[QUOTE=ribbonstone]Author was Dennis Marshal (and the manual dates from 1980).

"Simply throwning a peas-sized lump of paraffin or beaswax on the surface, stirring for a moment and then skimming does little to lower the dross content of a melt and may even make matters worse, esp. at high temperatures. The reason for this is that the cleaning action of the flux only takes place on the surface of the melt, while the dross itself is distributed both on and below the surface. Sience the flux is not soluable in the melt, it cannot reach the dross which is below the surface so the dross must be brought to the flux by generaous stirring."


30 years ago when I was poorer than I am now,I did a lot of casting for my handguns.Since I scrounged all my lead,i figured I could load .357's and .44's for 2 cents a cartridge,assuming I had the cases - even using gas checks.
The "experts" (Phil Sharpe,Lyman,etc.) at that time stressed that the flux should be "plunged deep into the pot and stirred vigorously".
I used pure beeswax - bought from a beekeeper in large quantities - and put a chunk about the size of a small marble into my old-style Lyman dipper.This dipper will retain the beeswax and let you "plunge" it to the bottom.Then,if you rotate the dipper handle,the beeswax will be released from the dipper.
Then you had to skim the dross from the surface.
Since I used a cast iron pot and dipper,keeping the surface of the mix clean appeared to contribute to better bullets with sharp,square lands.

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