I use 1 inch pieces of white candle wax, also use sawdust to flux with.When I melt WW I don't clean the WW any oil(acts as a flux) or junk stuck to them will float to the top and will be skimmed off. I don't melt stick on ww with clip on WW(When I get enough stick on WW I will melt them seperately) I just put them in the pot bring the temp up to around 700 degrees.I use a wooden paint stir (wood acts as a flux)stick to stir the melt,making sure that I scrap the sides and bottom of the pot often.This helps to bring all the junk to the surface to be skimmed off.After I stir the melt a few times,always skimming the top of crud (dross) off.Just before pouring them in to ignots,I will add a piecce of candle wax or sawdust,wait for it to burn off 30-40 secs make sure you stir it real well after the wax burns off.Then I start pouring.When the pot is about half empty I start adding more ww...same process starts again... stir ...clean....flux...pour....nice clean ignots.Hope this helps.
Fluxing my lead pot - Its black
- Thread starter VooDooMan
- Start date
blacksmithden
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
That's the stuff I use. Thanks for remembering the name.
Go to your local super market and buy a box of borax., You can flux or wash clothes, it works great.
Marvelux to me seems to leave a rust like crud in your pot after you are done casting the borax doesn't.
You can also flux by stirring your melt with a dry, dry wooden stick about the size of a paint stir stick woors great for scraping the bottom and the sides.
I never scoop out the clips till the melt is up to temp you can scim off lead if it is to cold.
That doesn't hurt your lead it is softer bullets and harder to get your mould to fill out.
Cast Away my Friend and enjoy Ken.
Marvelux to me seems to leave a rust like crud in your pot after you are done casting the borax doesn't.
You can also flux by stirring your melt with a dry, dry wooden stick about the size of a paint stir stick woors great for scraping the bottom and the sides.
I never scoop out the clips till the melt is up to temp you can scim off lead if it is to cold.
That doesn't hurt your lead it is softer bullets and harder to get your mould to fill out.
Cast Away my Friend and enjoy Ken.
You don't need to flux during the smelting process (conversion of wheelweights to ingots). There's plenty of materials such as oil on the wheelweights no matter how clean they appear, and that serves well as a flux.
Flux still has its place at the next stage - introducing the ingots into the pot. Marvellux works well, and has the added advantage of not putting out fumes like wax would (nice for indoor work), but is hygroscopic (attracts water), so tends to cause rust in the pot. It's not as big a deal as it sounds and is easily removed, certainly no worse than the black gunk from other fluxes that gets baked on.
Flux still has its place at the next stage - introducing the ingots into the pot. Marvellux works well, and has the added advantage of not putting out fumes like wax would (nice for indoor work), but is hygroscopic (attracts water), so tends to cause rust in the pot. It's not as big a deal as it sounds and is easily removed, certainly no worse than the black gunk from other fluxes that gets baked on.
