Sawdust

[skeet1]

Well, I went to the local lumber yard this morning and got a coffee can full of sawdust. The young man that was helping me looked like he couldn't understand why anyone would want anything they just threw away, so I told him what I was doing.

This was the first time I had really given sawdust a good try and was very pleased with the results. I have always used a pinch of bullet lube in the past as most of the manuals tell you. After reading numerous time on this forum about using sawdust I tried it. I think it fluxes better than lube and the smoke doesn't make you gag. One thing I did different was to leave the the impurities and chard sawdust on the top of the molten alloy. This way I wasn't removing any tin or antimony from the mix. Since I take my lead from the bottom of the pot in my 4-20 Lee pot I think it's best to do it this way.

I would encourage anyone to use sawdust.

Skeet1

[JJC]

I have been stirring with a wood stick, so far so good maybe time to give saw dust a try

[qajaq59]

Sawdust and a dry hardwood stick to scrape the sides is what I use. And I leave the burned sawdust on top as an oxygen barrier. Works for me

[XWrench3]

yep, i learned about it here too. works great! i have a 5 gallon bucket of it though. my free sawdust source is about 200 miles away(father in law), so anytime i get there, i fill up.

[dragonrider]

I will never use anything but sawdust. Keeps your metal and your pot clean and fresh smelling.

[Charlie Two Tracks]

Sawdust does work great. I put a layer about 1/2 inch on top and once it burns off, I am left with a bunch of ash that I leave in the pot. Helps insulate also. It seems to last the whole pot long. I just have to remember to get it off the top when the pot gets low so it doesn't clog the spout.

[Jack Stanley]

I've used a pine branch of recent and it works well enough I'm wishing I'd have put in a higher cfm fan in the hood .

Jack

[Johnch]

We use Sawdust to soak up the oil from the old tractors and bedding for the steers
As I can get it for free by the truck load for free

Oil soaked Sawdust isn't as nice smelling
But it works well
I just have to make sure it is dry before mixing it into the lead


But I am afraid to try the "used" sawdust from the pens LOL

John

[Charlie Two Tracks]

Come on John! Let us know what happens. You may have a new flux named after you.

[okksu]

Emphasis on "Dry" I grabbed a walnut trimming out of my shop to use as a stir stick yesterday ......and moisture content was apparently a little too high. Sizzle, snap, crackle, and pop, peppered some bare hand skin. Only 3-4 tiniest of beads, no big globs, but the stuff was hot......

[geargnasher]

Walnut bad. Some people are allergic to the toxins in the smoke. Use maple, cherry, or birch.

It is well known to some that dog pee (from wheel weights) makes excellent flux, so that "used" bedding might work better than you think!

Gear

[geargnasher]

Sawdust and a dry hardwood stick to scrape the sides is what I use. And I leave the burned sawdust on top as an oxygen barrier. Works for me

Best way I've found to do it, too.

Gear

[okksu]

Gear wrote: "Walnut bad. Some people are allergic to the toxins in the smoke. Use maple, cherry, or birch. "

I'm not afflicted with the allergy. As a long time wordworker, I've worked with alot of walnut and never been bothered by it, (other than some purple stains on my fingers that can be a bear to get rid of) but I know that some folk are allergic to it. Also, for the same reason, walnut saw dust supposedly not good for composting where there's a chance the compost ends up used on a veggie garden.

[Johnch]

Walnut bad. Some people are allergic to the toxins in the smoke. Use maple, cherry, or birch.

Gear

Black Walnut sawdust can harm a horse , not sure how

But more than 1 horse owner has told me that when they were looking at the steaks in the steer barn ( pre buchering )

I use Oak , maple , hickery and some Beach

As that is mainly what the pallet factory uses


Also
If someome would like to try a flat rate box full of "USED" Sawdust
With steer fertilizer mixed in for flavor
Just pay the shipping

John

[82nd airborne]

Copenhagen spit works great, just be sure to get it under the surface of the molten lead before it dries up.

[Bret4207]

Black Walnut sawdust can harm a horse , not sure how

But more than 1 horse owner has told me that when they were looking at the steaks in the steer barn ( pre buchering )


John

Some toxin in the wood, but it's supposed to be the leaves and maybe bark that does it. I don't know that the fumes from walnut will do it. But, truthfully, horsey people are probably the biggest bunch of believers in mumbo jumbo urban legends there are. It just goes with the territory. \

Hey if anyone needs gen-u-wine sheep, goat, cow, chicken, goose, guinea hen, rabbit or horse droppings to flux with, let me know. $5.99 a pound plus shipping! Act now! Operators are standing by!......

[degruix]

horsey people are probably the biggest bunch of believers in mumbo jumbo urban legends there are.

Yeah, they are almost as bad as bullet casters...

[jameslovesjammie]

I bought some beeswax super cheap at a flea market about 5 years ago that I always used to flux my pot with. A while back I seemed to get alot of impurities in my boolits. The last time I was in Montana, my grandfather had been doing some woodworking and I got a garbage bag full of fine sawdust to flux with.

The first time I used it, I was blown away. I had never seen as much crud come out of my melt. I am definitely a convert. Only saw dust for me, now.

[JonB_in_Glencoe]

Gear wrote: "Walnut bad. Some people are allergic to the toxins in the smoke. Use maple, cherry, or birch. "

I'm not afflicted with the allergy. As a long time wordworker, I've worked with alot of walnut and never been bothered by it, (other than some purple stains on my fingers that can be a bear to get rid of) but I know that some folk are allergic to it. Also, for the same reason, walnut saw dust supposedly not good for composting where there's a chance the compost ends up used on a veggie garden.

The Roots of a Live black walnut give off these toxins...it keeps the other plant life competition at bay. I've seen it many times, as I roto-till gardens for spending money, people want a garden near a Black walnut and Few veggies will grow.

I've never heard the same about the bark-leaves, but it only makes sense.

OH and talk about Blackening your hands, try peeling a nut that recently fell off a black walnut tree...the Girlfriend did that once, Her hands were blackish-green for more than a week. try to explain that one at Church
Jon

[Bret4207]

Yeah, they are almost as bad as bullet casters...

There are 10 horses out in my pastures right now, so don't get offended. I are a horsey person!