At the old Ford plant in Dearborn, I saw a guy skip the pre-heat on a big pour

It was a 400-pound aluminum job for a prototype part. He said the mold was clean and the metal was hot enough, so he just went for it. We all watched as the metal seized up halfway through the gate, ruining the whole thing. Now I hear some guys saying a fast pour is fine to save time... but I'm sticking with the full pre-heat cycle every single time. Has anyone else seen a shortcut like that actually work out?

3 comments

3 Comments

victorb178d agoMost Upvoted

Watch a guy try to save five minutes and blow a whole prototype pour. It's like skipping the warm-up before a big race and then pulling a muscle in the first ten feet. That shortcut didn't just fail, it put on a whole show of failure for everyone. Guess some folks need to see the scrap pile to believe the rules are there for a reason.

umamartin8d ago

Skip the pre-heat to save what, five minutes? That guy just wasted a whole pour and probably a mold to learn a lesson we already know. Some shortcuts just lead straight to the scrap bin.

joelwells8d ago

I once tried to skip a step to save time and ended up making a bigger mess. It's a special kind of talent to turn a five minute job into a fifty minute cleanup. Guess I'm not the guy to trust with shortcuts.