Yesterday I changed out a wax seal for the bathroom toilet and when I was all done I went to toss the old wax out, the thought came to me that this has beeswax in it?
The thought was to use this for fluxing metal in the furnace... Is this practical or am I out to lunch..?
Thanks..

Several years ago I was in the same position as you. Everyone said the seals were no longer beeswax, but some petroleum-based synthetic. I never used it to flux my alloy, but did use it to make Emmert's (blackpowder cartridges) lube: It worked like a charm. Ergo, maybe it'll be OK for flux (be sure it's completely free of moisture!), but is definitely OK for BP bullet lube.

Asa far as I know they are still made out of pure bees wax. Though, some of them are reinforced with a urethane ring. I've never used bees wax as a flux though. Does it work well? Usually I flux with plain ole parafin.

Well Ok.. Seems like I recall reading and/or hearing that you can flux with any of the soft bullet lubes containing bees wax in a pinch and it works just fine for that..
I will be firing up a pot pretty soon so I'll try it out and see what happens then.
Thanks.

You owe it to yourself to visit the cast boolet forum http://castboolits.gunloads.com/, you will be able to find out more than you ever thought existed about smelting wheel weights and other lead, fluxing, etc.

I had used bee's wax, parafin, and bullet lube for fluxing, but read that hardwood saw dust did a good job, as does an bunch of other stuff. The nice thing about sawdust is that it does not flare up, is easy to mix into your melt and leaves a layer of charcoal on top to insulate the pot and prevent further oxidation. Smells like a campfire too
One poster was a retired shool teacher and he used the shavings from the school pencil sharpeners (cedar and graphite).

Bottom line is there are a lot of things that will fulx lead. For me, I had rather use bee's wax for lube.

Hi Pete
Sounds like a great site but that URL must have changed? I keep getting the 'page cannot be found' message..

Try this link: http://castboolits.gunloads.com/index.php

quote:

Originally posted by RDub:
Hi Pete
Sounds like a great site but that URL must have changed? I keep getting the 'page cannot be found' message..

Sorry about that, I cut and pasted the URL, should have checked to make sure it worked. Thanks to Paul for correcting the situation

Check the following site for several articles on casting. The one on fluxing is helpful.


http://www.lasc.us/ArticlesFryxell.htm

Just tried the above link, and it does work

Ok, good link.. Thanks very much.

quote:

had used bee's wax, parafin, and bullet lube for fluxing, but read that hardwood saw dust did a good job, as does an bunch of other stuff

So does used cat litter, dry of course.
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The wax from a toilet ring is just fine for fluxing (keeping the tin in solution). The plastic reinforcement is NOT part of the mix. A very little will go a long way. Regards

You don't need anything fancy for fluxing, I've used crayons, bullet lube, beeswax, ski wax, sawdust and kitty litter.

For home brew lubes, I like mixing beeswax and moly/lithium axle greese, easy to make, and nice and soft.

Castboolits is the place for cast boolit info

Ok all, thanks for all the suggestions..
I got hooked up with the Castboolits web site also.. quite a site.

For the record, toilet bowl rings are made of petroletum wax. I found this out by going to the website of one of the manufacturers and going to the MSDS page.

Punch

Nondetergent SAE 30 motor oil in a squirt can works as well for fluxing as any wax, and is handier to use IMO.

A few years back, in a 1943 American Rifleman magazine, I found the factory lubricant formula for outside lubricated bullet such as the .32, .38 and .41 Long Colt.
The recipe is:
1 part tallow
1 part paraffin
1/2 part beeswax

I've modified this formula to:

1 part mutton tallow (the finest tallow found; sold by Dixie Gun Works).

1 part canning paraffin (this is pure paraffin; who knows what lurks in old candles, especially scented ones).

1/2 part beeswax (the real stuff).

This makes the finest black powder lubricant I've known. I use it for all applications: lubricating felt wads for my cap and ball revolvers, patch lubricant, lubricant for any bullets fired with black powder, etc.

Over the years, I've learned that REAL beeswax makes a decided difference in this formula. A few years back I made a batch with synthetic beeswax from a toilet seal. I didn't realize things had changed.
The lubricant was not as smooth as with the real beeswax and didn't seem to keep fouling as soft. Later, when examining the toilet seal package, there was absolutely NO mention of beeswax anywhere on it. Nor were any ingredients listed. I have no clue what was in that synthetic stuff.
Now I use nothing but real beeswax. It makes a difference, believe me.
But for fluxing bullets, I wouldn't hesitate to use the synthetic stuff. I use Marvelux or scraps of Alox-based bullet lubricant. I've also used chassis grease or old candles at times. It all seems to work fine, for bullet casting

But for bullet lubrication, give me REAL beeswax. I typically find it at Mountain Man Rendezvous, Renaissance Fairs, gun shows and craft stores (but it's very expensive if you go to craft stores).

I agree with pretty much everything said here, and just to add that some of the older toilet or johnny rings were made from pure beezwax.

You just need to make sure and melt the crap out of it.