proper procedure when fluxing

[twally]

I have heard of several materials that people flux their pots with , but I am still unsure of the procedure to use when doing it.

I have only smelted WW into ingots, and what I did was throw in some bees wax and stir a little, I don't know if this is how you do it or not.
Also some guys say to cover the pot with saw dust.

And last do you do it differently when doing the final bullet casting?

Can someone please tell me from start to finish how to do this process? And how much of the stuff do you put in the pot per amount of lead.

Thank you Wally

[hydraulic]

Many of us flux with a stick. Some use paint stiring sticks; I use a piece of cedar house siding about the size of a pencil. Just stir with the stick till it starts smoking. When you get ready to cast do the same thing and cover the melted alloy with a handful of cat litter. That will keep the metal from oxidizing.

[Gunslinger]

Or use old candle stubs like I do. Add the stubs to the smelt/pot... enough so the surface is covered. It will start to smoke heavily and if hot enough it will ignite on its own... if not use a match, when lit the smoke stops. When it's done burning just stir thoroghly and scrape the buttom and sides of the pot. Throw away the dross and you will se the melt looks cleaner in a way.

[Shiloh]

You need to scrape the sides and bottom of the pot to get the stuck on crud to come to the top.

I have also been using a piece of oak trim molding to stir, after scraping with a goodwill store table knife and fluxing with lube scraps or marvelux.

Shiloh

[randyrat]

Smelting in the BIG POT whole WWS. I use a heavier wooden oak stick (last longer) to stir up the hot spots (prevent melting zink WWs) in the pot. I don't worrie about too much flux, all the grease and dirt in the WWs help with that. After i skim the clips out i do use the heavy oak stick to scrape the bottom and sides, it cleans up the big pot up nice.

Fluxing the final pouring pot i use a little sawdust and a smaller oak stick, clean the bottom, sides, and scoup it all out. Sawdust is cheap thats why i use it.

As the casting goes on i'll flux every once in a while to keep the pot clean and the spout open. You'll find your spout will stay open if you flux this way.

I wrecked a nice little new pot once by getting a wire stuck up in the spout, trying to unplug it. Now i keep the final pot clean by fluxing whenever i see anything cling to the sides.

I sometimes use a little Beeswax on top of the melt if i'm pouring slow- big pot or final pot.

[Bret4207]

I used to use wax, oils, sawdust, etc. Since trying a simple stick to stir with that's all I use. What you want to do is get carbon down in the melt. Pretty much everything foreign on your melt is lighter than lead alloy but some of it needs a little help to break loose. Thats what the scraping does. The carbon from the charring stick helps the crud float to the top and the oxides to reduce back into the melt. Any loose carbon will float to the top.

Leaving a layer of sawdust or cat litter on top of the melt is to hold the heat and reduce the oxidation.

I highly recommend using the stick and not the waxes and stuff. In addition to the fire hazard the stuff still has to be stirred into the mix. Why not do it the easier way?

[Frozone]

I pick up a few extra packs of chopsticks when dining out, Although I have been run off for filling my pockets 8-0

[fredj338]

I pick up a few extra packs of chopsticks when dining out, Although I have been run off for filling my pockets 8-0

Good idea for the smaller pots like the Lee. I use paint stir sticks. Cheap, long enough for my 40# Magma. In the smelting pot, I add sawdust &/or old bullets I recover from berm mining that still have lube. Stir ti in, skim off the dross & start ladling ingots.

[docone31]

All of my pots eventually got "flake deposits" along the sides of the pots.
Eventually, these flakes act as an insulation in the melt.
I flux with Kitty Litter. Not an actual flux perse, but it acts as an oxide barrier.
I scrape the sides of the pot with a long handled screwdriver. It is amazingly efficient at loosening the patches of "flake deposits".
Other than that, a little sawdust with the Litter goes a long way.

