Fripps Fabulous Flux

Jewelry Discussion
1

Dear Orchidians,

I have followed the many flux-oriented threads for a while and
finally asked Chris Hentz if I could post this recipe. I took a 5-day
soldering workshop with him last year (at the Mendocino Art Center)
and the following is from my notes:

One of the reasons this flux is ‘fabulous’ is because it gives you a
longer working time. Chris said it’s okay to pass around this recipe,
but to please credit the inventors when you do so. The “F” is for
Fred Fenster, who modified John Prip’s original recipe. [I think the ‘Fabulous’ may also be for Chris, who tweaked it–he has a fabulous sense of humor and is an incredibly warm, wonderful, and caring teacher.]

The recipe for the flux is:

	50 grams dry Cascade (the green box)
	120 grams boric acid
	80 grams Borax ("20 mule team" laundry soap)
	(Be sure to keep this ratio)

Mix it dry, and WELL, in e.g. a large mayo jar. Then mix about 2
tbs. in a cup of water, in a good sized glass container, and
microwave CAREFULLY (i.e. don’t let it boil over).

Chris said the Cascade gives it a bit of an etch. No flourides, no
oxides, cheap, good visibility at joint, activates at 350 F, stays
active to 1900+. Quench in water first, to avoid fumes–not
self-pickling.

Of course, he told us a thousand times to be sure the metal is clean
first, but he thinks warming it with a torch is usually enough to
clean off skin oil, etc. Also,if you want to apply the flux with a
brush, be certain it doesn’t have a metal ferrule…I have 5 days
more of this kind of stuff, but I’ll stop here. If you can take a
workshop with him, I highly recommend it.

Happy fluxing,

Lisa Orlando
Aphrodite's Ornaments
Benicia, CA

(where I need to find another rental house by November 1…and then
move. Maybe this time I’ll find a place where I can actually practice
what Chris taught me!)

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For those of you who contacted me off list, Chris Hentz will be
teaching his “Outrageously Thorough Soldering Workshop” at Arrowmont
next summer - June 7 - 11, 2004.

Lisa Orlando
Aphrodite’s Ornaments

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Dear Lisa The recipe sounds very interesting, but what exactly is
"Cascade"? Anything we can get hold of here in Europe? Niels

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I had the pleasure of taking a Chris course this summer.

To modify the recipe slightly, the boric acid is also off the
shelf… Roach Prufe 98% boric acid

It is available at hardware stores.

When you buy one box of Cascade, one can of Roach Prufe and a box of
20 Mule team Borax, you have a lifetime supply of flux.

It is still cheap and an excellent material.

Ben A Harris

5

Cascade is an automatic dishwasher “soap” sold by Procter and
Gamble. It may not be the same everywhere. The primary ingredient of
the stuff sold in Texas appears to be TSP or trisodium phosphate. I
was surprised that this is so it contains 6.4 percent elemental
phosphorous.

The second ingredient is Sodium carbonate-- soda ash. It also
includes some sodium silicate and a dry chlorine bleach. These are
listed in decreasing order of concentration to this point Then a
little defoamer, perfume etc.

Some areas in the US prohibit phosphates-- I thought we did here.
The way this is shown means it is very largely TSP. jesse

'
End of forwarded message

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The recipe sounds very interesting, but what exactly is "Cascade"?
Anything we can get hold of here in Europe?

Hi, Niels,

Cascade is a detergent for dishwashing machines…I never thought
about that. I don’t have one myself and maybe they’re not that
common in the rest of the world! However, you can see a picture of
the famous “green box” at:

http://www.homemadesimple.com/cascade/products/base.shtml

which might help you in your search…Also, one Orchidian sent me an
adddress for an MSDS for Cascade:

http://www.cleenol.co.uk/DS%20CLEENOL%20STANDARD/CASCADE.doc

Good Luck,
Lisa Orlando

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The Boric Acid Roach killer can be obtained at any “Family Dollar
Store” and most $.99 Stores. It is a buck for about 2 lbs.

Silverfoot-

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    When you buy one box of Cascade, one can of Roach Prufe and a
box of 20 Mule team Borax, you have a lifetime supply of flux.

Can you please recommend sizes (weight) of these boxes?? They do
come in a variety of sizes.

Thanks, Elizabeth
www.borntobeworn.com

9 
   Can you please recommend sizes (weight) of these boxes??  They
do come in a variety of sizes.

Elizabeth, buy whichever sizes you like. I mention that in case
you didn’t notice that the flux recipe itself, is in grams for each
component. The size box you pour it from is irrelevant… And of
course, any excess of the three materials that won’t be made into
flux, can still be used for it’s original purpose. Also, note that
with the boric acid and borax, you can do more than make prips or
Frips flux. boric acid alone, especially if powder, not granules,
and mixed with denatured alcohol, is a mainstay of any goldsmiths
bench as a firecoat for gold or diamonds. Both boric acid and
borax can be used, alone or mixed together, as a fine melting/casting
flux.

And, to the poster of the Frips recipe, THANKS. Always interesting
to see a variation of my old favorite, and especially interesting to
learn it comes from Fred Fenster, as he’s the one who first
introduced me to the original Prips flux recipe.

By the way, I question the use of the double “P” in spelling both
Prips and Prips. The original is named after Jack Prip, who doesn’t
double the final P in his name. Someone, perhaps even me, introduced
that spelling error some time back, and now I keep seeing it, in
spite of mentioning from time to time that it was a typo in the first
place…

Peter

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Its powdered dishwasher detergent

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Exact same ingredients in same proportions? Aren’t different company’s detergents all different?

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What you actually are looking for is TSP, Trisodium Phosphate, or its harder to find close relatives, Disodium phosphate or Monosodium Phosphate. Its the phosphate part of these that takes the needed role in the flux (it acts like a wetting agent, helping molten boric acid or Borax stay on the metal instead of pulling away.

The key to this discussion is that while the phosphates are effective in our flux, in normal use as cleaners, they end up going down the drain, where they soon act as powerful fertilizers causung algae and water plant blooms in streams or other open waterways the stuff gets to. Many communities now ban the use and sale of dish detergent or commercial cleaners containing phosphate. When you buy TSP now, its often in quotes or modified, and the ingredients on the label usually show various silicate compounds, which do not work so well in our flux. But dish washer detergent are mixes, NOT all the same. Some may work to lower surface tension on the metal as well as TSP did. So do what Jack Prip, Fred Fenster, Richard Thomas, and others have done through the years. Put on your inquisitive chemist hat and try the various possible ingredients and see what works best some wont work, but its likely that something eventually will work. Just dont forget ventilation and other safety measures you may need. Melting various unknown materials could generate unexpecred fumes…

Peter Rowe

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You can buy the original TSP in NY, so I bought it off the internet and have enough to last a long time…Rob

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