Almost ruined a $500 ductile iron casting because I skipped preheating the ladle

I figured I'd save 10 minutes on a small job and ended up with cold shuts and porosity in the whole pour, so now I always let my ladle sit on the furnace for at least 15 minutes. Has anyone else learned this lesson the hard way with their pour temps?

2 comments

2 Comments

leo5672mo ago

Honestly, that's one of those lessons that sticks with you after you watch $500 worth of metal turn into scrap. I do the same thing now with my ladle, I leave it in the furnace while I finish prepping the mold so it's just radiating heat when I'm ready to tap. Cold ladle is a killer on ductile especially, I'll also give it a quick wipe with a torch if I'm working in a drafty shop. Ngl I've gotten lazy on small pours before and paid for it every time.

the_sam2mo ago

Holy crap, $500? lmao that's brutal man. I've never had a single pour cost that much but I can feel the pain through the screen. The bit about wiping with a torch in a drafty shop is smart though, never thought of that. My shop is leaky as hell so I'm gonna steal that trick for sure. That cold ladle lesson is one of those things you only learn the hard way.