Who the hell had the bright idea to put forge welding flux in a plastic bottle? I mean really... I think my Iron Mountain bottle is more tape than bottle.
Joey, over the years i ve seen flux in wooden boxes, cardboard boxes, plastic bags and tin containers along with plastic bottles, none of the containers were meant to withstand high heat, being dropped , have stuff ,excess weight piled on top etc.. ask me how i know............. being the cheapskate that i be, i have found that applying the compounds over a tin coffee can catches the droppings and when your original container is empty, often times a 2nd coffee can can be employed to catch the droppings from the 1st can . still not indestructible but works for the most part regards ray
A thing I have noticed with lads is putting to much flux on and more on the floor than on the shoe no need for it realy
Joey, Get yourself an old soup can, put your plastic flux bottle in it and tape it around the top. You'll save on tape that way.
I tend to melt the bottle in one way or the other. Mostly from having drop pieces land next to the bottle while using a heel hardy or touching the bottle on hot tongs etc. I usually use Sure Weld, it doesn't burn off as fast and comes in a metal bottle. (Or at least it did last time I bought it. LOL)
Bill, it looks like Sure Weld comes in a can like Bag Balm now, only it's round. The container mine is in is metal with a small metal cap that screws on. I have an extra cap off an older container with a 9/64" hole drilled in it for dispensing. I guess I need to hold onto it. LOL That's what I keep in my truck, the Iron Mountain stays at home. What kind of flux do you guys use? Honestly my choice flux is plain old Borax that's been dried in an oven. It has its trade offs, but its less likely to cause issues if you get it too hot. (Which happens a lot when you're using a Slagmaster)
I see a problem with your set up. I think you should go with an 11/64" hole. I like the Iron Mountain.
It's extremely cheap compared to Iron Mountain / Magiweld. About $10 for roughly 8 times as much as what comes in a bottle of Iron Mountain. It's also not nearly as harsh on the liner of your forge as commercial flux.
Honestly, I haven't used Borax in a long time, but I learned to weld using it. I don't go through much flux, but I intend to use Borax when I run out of what I have now. I.M. works at much lower temps than Borax, and is less sensitive to scale. When I was still using borax, I would flux immediately after brushing before closing up my scarves. With commercial flux I can overlap first, then flux. Iron Mountain needs to be baby sat. IME it burns off if the steel gets hotter than bright orange. With Borax you pretty well have to weld at a light yellow. They both work well if you stay within their tolerances.
I use the Swan flux - comes in a plastic bottle. Never had a problem with it. Welds great in a gasser - when the flux is bubbling that's when you can stick the weld.
Tom, I'm not surprised you don't have a problem with it. The rest of us mortals don't work to ISO standards.
Even low quality can meet ISO 9000 standards as long as it can be measured and confirmed to be consistently the same low quality . . .
