Hot take: Stop using steel wool on aluminum molds

I saw a guy in the shop yesterday scrubbing down an aluminum mold with steel wool. Told him to STOP but he just shrugged. That stuff embeds tiny steel particles into the aluminum and then you get those little rust spots on your castings. I learned this the hard way 5 years ago after ruining a $1200 mold for a customer in Pittsburgh. Has anyone else had to deal with this or am I the only one who got taught this early on?

2 comments

Log in to join the discussion

Log In

2 Comments

evan_jenkins5mo ago

Blew up a $900 mold back in 2017 because of this exact mistake. Had a customer in Detroit who needed 500 decorative panels and every single one came out with those orange rust specks. Tried to polish them out but the damage was already done. Ended up having to recast the whole order out of pocket. Now I keep a roll of blue scotchbrite pads taped to my workbench with a note that says "not steel wool you idiot.

1

barbara845mo ago

Are you sure the rust specks couldn't have been scrubbed or buffed out somehow? I've had orange spots on metal stuff before and it usually comes off with the right cleaner.

4