A close-up view of the top of the furnace showing metal being ladled. The railroad rail is used as a weight to hold the sheet iron cover in place during firing. Skim is removed from the metal surface prior to ladling and broken into small pieces while hot. Subsequently, the skim pile is manually picked over for any identifiable aluminum pieces, which are remelted. Breaking open the mold after the pour is an unpredictable procedure.
Visual inspection discloses surface defects.
Rejected pots are immediately recycled back to the melting furnace. Obviously there is an abundance of easily identifiable enhancement opportunities at the foundry. But, when the restraint of capital expenditure availability to acquire equipment and supplies from other parts of the world is considered, the opportunities evaporate. Some items such as fluxing materials, a pyrometer, fluidity tester, filter screens, a short trough, a tundish to the mold area to allow a continuous pour, and even a sheet-metal chimney hood to exhaust smoke and fumes would be beneficial. Safety equipment of all types would help.