CASTING EQUIPMENT STARTER BLOCK

Equipment for the semi-continuous direct chill (DC) casting of sheet ingot or slabs of different dimensions, in particular for rolling purposes. The equipment includes a mold frame (2) with a pair of facing long side walls (3) and a pair of facing short end walls (4) where the walls define an upwardly open inlet for the supply of metal and a downwardly facing outlet. The outlet is provided with a starter block (6) on a movable support, which prior to each casting, closes the opening. The equipment includes a device for changing the mold dimensions where at least one end wall can be displaced to enable casting of different size ingots. The equipment further includes an arrangement for indirect and direct cooling of the metal during casting. The starter block is provided with short end walls (11) and long side walls (9). At least one short end wall is movable relative to the mold.