[sagacious]

George,
Excellent, glad you're out of the closet (so-to-speak ), and everything worked out first-time! Sounds like you had fun with your magic show!

I use a chunk or paraffin about the size of a sugar cube when fluxing a large pot of melted tire weights. That amount of flux is needed to wet all the steel clips, and for all the extra crud and road grime. If you're fluxing a pot of lead without all that crud, or if you are fluxing a smaller pot, then you could use about half that much wax. Give it a try and see what works best for you.

I like to cut up a bunch of chunks of wax that are about the right size, so they're handy when I need 'em. It's easier to cut up the wax if it's a little bit warm. I use a sharp chef's knife and slice up a deli-cup of wax chunks-- some a little larger, some smaller-- to have on-hand for different fluxing chores. A deli-cup full lasts a long time.

Glad to hear the fluxing and pouring went well. The nice thing about working with lead is it seems like there's always something new to learn-- but that certainly doesn't mean you're doing anything else 'wrong'. The thing to take from this is that often there are techniques and methods for dealing with just about any problem. Believe me, I've had to struggle with many days of frustrating pouring/casting problems. So, if you find you're having a problem or difficulty with something, or you're just not getting the results you expect-- let me know, and if there's a solution, we'll find it. And as you've seen, sometimes the solution can be surprisingly simple. Simple tricks are the best tricks, hey?

Thank you very much for the kind words, George. If I'm ever in your neck of the woods, I'll give you a shout!

Good luck!

[cadman]

I know you can use candle wax, parrafin and bees wax. I use bees wax. I guess the amount of wax seems to be about the size of a sugar cube give or take. Experimentation with the amout of wax and fluxing often, is the key based on what Sagacious said above. Guys you can correct me on any of this if I'm wrong. For those who are looking for bees wax, below is a pic of what I bought. It was available in chunk or pellets. I know you can cut the chunk, I opted for the pellets. One less thing to do. You can go to the site below and find out all you need to know about bees wax, candle wax and parrafin. I searched for awhile on sites about beeswax, and found this place to be the best quality for the money. I bought 5 lbs of yellow beeswax for $22.00 + $8.60 shipping last year. 5 lbs is a lot of beeswax. You can buy smaller quantities which naturally cost more. Here is the link www.swanscandles.com

Ps. Sorry guys about my earlier post regarding jigs from Hawnjigs. I didn't mean to de-rail this thread. I just wasn't thinking.

[gat0r]

Originally Posted by hawnjigs

"gat0r", sup to you but after 10 years of blundering I'm staying out of the closet! Second flame flux session today with softer alloy again produced quality castings at a lower temp than I thought possible. And in a 150+" rainfall climate with 90% humidity normal. "cadman", I too have had frustrating WTF! days so you're not alone. How are you other born again fluxers doing?

Don't get me wrong Hawnjigs. I went and bought wax last night! Haha! I intend to but I was hiding in the closet still out of embarrasment of not doing this until now. Bladesandbaits advised me to do this in my pouring a couple years ago and I'm ashamed to say I haven't until today. Today will be my first flux. I feel like a virgin again - HAHA!

Thanks again guys for all the good information. Thanks for the sources of wax Cadman. Am I going to regret just using chunks of a small votive candle. I'll be the first to admit that I don't know much about candles or wax. I've got a problem with migranes and candle scents are probably my worst trigger for them. So I avoid them like the plague. Haha.

[hawnjigs]

"gat0r", haha, that reminds me of how I was behind my buds in...uh...experience and how satisfying it was to finally get the flux into the pot. Let us know how it goes.

"cadman", threads don't de-rail, they sometimes divert to other interesting destinations. PM sent to ya.

Guess I expected miracles but yesterdays #3 flame flux session with problem Do-it 1 oz. Arrow Heads still a tough full fill out of the spike barbs. But, thanks to TU theres still a bag of tricks to try on that.

edit: "cadman", that candle/wax site is really interesting!

[turkeylegs1246]

All this fluxing talk is great! But don't forget that when you flux you are going to get a ball of fire and smoke in your lead pot. If you haven't fluxed before chances are you will be surprised at how much fire and smoke can be produced. Make sure you are in a safe environment. Don't set the house on fire or cause smoke damage to the ceillings. The first time that I fluxed, I used too much parafin. I had flames shooting out of my lead pot that licked the ceilings. Smoke residue was deposited there too. I consider myself lucky that I did not set the house on fire. So, just words of warning, "Be careful!"

[hawnjigs]

Jeez "turkeylegs1246" how much "too much parafin" was that?

Update on less than successful yesterdays pour - lead alloy was too hard and switching to softer alloy today (flame fluxed of course) had much better results. Because paper burns out too quickly as a flux smoke igniting agent, tried dipping rolled up small pieces of paper towel in my ol' friend WD-40 which extended the burn for the duration of the fluxing. Perhaps someone has a better idea?

[sagacious]

Originally Posted by cadman

I know you can use candle wax, parrafin and bees wax. I use bees wax. ... For those who are looking for bees wax, below is a pic of what I bought. It was available in chunk or pellets. I know you can cut the chunk, I opted for the pellets. One less thing to do.
...
I bought 5 lbs of yellow beeswax for $22.00 + $8.60 shipping last year. 5 lbs is a lot of beeswax. You can buy smaller quantities which naturally cost more. Here is the link www.swanscandles.com

That's a great suggestion, and a good value for the price. Being able to buy the beeswax already in pellet form is a real convenience. And you're right about that-- 5lbs of beeswax is a lot of beeswax, and that amount will last most folks for a while. Excellent info-- this is bound to probe helpful to many people.

Ps. Sorry guys about my earlier post regarding jigs from Hawnjigs. I didn't mean to de-rail this thread. I just wasn't thinking.

No worries, Hawnjigs does indeed make some really great-looking jigheads! And besides, if I hadn't butted-in with my comments, some of the ideas and info presented here might have had to wait for another day...... or may never have come up. Just shows ya you never know how the worm's gonna turn!

[sagacious]

Originally Posted by gat0r

...
Today will be my first flux. I feel like a virgin again - HAHA!
...
Am I going to regret just using chunks of a small votive candle. I'll be the first to admit that I don't know much about candles or wax. I've got a problem with migranes and candle scents are probably my worst trigger for them. So I avoid them like the plague. Haha.

Non-scented votive candle wax should work just fine for fluxing. No, there's no reason you'll regret using it. There's all types of votive candles, but I think most are made from paraffin wax. You may wish to try beeswax as well, and see if you have a (smell) preference.

Hope this helps, good luck!

[sagacious]

Originally Posted by hawnjigs

...
"cadman", that candle/wax site is really interesting!

Yeah, just checked it out, lots of good info there!

[sagacious]

Originally Posted by turkeylegs1246

...
I had flames shooting out of my lead pot that licked the ceilings.
...

Yikes, glad it didn't get much further than a moment of excitement.

Always have a fire extinguisher handy any time you're working with flame or molten metal. Thanks for the reminder, TL.