Ingot Stripping Crane

Ingot trains would deliver ingots still in the molds that helped create the ingot. A special stripper crane in the rolling mill would remove the mold from the ingot.

John Abbott posted
600 ton stripper crane

That is a big crane. Most of the big overhead cranes we see in erecting shops seem to be around 200 ton capacity. I wonder what holds down the ingot if the mold needs to be pulled up with 600 tons of force. The mold doesn't weight near that amount. Doing a Google search with "ingot stripping crane" made it more confusing because I came across the following image of a 4-ton crane doing the job. But when I noticed the man standing on the floor near the right side, I realized the above ingots are a lot bigger than the ones below.

Tony Tomasino posted
Stripper Crane
David Fred Johnson: Ran a stripper crane for a short time…got harry when you punched thru the top of an ingot and it’s still not solidified.
Scott Gracie: I worked in the Blooming Mill at Weirton Steel beginning in 1976 for about a year . The open hearth was no longer longer functional so our ingots were also cast at the BOF and sent to the Blooming Mill for rolling. They also cast slabs there but until 1992, Weirton Steel provided both cast and rolled slabs. I believe it had to do with some customers preferring steel rolled from ingots. As it progressed to the 1990s, most slabs were cast, less rolled. Actually I was surprised, the Weirton Blooming Mill lasted into the early '90s, as I believed slabs from the continuous caster would have eliminated rolled slabs many years sooner.
Some customers demanded Team steel which was rolled from ingots. Ingot steel allowed for a greater range of alloys in the finished slab.

Graham Whitfield: I regret not taking photos of our Stripper Cranes.

The two original Cranes didn’t have the cumbersome and complicated tongs like the enclosed photo.

They were fast, versatile and very manoeuvre able, had shorter tongs and a good Ram action.

The third Crane was similar to the one shown, it was a disaster.

Slow, cumbersome and constantly breaking down.

The Ram action was very powerful and frequently ripped off the lugs of the Moulds when stripping a cast.

Incredibly it was painted White in a dirty, dusty area like the Stripper Bay.

It was referred to as ‘The White Elephant.’

David Slaton: I worked in the stripper for 8 years I was a Mold and stool person. After the molds were striped they were sent to be prepared for the next heat .I walked the tops and dropped the new hot top boards in .very hot and dirty job.

 

Jon Wolfe posted
A steel ingot being lifted out of the soaking pit - Shelton Steel Works.

Graham Whitfield commented on David's comment

The dust on top of the Hot Top ingots from the boards or tiles was awful.

If you got an eyeful it was straight over to the medical centre to get it washed out.

One Loco Driver lost an eye when a dust cloud blew into the cab of the Loco.

After Stripping the dust remaining on the top of the Moulds was ‘blown off’ by a compressed air lance from a platform.

Some ‘super brain’ located this platform opposite the Canteen so the dust blew in open windows.

 

Graham Whitefield commented on Tony's post

We had 4 Soaking Pit cranes we called Charger cranes on our 36 Soaking Pits.

Poetry in motion, never got tired of watching them in action.

 

Kenneth Ashcom commented on Tony's post
I had the luxury to do a semi major overhaul on the tongs and pivot points on the stripper at Coatesville back in 2015

Kenneth commented on his comment

BankLands

Stripping the moulds from ingots.

Moulds were stripped in sequence with the teeming operations roughly 20 minutes after casting. Special lifting arms on the 4 ton capacity stripper crane would engage lugs on the ingot mould and strip it off the ingot. Ingot teeming and stripping took place in the same bay. When completed, the ingot cars would be hauled by locomotive outside, and then alongside the stripping bay to the soaking pit bay.

You can see the crane operator in the cab of the stripper crane just behind the two lamp reflectors.

The above is part of a "tour" of making steel rails. The tour starts here. You can tell it is a British mill because of the words like "wagon" for freight car and "sleeper" for tie. This operation shutdown in the early 1980s. Since it was making ingots instead of using continuous casting, I assume it was an obsolete plant.

But this picture does show the stripping cranes can be rather big. Note that DES makes a lot of other heavy manufacturing equipment and that it is in China.

DES

HAER PA-200-B
5. 45' MILL INGOT STRIPPER CRANE, WITH STEELWORKER FOR SCALE. - U.S. Steel Homestead Works, 45" Plate Mill, Along Monongahela River, Homestead, Allegheny County, PA

Mike Kieltyka commented on a posting
Crane stripping ingot mold off hot ingot at South Works.

There were so many steel mills on the southeast side of Chicago that there was a company that specialized in storing them.

Tony Margis posted two photos.
John Orlando Molds from Valley Mold. Next to Interlake I think.

Bob Green Valley Mold use to pile the ingot mold like that. Trouble was, they piled it too close to the railroad tracks. The ladle would rub up against them as I delivered iron from Interlake Steel.

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(new window)  This video starts with stripping the ingot molds.

A couple photos of an ingot being stripped and lots of comments about who still uses ingots