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Changed my mind about preheating the ladle for ductile iron
Had a big pour for a pump housing job two days ago and my ladle was cold, so I rushed it and got a nasty chill in the first casting. My foreman in Toledo always said to skip the full preheat to save gas, but that chill cost us three hours of grinding. What's your go-to method to get a ladle ready fast without burning fuel all morning?
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taylor.brooke4d agoMost Upvoted
Man, that's the worst feeling, seeing a chill ruin a good pour. Been there for sure. My crew got tired of waiting for a full preheat too. What works for us is keeping a pile of scrap risers or gates near the station. We'll toss a few of those hot ones into the cold ladle for like ten minutes before the pour. It steals their heat but gets the ladle up to temp fast without just burning gas. Saves a ton of time on the back end with the grinder.
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averyc944d ago
Our shop tried that once, but the new guy got a little too excited and melted a hole straight through a brand new ladle bottom. We're back to the slow gas preheat now, which is just sad.
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