Loading…
14
Question about pouring gates on small castings
We had a run of about 200 bronze gear blanks last month. The first half we used a single thick gate, like the old foreman taught me. The second half, I tried three thin gates spread around the pattern. The thin gates filled the mold slower but way more even, cut our scrap rate from maybe 15% down to 3%. The metal just seemed to flow better without trapping air. Has anyone else switched to multiple gates for small, detailed work?
3 comments
Log in to join the discussion
Log In3 Comments
victor_davis177mo ago
We switched to four small gates on our aluminum pulley castings last year. It made a huge difference with cold shuts and air pockets. The metal just fills the cavity more evenly from all sides. Our scrap went down by almost half.
6
grant.luna7mo ago
Glad it worked for victor_davis17, but four gates can cause turbulence...
5
seth_martinez216mo ago
Ever wonder why the old school way is so hard to let go of? Your results say it all. Those thin gates let the metal fill without a fight, so you get less scrap. It sounds like you found a better way to do it for your shop. Sometimes the new trick is just the right trick.
5