PSA: My furnace hit 2,500 pours before the crucible gave out.

I was just logging the batch from yesterday and the number jumped out at me, way past what I expected from that supplier. It ran smooth right up until the end, no weird signs. Has anyone else seen a big jump in crucible life with a certain brand lately?

3 comments

3 Comments

wyatt_shah853d ago

Whoa hold on now. I gotta push back on this. I've been running the same cheap plain brown box crucibles for about three years now and they're all I'll buy. I average 900 to 1000 pours easy before they start showing hairline cracks. Maybe you guys are heating them too fast or cooling them down wrong? I always bring mine up slow and let them rest for a full minute between pours. Got one right now that's at 1100 pours and still going strong, no leaking or sagging. I'm not saying your numbers are wrong, just that I've had the exact opposite experience with those brown box ones.

charlie_allen1mo ago

What kind of bargain bin crucibles am I buying? I'm lucky to get 800 pours before mine starts looking like a science fair volcano project... and that's on a good day. Maybe I'm just cursed, or maybe I need to stop buying the ones that come in the suspiciously plain brown boxes.

morgan.mary1mo ago

Tell me about it. My last one cracked after maybe 600 pours, just a jagged line right up the side. Started weeping metal like a sad little fountain. Those plain brown boxes are a dead giveaway for junk.