[dragonrider]

When making ingots I will have about 75 to 100 #'s of lead in the pot then I toss in a double handful of sawdust, let it get smokin good then throw a match at it, let it burn out them mix thouroughly, I scoop up a ladleful and holding several inches above the melt pour it back in. I do this repeatedly.

[montana_charlie]

And last do you do it differently when doing the final bullet casting?
We use 'fluxing' to describe any activity where we do something in an attempt to make some kind of change to the metal in our pots. Usually, the change is to get it cleaned of impurities, but often it's an action intended to reduce oxides.
Two different goals, but a single descriptive term...

I have this impression (not being a metallurgist) that impurities will come to the surface without help from any kind of 'flux', although some mechanical help (like stirring) probably makes it happen better.

That general impression also includes the idea that 'flux' is what makes the various metals in an alloy blend together as homogenously as they are able to.

So, when 'smelting' scrap from various sources, I will stir and 'flux' to accomplish both of those things. The main stirring will be with some stout tool, and might be a wooden stick. The 'fluxing' will also be a stirring motion, but that is to introduce the 'flux' to as much metal as possible...before it melts.

I have a long, stiff, wire with a four-pronged end. I wedge a 1 x 1 chunk of candle wax into the 'fingers' and plunge the wax to the bottom of the pot...swirling in an inward spiral...hoping to 'spread wax' throughout the metal as the candle melts and rises to the surface.

I don't know if this has the desired effect, but the goal is to cause the metals from many sources to blend together after being in contact with the 'flux'.
I do it after the stirring/skimming phase where I tried to dip out all of the 'dirt', but a final stir with a stick raises the final crud particles and 'reduces' the oxides which have formed during all the rest of the work.

That leaves me ready to pour 'clean' ungots.

Casting bullets is a separate operation, done in a different pot, and begins with cleaned metal. As there is no 'dirt' to raise, a wooden ('fluxing') stick is used to keep the oxides 'reduced' to a manageable level.

When the 'scum' gets too thick I stir well with the stick, then gather the scum into a gob at the side of the pot. Using the stick, I run wads of scum down under the surface and 'scrub it into' the iron. That seems to turn the oxide back into metal...since it does disappear. I continue until all of the collected scum has been reduced to a fine, dark, powder which can be 'picked off' with a teaspoon.

For me, there is a third melting session between collected scrap and final bullet.
The intermediate step is when I mix up my casting alloy.
Clean ingots are combined with pure tin in carefully weighed amounts and, since there is 'blending' going on, I use some wax to 'flux' them into liking one another.

After a wood stick 'reduction', the alloy is poured into (differently shaped) ingots to wait for the next casting session.

I hope this fully answers the question(s) of the o/p, even though the methods I use are not those used by everyone. But it does tend to break 'fluxing' down into several stages...with differing goals.

CM

[XWrench3]

i buy cheap wooden spoons to stir with. i get 3 for a buck at the local grocery store, they are heavy duty enough not to snap off, they are wood, so nothing sticks to them, and they give me a nice scraper action against the sides and bottom of the pot. as for the flux itself, i use 2. 1) is gulf wax, the kind used for sealing canning jars. and 2) sawdust. i stir in the wax first, a small peice about 1/4" cube, stir it in well. it will burst into flames, dont worry, just make sure you wear leather gloves, i always end up pulling my hand out of the initial flame up just out of instinct. resume stirring as soon as you can, the more you stir it in, the more junk it will pull out of the lead. also, i try to stir air into the mix in this stage. do so by pushing your spoon upside down (holding air in the cuped part) and then turn it over once it is submerged. when that is done burning off, scrape off the dross. then, i stir in the sawdust. i use 3 tablespoons full. it smolders, but will not catch fire, at least mine never has. stir it in well also. i leave the sawdust in the pot, to help slow down oxidation of the molten lead. i still stir it up about 4 times as i empty my 20 pound bottom pour pot. i hope this, and the other posts help you. if not ask again, or send me a p.m. i will do my best to help. good luck, and happy casting!