LAH
Member
We are often asked about flux and fluxing. We posted this to another site to try and help. Hope this helps those with questions and please, take it only for what it's worth.
Been a lot said about flux and our name was mentioned several times so I'll use this new thread to speak my thoughts about flux. Please remember I DO NOT consider myself an expert on the matter and DO suggest all read Glen Fryxell's great article "The Simple Act of Fluxing". I hope the title is correct.
First NEI flux. This has worked best for us. The last time I looked it was 16.00 per pound. The label states the following:
"Use to remove most zinc, copper, brass and foreign materials from molten metal. Melted lead tremperature should be as low as practical, about 620-655 degrees. Use only a few flakes per fluxing. Stir lead and allow dross to rise to surface for skiming. Repeat two or three times and whenever surface conditions warrant fluxing".
I have used sawdust, RCBS Rifle Lube, canning wax, Marvelflux, and Ballisti Cast hard bullet lube as flux. All seem to work but for us, the NEI flux does best.
99% of our casting is done with virgin alloy, mixed to our specs. When using the NEI flux properly, the only waste product that comes to the top of the melt is a red looking powder which I will call rust for lack of a better word. Once removed the melt surface is bright and shinny.
Using the other products mentioned above, the waste that is removed from the melt looks like dirty lead. In other words the "rust" is mixed with metal. I assume, and remember I'm not an expert, some of the tin or antimony is attached to the "rust" and the other products used for flux will not seperate the two. This is with virgin alloy so I have no reason to think the "matter" mixed with the "rust" is anything but one of the three products of which the alloy is made.
Of all the product I've used I recommend sawdust for the hobby caster. Again read Mr. Fryxell's article. When I used this I would first flux the melt using a small "pinch" of sawdust between my index finger and thumb. After stirring and skimming I would cover the melt with fresh sawdust. This prevents the tin from coming in contact with the air as the rapid turnover of the melt occures, causing the tin to oxidize. You can add metal to your pot right through the cover and once back up to tempature you can simply stir the mix, pushing the sawdust cap into the melt to flux.
You might ask then, why don't I use sawdust? This is a fair question to which my answer is, too much waste for disposal. We go through lots of alloy here in the hollow. Using NEI flux our waste is normally a 3 pound coffee can per 1500 pounds of alloy. None of the other products I've tried come close in this reguard.
Another question asked is how often should I flux while casting? Again I'm no expert. We flux each 1/2 hour. We normally make 16 to 20 bullets per minute and add an 8 pound brick of alloy as soon as the 40 pound pot will hold it, so we don't flux each time we add alloy, only on the 1/2 hour.______
We post this not as a Bible to fluxing, but to let you know what works for us. Your mileage may vary.
As a side note: while asking other bullet makers in the business about flux, I came across this information.
The caster was one of, if not the most famous of us all. I said what do you use for flux? He said Creeker, "I go out each year while the pine pitch is running and collect a 5 gallon bucket. It's lasts all year."
God Bless and happy casting.
Been a lot said about flux and our name was mentioned several times so I'll use this new thread to speak my thoughts about flux. Please remember I DO NOT consider myself an expert on the matter and DO suggest all read Glen Fryxell's great article "The Simple Act of Fluxing". I hope the title is correct.
First NEI flux. This has worked best for us. The last time I looked it was 16.00 per pound. The label states the following:
"Use to remove most zinc, copper, brass and foreign materials from molten metal. Melted lead tremperature should be as low as practical, about 620-655 degrees. Use only a few flakes per fluxing. Stir lead and allow dross to rise to surface for skiming. Repeat two or three times and whenever surface conditions warrant fluxing".
I have used sawdust, RCBS Rifle Lube, canning wax, Marvelflux, and Ballisti Cast hard bullet lube as flux. All seem to work but for us, the NEI flux does best.
99% of our casting is done with virgin alloy, mixed to our specs. When using the NEI flux properly, the only waste product that comes to the top of the melt is a red looking powder which I will call rust for lack of a better word. Once removed the melt surface is bright and shinny.
Using the other products mentioned above, the waste that is removed from the melt looks like dirty lead. In other words the "rust" is mixed with metal. I assume, and remember I'm not an expert, some of the tin or antimony is attached to the "rust" and the other products used for flux will not seperate the two. This is with virgin alloy so I have no reason to think the "matter" mixed with the "rust" is anything but one of the three products of which the alloy is made.
Of all the product I've used I recommend sawdust for the hobby caster. Again read Mr. Fryxell's article. When I used this I would first flux the melt using a small "pinch" of sawdust between my index finger and thumb. After stirring and skimming I would cover the melt with fresh sawdust. This prevents the tin from coming in contact with the air as the rapid turnover of the melt occures, causing the tin to oxidize. You can add metal to your pot right through the cover and once back up to tempature you can simply stir the mix, pushing the sawdust cap into the melt to flux.
You might ask then, why don't I use sawdust? This is a fair question to which my answer is, too much waste for disposal. We go through lots of alloy here in the hollow. Using NEI flux our waste is normally a 3 pound coffee can per 1500 pounds of alloy. None of the other products I've tried come close in this reguard.
Another question asked is how often should I flux while casting? Again I'm no expert. We flux each 1/2 hour. We normally make 16 to 20 bullets per minute and add an 8 pound brick of alloy as soon as the 40 pound pot will hold it, so we don't flux each time we add alloy, only on the 1/2 hour.______
We post this not as a Bible to fluxing, but to let you know what works for us. Your mileage may vary.
As a side note: while asking other bullet makers in the business about flux, I came across this information.
The caster was one of, if not the most famous of us all. I said what do you use for flux? He said Creeker, "I go out each year while the pine pitch is running and collect a 5 gallon bucket. It's lasts all year."
God Bless and happy casting.
