in this area about adding parafin to you lead pot to make you lead pouring easier, my question is this, can I use candle wax or cut up my wifes candles and achieve the same thing? go easy on me :)
maachuu
in this area about adding parafin to you lead pot to make you lead pouring easier, my question is this, can I use candle wax or cut up my wifes candles and achieve the same thing? go easy on me :)
maachuu
I use a small amount of candle wax to flux my lead before pouring. It will flame up so don't freak out if you've never done it before. I use a piece about half the size of a marble. I stir the lead while it's flaming and all the impurities come to the top which I remove with a spoon.
thank you JungleJim, I appreciate the heads up on thisQuote:
Originally Posted by JUNGLEJIMJIGS
thanks again
maachuu
Jims got ya right on the nose!!!!!!!!! and he's not kidding about the flame up LOL first time I did it scared the crap out of me.
I will tell you, I've been pouring jigs for a long time and up till a year ago never fluxed my lead. After reading about it on a thread on Tackle Underground I tried it and never turned back. Even took my scrap bucket and ran it back through an old pot and got a bunch of lead from it.
Fatman
What exactly does the candle do for fluxing.My Lee pot just starting leaking,and making a pain of everything,so I got all the old lead out,got it cleaned up a little,after 5 years.Gonna try it out again when my Mustads get here for my steelie jigs,and have some good soft lead,I'm gonna pour into ingots and mark them.Just to try things out.I'm just trying to do things correctly for now on.
maachuu
Yes you can use regular candles, although the more parrafin they have the better it seems to work.
AZ
As much as I adjust my pot the most I get it not to leak is maybe an hour at a time. Now the Lee Pot I'm using right now is over 20 years old and truthfully I should send it in and have it rehabbed, but man it really puts out the lead making my jigs. I have another one that's a few years younger but hasn't been used as much. I have a cheap little pot that I put under the pour spout and it cuts down on the little splatters.
Fatman
I melt metals for a living and i have a question or maybe one of you can try this and let me know how it works?
1st I am not melting lead it is preciouse metals ...gold silver etc but we add borax to the melt right before we pour(just a tsp) and it works great at getting the crap out of the melt also for silver we add just a little ground up charcoal and it brightens up the silver. so I wonder why would'nt borax work on lead?
JJ
Joe I wouldn't advise it borax is also a bonding agent in metal work ie. silver soildering and such it will rust the pot out where You use a ceramic cruciable it helps the metal flow at cast time borax is the main flux in modern damascas making for knife steels unless properly treated they will rust 1st at the weld joints always!
ah thanks flat makes sence becaus eteh borax does eat the crucibles.
JJ
have you guys tried beeswax.