Ludlow sticking slug problem

[John B Easson]

My creaking and just operational Ludlow has a problem with the slugs sticking in the mats. I then have to extract the stick with slug attached, and break the slug to free the mats. I'm not sure why this is happening - is it temperature, pressure, dirty mats (they don't look bad, but haven't been used for ages)? It happens with large and small sizes. The metal in the pot is a mixture of scrap, not proper fresh ingots.
My book of troubleshooting solutions covers lots of topics, but not this one.

[John Cornelisse]

It looks that the metal could be a factor...

Metal for line casting machines, like Lino- & Intertype & Ludlow used an alloy near 4-8 Sn/An.

This alloy solidifies rather quick as a whole, at one define temperature, and the cristals the slug inside are rather small.

Whenever possible, it would be wise to use clean new lead bars.

[Mechanic]

Have a look at this maintenance sheet from Dave Seat.



http://www.hotmetalservices.com/Documents/JIMS%20-%20LUDLOW%20MAINTENANCE%20SCHEDULE.pdf

Visit his site
http://www.hotmetalservices.com/
He has a contact email address. People I know say he is very cooperative.

Although I've worked on Ludlows I'm no expert.

[John B Easson]

Many thanks for those replies, I'll follow them up, though I fear Dave Seat would have apoplexy if he saw the state of my machine, never mind found out what my maintenance schedule was (or isn't). As to the metal, dropping my digital camera in the pot a few months ago may not have helped the alloy content: it certainly didn't do the camera any good. (I was videoing the process of casting.)

[Dave Hughes]

Glad you managed to find some help John.

Sorry to hear about your camera. Was the camera still filming when it dropped in the pot? Could make a good "blooper" video!