that I removed tin from the mixture. I mean after reading what the Lyman book says..""Metal that has been properly fluxed will leave the surface almost mirror bright and flecked with small particles of black and brown impurities. Skim off and discard these impurities." It sounds to me like I might have goofed.
I guess that's my question, did I goof or did I do it proper? Now if I did this proper....I've read on here that you can't flux too much. Should I just continue to repeat the process until I don't get anymore dross?
I'll have tons more questions throughout this whole process so ya'll bear with me.
Thank you in advance,
TimBoothe
I'm in the beginning stages of learning this art and am a little confused on fluxing. Upon reading the advice of many on this board I purchased a copy of the Lyman Cast Bullet Handbook 3rd Edition. On pg. #57 "Melting and Fluxing Bullet Metal" it states "As the metal melts, a gray scum will rise to the surface, contrasting sharply with the silver brightness of the molten lead. DO NOT REMOVE THIS SCUM. This contains tin, the most valuable component of the bullet metal." It talks a bit about fluxing materials, how to stir them in the pot and then goes on to say "Metal that has been properly fluxed will leave the surface almost mirror bright and flecked with small particles of black and brown impurities. Skim off and discard these impurities."
Now for the un-initiated such as myself, the way that I interpret this is as follows: Once the metal has melted, sprinkle my sawdust used as flux and the only thing that should be left on the surface of the melt will be these "flecks of small particles of black and brown impurities".
Well...that ain't how it's turned out so far. I melted a 15 pd block of lead in a cast iron skillet over a burner at around 650-700. Once the melt was completed, I sprinkled about half a hand full of sawdust over it. It immediately turned black..smoked up my shop pretty good. I then took a small piece of pine that I used as a stir stick and stirred it in. I'd push the little embers under and they'd pop right back up. I kept doing this until they were all black and essentially lifeless if you will. I had a heck of a lot more stuff on top than just some small flecks. I added some more sawdust and repeated the procedure. Ended up with more dross is all. After this second treatment with sawdust I went ahead and skimmed the surface.
I'm scared that I removed tin from the mixture. I mean after reading what the Lyman book says..""Metal that has been properly fluxed will leave the surface almost mirror bright and flecked with small particles of black and brown impurities. Skim off and discard these impurities." It sounds to me like I might have goofed.
I guess that's my question, did I goof or did I do it proper? Now if I did this proper....I've read on here that you can't flux too much. Should I just continue to repeat the process until I don't get anymore dross?
I'll have tons more questions throughout this whole process so ya'll bear with me.
Thank you in advance,
TimBoothe