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People keep skipping the pre-heat on their pouring ladles and it's wrecking the iron temperature.
Saw a new guy do it again today. He pulled a cold ladle from the rack, dipped it straight into the furnace, and started pouring. The thermal shock drops the metal temp way too fast. I clocked a 150-degree drop on the pyrometer before the first mold was full. That's how you get cold shuts and misruns. My foreman at the old Sterling Foundry in Ohio drilled it into us: ladles go in the pre-heat zone for a full 20 minutes, no exceptions. How do you guys handle ladle prep at your shop?
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stellanelson1d ago
Remember that time someone used a cold ladle for aluminum?
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masongonzalez1d ago
Yeah, that bright red stripe idea from @kevin_west is solid... we ended up doing something like that but also added a big laminated sign right above the rack that just says "COLD LADLES ONLY" in huge letters. It sounds simple but having both the color and the words stopped the mix-ups for us.
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