That's basically it. In a wonderful world, the oxides flow on top of the flux during heating through reflow.
Obviously when compared to reflow soldering, you create much more dross with your wave by: * Pumping a large volume of very hot solder to have contact with O2 in the air. * "Cleaning" a much larger surface [the whole board] of crud, dirt, and whatnot.
Two of the better discussion on the action of fluxing are: * "Reflow Soldering Processes And Troubleshooting" Lee, NC; Butterworth-Heinemann; ISBN: 0750672188; 1st edition (December 15, 2001) * HDBK-001 - Handbook & Guide to the Requirements of Soldered Electronic Assemblies
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