Sow Molds & Dross/Drain pans · casthouses, remelt & recovery

Pre-Quote Technical Checklist for Aluminum Sow Molds

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FerroTech Castings

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Quote quality starts before the quote

A sow mold RFQ that only attaches an aluminum sow drawing will get a number. It may not get the right number—or the right metal.

FerroTech Castings LLC (FerroTech / FTC) coordinates manufacturing of sow molds and drain pans for the worldwide aluminum industry. We position on technical expertise, quality, and on-time shipment. That starts with capturing process truth before quote and ship: alloy class, duty/washout history, chemistry or microstructure when available, and the size family you actually run.

Most buyers (~99% in our experience) arrive with sow drawings and without clear mold-metal specs. Competitors sometimes treat chemistry as proprietary and rely on downtime fear to keep accounts. FTC’s preference is a clean, portable specification built from your process—so purchasing and casthouse process are aligned before metal is committed. (We covered why in Do you know the RIGHT chemistry for your casting process?.)

This checklist is what to send (or gather) before you ask for a formal quote.

The pre-quote technical checklist

Use this as a one-page cover note with your drawing package. Incomplete is fine; blank-and-wrong is not.

1. Process needs

State how the mold will run:

  • Casts (pours) per mold per day or per week
  • Cooling method (air cool, water cool top, water cool bottom, other)
  • Continuous vs campaign / carousel operation
  • Any special heat-transfer, strength, or ductility notes from process engineering

Duty patterns are not interchangeable. A few casts per day is not the same as 10–15 carousel cycles or 24/7 high-rate pouring. Process needs drive chemistry and related heat treatment—not the other way around.

2. Alloy class (standard vs mid—and higher if warranted)

Indicate the intended metal class, or ask FTC to advise from duty:

Class (practical language) Typical conversation trigger
Standard / lower alloy Lower cycle rates, milder washout history
Mid alloy Mid-range cycles, water cooling, prior early washout on standard
Higher alloy bands High or continuous cast rates; aggressive duty

Do not invent grade chemistries you do not have. “Standard vs mid alloy for ~X casts/day, cooling Y, washout Z” is enough to start a serious quote conversation. Named proprietary competitor formulas are not required—and FTC will not invent them.

3. Washout and duty history

Past molds are data:

  • Approximate pours (cycles) to washout or scrap on the last set
  • Failure mode (washout location, cracking, distortion, other)
  • Whether the last purchase was standard or mid alloy
  • Any plant notes on cleaning practice or thermal shock events

Generic pattern to avoid: ordering standard when mid alloy was needed for the actual cycle rate. Calendar “life in days” stories from another site are weaker than your own pours-to-failure notes. For more on why, see LP1500 / LP2000: Measure Mold Life in Cycles of Pours, Not Days.

4. Sow / mold size family

Name the size you run or need:

  • LP1500 / LP2000 — the families that dominate most sow/ingot mold buying (~95% of market conversations FTC sees)
  • LP1850 and related low-profile / standard-profile sizes as applicable
  • Other sizes or “custom — drawing attached”

Include fork pockets, runners, profile (low vs standard), and capacity notes if they are not obvious on the print.

5. Chemistry and microstructure (when known)

If you have lab reports, prior mill/chem certs, or microstructure notes from a previous successful mold, attach them. If you do not, say “not available—advise from process.” Either answer is usable. Guessing from the aluminum sow drawing alone is not.

FTC helps customers define clean mold-metal specs from process before quote. A wide range of chemical specifications and related heat treatments is available. The client receives a full engineering drawing with customer specifications and the required heat treatment as part of the order package.

6. Commercial and logistics basics

Keep the technical sheet separate from commercials, but include enough for a real quote:

  • Quantity and ship-to
  • Target date / readiness need
  • ExWorks vs delivered interest (when known)
  • Export/import constraints if any

FerroTech quotes can include production through customer delivery with export, import, and shipment details on the path you choose. Do not expect a landed number from a drawing-only email with no duty data.

Checklist summary (copy/paste)

PRE-QUOTE — SOW MOLD / DRAIN PAN
Company / site:
Contact:

Size family: LP1500 / LP2000 / LP1850 / other: ____
Drawing attached: Y/N

Casts per mold per day (or week):
Cooling method:
Alloy class intent: standard / mid / higher / advise
Washout / duty history (pours to failure + mode):
Chemistry / microstructure available: Y/N (attach if Y)

Qty / ship-to / target date:
Quote type interest: ExW / delivered / TBD

After you have a clean spec: inventory and draft quote

Once size, cycles, and alloy class are clear, two soft next steps fit natural plant workflows:

  1. Ready stock — When timing matters, check whether a matching ready-to-ship mold is available. FerroTech currently lists ready-stock Qty-15 FTC-LP1850 on the Inventory page (see live page for current status and terms). That path is useful when an LP1850 envelope fits and you already know the process class you need—not as a substitute for skipping the checklist.
  2. Online DRAFT Quote — Use the draft-quote path to walk size and duty inputs into a non-binding estimate, then follow with an official RFQ and drawing package.

Neither step replaces a clean mold-metal conversation. Both are faster once the checklist above is filled.

We do not publish invented prices in this article. Commercial figures belong on Inventory and on quoted documents after review.

What FTC will not do

  • Claim a company-owned foundry or in-house heat-treat shop we do not operate
  • Invent proprietary competitor chemistry formulas
  • Treat “a mold is a mold” as good enough for mid-alloy duty
  • Lock you in by refusing to document a portable metal specification

What we will do: help you capture process needs, alloy class, washout history, and size before quote—then coordinate manufacturing to that specification with quality and on-time shipment as the measure of the job.

Next steps

Before you send the next sow mold RFQ:

Attach the checklist above with your drawing. That is the shortest path from aluminum sow print to a mold-metal quote worth shipping against.

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