PSA: I switched from a standard ladle to a bottom-pour for a tricky bronze job

Had a small run of 20 bronze bushings last week that needed really clean metal. The choice was using our old hand ladle or trying the shop's bottom-pour setup I never touch. I went with the bottom-pour to avoid slag and it was a game changer. The fill was so much smoother with no dross getting in the mold. It added maybe five minutes to the prep but saved me an hour of grinding and fixing rejects. Anyone else have a go-to tool they switched to for a specific alloy or part?

2 comments

2 Comments

ivangrant1mo ago

Honestly, I feel you on that. We had a similar stubborn job with some aluminum castings last month. Kept getting inclusions with our regular ladle. Finally tried a degassing setup we never use, and it was night and day. Tbh the prep felt like a pain but it saved so much cleanup. Makes you wonder what other tools are just sitting there.

coleman.christopher1mo ago

But what if that degassing setup is just a lucky fix? @ivangrant, sometimes the old ladle works fine and the extra prep just eats into your time for no real gain. Maybe those unused tools are just clutter.