Explore by Career/Production
Pourers and Casters, Metal
Operate hand-controlled mechanisms to pour and regulate the flow of molten metal into molds to produce castings or ingots.
- Median pay
- $48,940
- per year
- 10-year outlook
- -4.7%
- Declining
- Typical entry
- High school diploma or equivalent
Key skills
- Operations Monitoring
- Operation and Control
- Active Listening
- Critical Thinking
- Monitoring
- Judgment and Decision Making
- Coordination
- Quality Control Analysis
What they do
- Pour and regulate the flow of molten metal into molds and forms to produce ingots or other castings, using ladles or hand-controlled mechanisms.
- Read temperature gauges and observe color changes, adjusting furnace flames, torches, or electrical heating units as necessary to melt metal to specifications.
- Remove solidified steel or slag from pouring nozzles, using long bars or oxygen burners.
- Examine molds to ensure they are clean, smooth, and properly coated.
- Collect samples, or signal workers to sample metal for analysis.
- Load specified amounts of metal and flux into furnaces or clay crucibles.
- Position equipment such as ladles, grinding wheels, pouring nozzles, or crucibles, or signal other workers to position equipment.
- Skim slag or remove excess metal from ingots or equipment, using hand tools, strainers, rakes, or burners, collecting scrap for recycling.
- Transport metal ingots to storage areas, using forklifts.
- Assemble and embed cores in casting frames, using hand tools and equipment.
Majors that lead here
No mapped majors yet.
Sources: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (OEWS, Employment Projections) and O*NET, used under CC BY 4.0.