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#15068744 07/21/20
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Anyone use beeswax?


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I have. Too expensive and not necessary, but certainly works. I use cheap crayons that my kids get from restaurants now, or pieces of wax from old candles.


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Pine sawdust works quite well.


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Originally Posted by DigitalDan
Pine sawdust works quite well.

And smells quite nice!


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What HuntnShoot said, candle wax...I have a life time supply.


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candle wax or sawdust works fine.

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candle wax or sawdust works fine.

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Yes, but prefer beeswax in the lube and paraffin for flux.

Pine pitch also makes a good fragrant flux.

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I use old candle wax or sawdust.

Sawdust forms a layer of carbon on the melt and seems to prevent/reduce the oxidation in the melt.


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Beeswax here. I have a couple huge chunks that'll last the rest of my days. Being embedded with decades-worth of flotsam and jetsam it's not worth the hassle to melt/strain for more refined usage.


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I have a bunch of paraffin and some dry pine sawdust I use, depending on what is closer to hand when casting. I often stir the melted lead with dry paint stirring sticks I pick up from the hardware store. It all works. I tend to save my beeswax for a stock finish I make to make my oil finished stocks more weather resistant.

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Dry wood chips or dust.

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ooze from my sizer lubricator aka bullet lube
but yes sometimes i use beeswax. have 4-5 wax pucks that will last forever.

Last edited by deerstalker; 07/24/20.

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I've used bullet lube or candlewax, the bullet lube stinks candle wax not so much.

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When you guys flux, do you use the dipper to push the flux deep down into the lead, just kind of stir it lightly around the top or stir it around briskly like you're stirring up a drink mix?

I started using bullet lube but have been using Marvelux for a couple of decades and yes, it does leave a film on your spoon or dipper that you have to dry first. With either one, when it's dropped on the molten alloy I stir it vigorously round and round like mixing up a powdered drink mix. I've read that you want to get the mix exposed to air as you flux and that vortex this creates seems to get all of the alloy to the surface eventually. Seems to work but since my old RCBS furnace needs replacing I figure it's a good time to re-examine the whole process or fluxing as well.

So which of these looks like the way you do it?


This guy pushes the flux deeply through it.




This guy just pushes it around the surface.



This guy uses sawdust but also sort of pushes it around the surface or just lightly underneath it. Go to 2:45 for the fluxing part.



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Push it down into the melt, stir, scrape sides, skim.


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Unsalted lard or rendered fat from your last game animal. Works as good as any commercial flux.

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I’ve used the commercial products, and they work well. But most of the time I use old leftover candles.


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I've used sawdust for years. Once my lead has melted I stir in a heaping tablespoon of sawdust and work it into the melt with tablespoon that I have small holes drilled into to allow the spoon to flow through the lead easily. Once charred and stirred in well I let the char stay on top to help prevent oxidation and don't remove it till I'm ready to add more led to the pot.


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I use wood shavings from the school wood shop,the brother in law is the teacher.

When re-melting down already cast or culls the smoke from the lube gets bad sometimes.

But the worst is oak cuttings from a chain saw.

When used even after lunch it makes me want some BBQ. grin

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