Poor slugs / Slugs sticking in matrix

1-Clean Plunger and Well.
After three to five years of use, (Well Reamer)may need replacing. Due to the heating and cooling of Reamer, the four segments will become set to size of Well. Spreading these apart with a Screw Driver may help, but, square or cutting edges may become worn. Therefore it is best to replace Well Reamer. This can be decided by the amount of pressure needed to turn Reamer when immersed in Well. If a light pressure is needed to turn Reamer, then replacement is necessary.
When cleaning Plunger, be sure to check Side Walls for nicks and burrs. Check for Ring left by Metal Height in Crucible, as this may slow Stroke of Plunger. Use a Fine Grit of Emery Cloth for cleaning, or, a piece of Brass can also be used.
2 - Remove Mouthpiece and Clean Throat.
Obtain a Hand File one inch wide and ten-to twelve inches long, Grind a wood Chisel edge at one end. Use this file for scraping and chopping Dross off Side Walls inside of Throat area. To clean farther down into Throat Opening, use a 3/16 x 3/8 x 15 inch long piece of Bar Stock. Bend one end so that it can reach down underneath the Side Wall on Lef Side of Throat opening
Type, using the largest size available, cast about (12) twelve slu gs, then After cleaning Throat as mentioned above, install Mouthpiece. Set a line of remove Mouthpiece again to clean out Dross that has been pushed up to top of Metal in Throat.
Clean Mouthpicce Slot with (2 pt. ) two point blade, scrape outer walls of Funnel, scrape and clean inner walls of Funnel
Do not put Funnel in Vise, clamp Mouthpiece in the Vise, using a rag and then scrape the Mouth piece. First one side, then the other to clean the sides of the Funnel. To clean the slot, use the Slot Scraper or if you can get one, a broken Rouse Band Saw Blade. Break it in pieces about 7 or 8 inches long, these Blades are thin and flexible and can be twisted withou t breaking and they are ideal for cleaning out the Slot. There is just enou gh set to the Teeth to do a good job of cleaning out the Slot.
If Slot is wider than two points, replace Mouth piece. If Air Vents appear shallow, send Mouthpiece in to Factory for Cleaning and Re- Venting.
Be sure to use Wire Brush on Mouthpiece to keep Air Vents clean and open for proper escape of Air at time of casting. If Air Vents become filled with Dross, Air will not be able to be pushed out of casting area and the resu It will be Hollow Slugs.
3 - Check Plunger Connecting Lever #274A.
Holes in Connecting Lever in time will become Oval shaped, Pins #280 become worn, hole in Connecting Lever Bracket #276 also become Oval Shaped. Connecting Rod #271 will also need replacin g. These con ditions give a delayed action and bounce to Plunger Stroke, and shou ld be replaced before trying to set or check Plunger Height.
At this point, check hole in Plunger Link Shaft #253. This also may have to be replaced. In some cases, it is best to replace Plunger, for removal of Plunger Link Shaft is more trouble than it appears to be.
4 - Check Height of Plunger.
Set with 1/ 16” drill Rod, as instructed in Ludlow Manual, Plunger Height Adjustment.” Turn Plunger Connecting Lever one full turn down. Then cast about (12) twelve to (15) fifteen slugs with largest Type available to check Plun ger Height for Metal flow into Well. f Metal does not flow properly into Well after casting some slugs. Plunger will hit bottom of Well. Raise Plunger Level one full turn to allow proper flow of Metal into Well.
5- Check Plunger Spring Pressure.
inch
Set distance between Plunger Connectin g Yoke #278 and Plu n ger Spring Plug#264, at (11) eleven Picas. The distance or space of (l1) eleven Picas should be figured from the top of Plunger Spring Plu g to the underside of Plunger Connecting Yoke. Set Plunger Spring Adjusting Lever in front of Machine at Medium, or one Notch above Medium. 11 PiCAS
If a part is worn REPLACE IT! Worn parts can not be made to work!

Is the plunger clean, does it float, are there bubbles or a disturbance in the metal on top when the plunger descends, is the crucible temperature set to 565F, is the pressure lever in the front set to mid-way, is the pressure lever springs in the back adjusted properly, is the plunger height correct, is the mold stopped up so that water does not flow down both sides of the channel, is the water pump pumping strongly, if I remembe correctly, you bought some machines from a company in Redding, CA, did you mix thei metal with yours, they did not have lead in their mixture, could this have contaminated your metal supply? Have you had your metal analysized for the proper mixture? 4% ta 4.5% TIN, 11.5% ANTIMONY and the balance lead?

If your well cleaning tool is worn out, a Linotype/Intertype well scraper or brush will work and should be used each time the plunger is removed. Dave Seat has been selling new well scraping tools designed for the Ludlow.

The slug on the extreme right has the appearance that the plunger is not cleanly descending-hence the ejection blade is sinking into the slug (and will eventually jam the slug in the mold).

The face shown looks a little cold. See if turning the mouthpiece up by 10 degrees gives a better shine (but not chrome looking) face.

I agree with Mike that the slug looks cold. If your pot and mouthpiece temperatures are OK, I would check the alignment of mouthpiece to mold, because if it is too far off, metal will flow into the mold along one side, maybe even one end of one side, and get chilled before it reaches the face. I would also double-check the level of metal in the pot. Low metal and bad alignment can both cause voids in the slug. I had a similar problem when getting my Model M working a few years ago, and after going through most of the other troubleshooting you mention above, finally got good slugs after getting the alignment of mold and mouthpiece right.

One other problem I ran into, but forgot to mention above, is the the pot pump cam roller stud broke, giving insufficient and variable piston travel. I had to make a new stud.

Found out mold only circulating have way. New mold made significantly better slugs. Will continue to experiment..08 Jan 26
However even though it may make usable slugs they now get stuck in matrix…..
Wonder….the relay for mouth got stuck once and temperature went up to over 700f …although it still turns off and on the slugs come out very hot. The book says overheating will damage thermostat…..is it worth changing even though it still appears to be working??
Possible turn mouth piece lower and higher.
Cycle speed is 5 seconds a little fast for M Model.
3 of or machines have this condition of poor slugs and sticking in matrix 2 M model 1 L model. If it is the lead we got, why do the 2 other machines work good on same lead?

No luck though slugs are more solid, still stick I’m matric at any temperature even though don’t stick on other machines

Do the same slugs in the same stick cast clean on the good machines and stick on the bad ones? If you have a hot metal thermometer (one of the must have tools in a hot metal shop), your metal temperature should be about 535 degrees. Nothing should affect the casting cycle speed of your machine, unless a machine has been remotored or pulleys swapped by a previous owner. Model Ms were built to cycle faster than the previous Model L machines.

I had some difficulty with slugs sticking in the mats, but found that some of the mats had damage. I used the Ludlow mat repair tool (supported file) and things were on the mend.

If you are having casting problems and all other parameters have been explored, I suggest getting your metal analyzed and if it is off from the standard recommended formulas, top it up. For example, after frequent use and recycle, the level of Tin can be reduced, partly in the dross and partly from previous casts. Tin assists the flow of material however, I believe the three type alloys are not completely homogenous in the pot. You mentioned overheating the pot, I believe the alloys can stratify even more in this situation and give you trouble. In general, with Monotype, lower temperatures and the correct formula of metals are better for consistent production. It could be the same for Ludlow, although I have no experience with it.