Warning: I was pouring a simple aluminum bracket wrong for a decade

For years at our foundry in Dayton, I'd just dump the metal straight into the mold from the crucible. About six months ago, a new guy from a big shop in Detroit watched me and said, 'You're pouring too fast, you're trapping air.' He showed me to tilt the crucible slowly and pour along the side of the sprue, not the center. I tried it on the next run of 50 parts, and the scrap rate from porosity dropped by half. Has anyone else had a basic pouring technique that they had to unlearn?

3 comments

3 Comments

margaret7361mo ago

Guess you can teach an old dog new tricks. Just takes a decade and a new guy.

miasanchez1mo ago

Actually that trick with the beer glass works, it's just about the angle. You tilt the glass and pour down the side first to avoid too much foam. My buddy who tends bar showed me that after I made a mess at his place last summer.

matthewwilson1mo ago

Honestly, that's like me learning you shouldn't just slam a beer glass down on the bar to settle the head. Some basics you just miss.