fingers284
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
- Location
- Alberta Cowboy Ranges
Lots has been said in this forum and the other about "what to use" as a flux but after watching the u-tube vids in the "doing it wrong" thread I noticed a couple or three different methods being used that differ from what I was taught. I searched for some info but there isn't much out there that I could find providing the "how to" info. Even the Fryxel/Applegate book on casting (some consider this the "casters bible") went into great detail on what to use but very little on how to use it effectively.
when I was first introduced to casting (very early 70's) by a buddy, the method he used (taught to him by his dad) was to drop a gob of paraffin into the melt, strike a match to light the smoke (we did this in his house porch, new wives were a lot more "understanding" back then) then mixed it vigorously for 30 seconds or so and then skimmed the crud off & done. Fryxell, in his book states that wax is basically a poor flux (it only accomplishes one of the 3 requirements of a good flux), he says that plain sawdust is the best non-commercial flux to use and he also says (his only reference to " how to") is to mix in a large helping. This brings me back to the vids...most every one of them show the operator using sawdust but they just pour it on top of the melt, smooth it out and then let it smolder for a while then remove the scum...no mixing in at all.
I have used the wax method, the sawdust method and recently, when Monty visited we used his Marvelux . Using the "drop in & mix vigorously method, We did a couple of melts using my sawdust and a couple of melts using his Marvelux. The Marvelux was quicker to use, produced a very clean melt however I will add that Fryxell claims that Marvelux only does two of the flux requirements, the one it misses is that it doesn't facilitate the re-instatement of other metals back into the mix...namely antimony & tin, so it is easy to skim these very important additives from the melt with the unwanted crud. The sawdust was much harder to clean from the surface but when you were done the ingots are very clean.
Enough of my rambling...how do you guys do it, stiring or floating.
when I was first introduced to casting (very early 70's) by a buddy, the method he used (taught to him by his dad) was to drop a gob of paraffin into the melt, strike a match to light the smoke (we did this in his house porch, new wives were a lot more "understanding" back then) then mixed it vigorously for 30 seconds or so and then skimmed the crud off & done. Fryxell, in his book states that wax is basically a poor flux (it only accomplishes one of the 3 requirements of a good flux), he says that plain sawdust is the best non-commercial flux to use and he also says (his only reference to " how to") is to mix in a large helping. This brings me back to the vids...most every one of them show the operator using sawdust but they just pour it on top of the melt, smooth it out and then let it smolder for a while then remove the scum...no mixing in at all.
I have used the wax method, the sawdust method and recently, when Monty visited we used his Marvelux . Using the "drop in & mix vigorously method, We did a couple of melts using my sawdust and a couple of melts using his Marvelux. The Marvelux was quicker to use, produced a very clean melt however I will add that Fryxell claims that Marvelux only does two of the flux requirements, the one it misses is that it doesn't facilitate the re-instatement of other metals back into the mix...namely antimony & tin, so it is easy to skim these very important additives from the melt with the unwanted crud. The sawdust was much harder to clean from the surface but when you were done the ingots are very clean.
Enough of my rambling...how do you guys do it, stiring or floating.
