There are two ways of fluxing - the hard way and the
easy way.
The hard way is to drop a lump of bullet lube, tallow,
earwax or whatever's to hand into the pot. A great cloud
of foul smoke will then ensue which you ignite with a
lighted spill. When the flames subside remove the scum
from the top of the lead with an old metal spoon or a
lead-dipper. Repeat this process at very regular
intervals while casting.
The easy way is to buy a tin of Marvelux, stir a little
in and then remove the scum from the top of the lead. No
great clouds of smoke, no flames, no awful smells, and a
small tin will probably last for a lifetime. It is
though highly poisonous so must be handled carefully and
kept well out of the reach of children. The only UK
stockist I know of is
South Yorkshire Shooting Supplies.
At this point you have lead at just above melting
point. Keep it that way, because if you take the
temperature too high you'll get problems. You also have
a clap-cold bullet mould , which is also going to cause
you problems! If you're using an aluminium mould, follow
the instructions at this point and grease all the pivots
with bullet lube.
Place the mould under the furnace spout, and pour. Make
sure you leave a small pool of metal on top of the sprue
plate. As the bullet solidifies it will contract and the
metal will be partially pulled back into the bullet -
and if you didn't leave enough you'll have a nose
cavity. The remaining metal will solidify on top of the
sprue plate to form a "sprue". If you really want to
know about solidification theory, then don't ask me, but
visit the experts at
Castings Technology International
where you can learn what real high-tech casting is all
about.
