Fluxing melted lead

While looking around another [nameless] web site I found a long detailed discussion on lead pouring which centered on fluxing melted lead. There was a lot of Q&A on the subject.

I had never paid much attention to flux when pouring, but I will from now on. Sometime the jigs didn’t want to pour as I thought that they should. SOMETHING JUST DIDN’T SEEM RIGHT !

I have a lot of hard lead [tire weight] ingots that I poured a few years back that inherently has alloys, salts, and dirt.

I cleaned the empty pot and melted 10 lbs of lead, added a sugar cube or slightly bigger piece of beeswax and as the smoke began to boil I started stirring, FIRE FIRE FIRE and SMOKE bit it wasn’t unexpected due to reading about earlier. The lead poured like a smoothe water stream out the bottom of my Lee Pro 4-20. I re poured 20 lbs or so twice after fluxing each time.
I always knew that there was a lot of junk in that lead but the Beeswax really made a difference in the quality of the pour, especially after the second flux.

The bottom line is that the fire wasn’t bad and it dissipated after a minute or so and the lead is hard but real clean. I poured a few 1/32 and 1/16 jigs [about 50 each] and they came out almost perfect !
Felt like I’d been to WALLY WORLD !:)
Squall Line

lol the fire when it pops a starts flaming gets me every time....little jump ....but yes after fluxing is a pretty silver and pours much better

Squall

I know the site your talking about and a bunch of the guys are here as well. I admit I had NEVER fluxed my lead in all the time I've been pouring and after reading the thread on it and some private IM's with some of the guys I tried it and I'll never forget to do it again.

I slowly clean the older lead I have as I'm pouring jigs. Glad it worked for you, and yeah tht first pop of flame and smoke definately gets the adrenilin flowing LOL.

Fatman

Fatman, as a newby to pouring jigs that thread was really good. In all of my 60 years and about 55 of them fishing it has to be one of the most informative on topic Q&A threads that I have ever read.

Yeah the first FIRE gave me pause to back away, but I was somewhat expecting it, and hoping that I wouldn't end up calling 911. Ha Ha Ha

As it turned out I ended up pouring about 400 reusable split shot and 400 or so 1/32 and 1/16 round jig heads this evening. I DID RE FLUX EVERY HOUR OR SO (got used to the fire thing now). :)

In the AM I plan to power paint and cure the jigs. Then on to making a couple hundred Roadrunners. BEEP BEEP :)
Squall Line

i was having trouble pouring my round head jigs the other day and so i flux the crap out of my soft lead and i used a chunck about the size of a marble and stired and scraped the sides and got the trash out of the pot after and then made some pours and WOW it was like pouring water out of a glass verry smooth and made the pretties lures ive ever made so i will be fluxing all my lead from now on you can also use parifan wax the stuff u buy when you can food and stuff it works just as good as bees wax i think

Just glad I never started that part and after all I can't hardly keep up as it is. Just prefer buying the heads.
Glad you guys got it down now though and things always are better when done the way they should be done. Seems short cuts look good, but usually are not.

Skip

Quote:

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Originally Posted by crappie josh

i was having trouble pouring my round head jigs the other day and so i flux the crap out of my soft lead and i used a chunck about the size of a marble and stired and scraped the sides and got the trash out of the pot after and then made some pours and WOW it was like pouring water out of a glass verry smooth and made the pretties lures ive ever made so i will be fluxing all my lead from now on you can also use parifan wax the stuff u buy when you can food and stuff it works just as good as bees wax i think

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crappie josh
Paraffin is just as good.

Here are 2 your other choices for you guys in wonder, any candle wax and bees wax. On the candle wax you can use pretty much anything. The only thing I would stay away from is wax that only smokes. The whole concept of fluxing is to burn the smoke. If you can't get the smoke to burn, then all you have is a cloud of smoke in your garage. Yes there is candle wax that does not burn (ignite into a flame) when lit with a match.

Finally if you want lead to flow even better than water in your molds spray on "Mold Release" made by Frankford Arsenal. When I tried this the lead just flows right out of the cavity. It is amazing.

i have just been scraping the sides and bottom of my pot with a screw driver as soon as i put the gulf wax in and it smokes like crazy but i dont give it time to ignite so i guess im doing it wrong?

...........so when i put the gulf wax in i scrap the sides and bottom and then let it ignite?

no sometimes it ignites sometimes it dont....

i use stick matches and light the smoke so it does ignite it helps alot.

JJ

i stir it gulf wax in till its all melted and stops somking then i scrap of whats on top

sounds about right to me.....

Do what JJ said. some wax candles won't ignite course I don't know about the match, I'd use one of those long arm grill lighters. SAFTEY FIRST ALL!!!!!!!!

Fatman

Crappie Josh,
Do what Jiggin Joe does, that's what I do. I also use wooden stick matches, if you don't want to use stick matches a long arm lighter will work as well. I don't want to come off as an a$$ but if you don't get the smoke to burn you are wasting your time. Yes some candle wax doesn't burn, so in my opinion don't use that wax. You want to let the wax or whatever ignite for the carbon content. If you are just letting it smoke well, then you just have smoke. Just my opinion.

All candle wax burns!... if your candle wax doesn't burn, your candle won't work!!!

If you're just getting smoke, you either have your temp set too low or you need to ignite the smoke with the match or lighter if you think the fire helps.

Even if the wax doesn't ignite, it'll still work. All of your impurities will still come to the top to be skimmed off... and that's what fluxing is all about eh?!!

Quote:

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Originally Posted by GCD

All candle wax burns!... if your candle wax doesn't burn, your candle won't work!!!

If you're just getting smoke, you either have your temp set too low or you need to ignite the smoke with the match or lighter if you think the fire helps.

Even if the wax doesn't ignite, it'll still work. All of your impurities will still come to the top to be skimmed off... and that's what fluxing is all about eh?!!

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I have had some candle wax that did not ignite, it was from Yankee Candle, and yes that's all it did was smoke, and my pot was hot. Also my wife buys and burns many candles weekly, and some of them do not burn at all, so your statement is false. If the candles she buys don't burn, she returns them to the store. I'm just saying what I see in my house not trying to start an argument. Maybe the additives they put in the wax, which is usually scented oil causes it to not ignite I don't know, I don't make candles.

If your candle doesn't burn... it's not a candle, it's a form of useless decoration that resembles a candle.

All candles burn.