Fluxing

[coffeeguy999]

New to casting my own bullets and have been collecting w.w.( about 10-5 gal buckets so far) and I hear alot about fluxing, not fluxing, using wax,kitty litter,sawdust, and oak sticks to stir the crap out of the melting mess. Which is best or is there a better way to flux?
What is the best way to use the wax? Stir the lead right after you add the wax or wait until the wax stops smokeing and then stir ???

HELP PLEASE

 

[leadslinger]

little ball of bee's wax or parafin wax drop it in molten lead,
slight stir, then light smoke with match to burn it off.
Never heard of kitty litter thing .
Make handle from wood dowel on dollar store spoon to stir, lead, to remove crapp that
floats to top first.
Don't do your rough smelting in your production pot,
or the crapp will clog the pouring hole.

 

[Levi Garrett]

caution , don't confuse tin for the crap you skim off (dross I think its called)

 

[Whitespider]

Fluxing accomplishes many things, some of the more important are; it aids in the removal of dirt and other solid contaminates, helps reduce the amount of metal oxides (dross) and can even return some of the dross back into usable metal and reduces the surface tension of the melt, making it more fluid.

Anything that introduces carbon into the melt will act as a flux; saw dust, wax, motor oil, dry leaves, a chunk of potato, earth worms, cotton, etc. But there are other chemicals or elements, when used in conjunction with carbon that increase the effectiveness of the flux. Saw dust (or saw chips from a chain saw) from wood high in pitch (like pine) works real well, and hardwoods such as oak also work well.

Personally I’ve found that a bit of Ivory soap tossed in the melt along with oak saw chips does a fine job. Ivory soap is one of the only soaps that contain Sodium Stearate.