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Old July 28, 2011, 10:48 AM   #13
snuffy
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Join Date: May 20, 2001
Location: Oshkosh wi.
Posts: 3,055
Quote:
I long ago came to the conclusion that putting anything in the pot, like wax, does nothing except make smoke and mess. I get, and keep, my lead clean just by frequent stirring. The unwanted 'stuff' comes to the surface and I skim off.
Think about it, whatever gunk you use for flux isn't going to sink and perform miracles. It will just float, smoke and look like a mess. Stirring alone separates lead and lead-alloy from unwanted dirt.
THEN YOUR CONCLUSION WAS WRONG!

Lets get down to the basics here. The reason for fluxing;

1. To get dirt, crap, and other stuff you don't want in your boolits OUT OF THE LEAD. Sand, grit and other harmful stuff can remain suspended in the lead, or be trapped against the sides and bottom of the pot. If it gets into the boolit and is in/on the driving band of the boolit, it can and will scratch your barrel! Flux will cause that stuff to float to the surface of the alloy to be skimmed off.

2. To recombine valuable metal with the alloy. Air contact with the melted alloy causes oxidation. Lead, tin, and antimony that you WANT in the alloy will oxidize on the surface of the melted lead. Any kind of carbon will flux those oxides back into solution with the lead. Sawdust chars to create carbon. Stirring the carbon into the lead and scraping the sides and bottom of the pot, brings crud to the top and re-combines the metals. Wax, oil, and beeswax all contain carbon when they burn. Just tossing it on the surface does nothing, it HAS to be stirred while it's smoking, or if it self ignites, or you light it with a lighter.

Any time you disturb the surface of the melt, you are causing more metal to oxidize. That's why bottom pour pots work better, you're not constantly dipping a ladle into the lead. Don't drop sprues or junk boolits back in until you are ready to add more lead to replenish. The alloy has to be hot enough to flux. If you toss wax in the pot and it does NOT self ignite, you're too cold to properly flux the lead. If you have a thermometer, that should be around 700 degrees.
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