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Finally got the hang of pouring aluminum without getting a ton of dross in the mold
Used to just skim the surface once and call it good, but after watching a guy in Detroit pack his ladle from the bottom and pour slow and steady, I tried it that way last week and my castings came out way cleaner, anyone else have a trick that made a big difference in their pour quality?
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eva_hayes5mo ago
Ladle packing from the bottom works great, but you gotta make sure you're not just skimming the top and calling it done. If you really want to cut down on dross, try heating your ladle up before you dip it in. A cold ladle can suck in some of that stuff and mess up your pour. Also, keep your pour steady but not too slow. Going slow can actually let air get in and cause more dross on the surface. I started preheating my tools and it made a bigger difference than I thought it would.
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ellis.jennifer5mo ago
Funny enough, I used to be pretty skeptical about preheating the ladle, @eva_hayes. Figured it was an extra step that didn't matter much since the metal was hot anyway. But after a few pours where I kept getting more dross than I wanted, I tried warming my ladle on the edge of the furnace for a minute or two. Night and day difference right away. The metal flowed smoother and I had way less junk floating on top. Now I'm a total convert on that one.
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