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PSA: Don't cheap out on the crucible brush like I did
Bought a cheap, no-name crucible brush for about $15 last month instead of the usual $40 one. Figured a brush is a brush, right? Wrong. The bristles melted and fused to the inside of a crucible on the third use, ruining a $300 batch of aluminum. Had to stop the whole pour, scrap the metal, and spend an hour chipping the mess out. That $25 I 'saved' cost me over $300 in lost material and an hour of downtime. Anyone have a brand they trust that can actually handle the heat?
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lisa_murray6mo ago
Used to think all brushes were basically the same until a similar thing happened to me. That lesson about cheap tools costing more in the long run is way too real. My shop only buys the Morgan brand ones now, they hold up. Still get a little nervous every time I grab one, though.
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ben4364mo ago
Well hold on, are we sure the price was the real problem here? I mean yeah a $15 brush is definitely cheap but maybe it wasn't even rated for the temps you were running. I've had good luck with the Morgan ones too but honestly I bought a $12 generic one off Amazon that's been going strong for six months now. The trick is you gotta check the materials and the temp rating, not just the price tag. A lot of the cheap ones use nylon or something that can't handle real heat, but if you find one with real fiberglass or ceramic fibers it might work just fine.
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