I've Been casting around for the perfect boolit for years now (who says lead s bad for you .....I sTiLl Be QuiTe NoRmAll)& when it comes to Fluxing your Pot /Blend it seems to bring out the Alchemist in all Casters It strikes me as some Blokes would have you dance around your pot/furnace naked but painted in Pigs Blood & covered in Chicken Feathers on the Full moon muttering Viva Joe Stalin or the Like ! Before you attempt to flux ! Others will tell you Don't worry about Fluxing ! The Manuals say use a peice of Bullet lube the size of a Pea ! (I wonder what happens to you if you use a peice bigger than a Pea? )
Ok I'm going to throw my $00.02 cents worth in ! Ok first get a bucket of Pigs Blood & 1 chicken I mean . No seriously I met a chap once who had been involved in the Printing industry for years & more importantly had worked with large volumes of Lino-type ! He asked me one day how I fluxed my lead & I explained to him the process I used .He was quite taken aback that I went to so much trouble ! He pointed out he used to be in charge of ten thousand gallons of lino-type & the methord used to clean /Flux it was a Crusivel of Potatos! Yeah Spuds !!!!!!!!!!!!!! Apparently the Starch in the Humble spud is realised & fluxs the mix to perfection! I hve been using this methord for years now & I have found it to be very effective as you do'nt get the cloud of fumes comming off that you get with other methords ! I use a hunk of spud about 2inches round on a old Barbeque Fork ! Just plunge it in a Stir it round you can get right to the bottom of your Pot & really get the Dross off the bottom & sides !It does tend to Bubble a Bit as you plunge it in ,but you should be wearing Gloves anyway (to say nothing of Eye protection ) I blend & flux in a large pot over a Gas Ring & then ladel the finnish ed product in to small cake trays to form ingots of the desired blend which go into the Furnace as required !
Dave