3D model of a ladle preheater cover for a steel mill.

Engineering and Design

At Rubicon, we don’t just supply refractory products—we engineer solutions. Our in-house design and engineering team works closely with customers to develop custom refractory systems that improve performance, extend service life, and reduce downtime. From ladle bottoms to deltas to custom shapes, we blend practical field experience with computer aided design to create solutions tailored to your operation’s exact needs. Whether you're building from the ground up or optimizing an existing system, Rubicon delivers precision, innovation, and reliability every step of the way.

A welder at Rubicon Refractories wearing protective gear, including a welding helmet with colorful markings, is welding a metal structure in an industrial setting with sparks and bright blue light from the welding process.

Fabrication and Welding

Rubicon Refractories sets itself apart with an in-house welding and fabrication operation. Our skilled fabricators and welders produce custom steel components, molds, and structural assemblies tailored to each customer’s exact specifications. What makes us different? We control the process end-to-end, cutting lead times, ensuring tighter tolerances, and adapting on the fly to urgent field needs. Whether it’s a one-off job or a large-scale production run, Rubicon delivers fast, reliable, American-made solutions that keep your operation moving.

Five welders, two rolling machines, CNC plasma cutting machine, one mobile plasma cutter, burning equipment, threading machines, band saws, overhead 5-ton crane, and other steel fabricating equipment serve as the backbone of our fabrication capabilities. We take your custom shapes and make them a reality here. And if you break it, we can fix it.

Factory interior with construction equipment, including a forklift and a large cement mixing machine, in an industrial setting with workers and machinery.

Casting and Curing

Our 7400 lb and two 1500 lb mixers are the core of Rubicon’s casting operation, engineered to efficiently blend dense, high-performance refractory mixes for precast shapes. From standard components to fully customized forms, we cast with consistency and precision.

Once cast, each piece is cured in one of our huge industrial ovens, including our largest unit is capablle of curing shapes up to 16' wide x 30' long x 12' tall. A secondary oven measuring 10' x 30' x 10' and specialized mobile ovens allow us to handle everything from large batches to complex custom pieces like tilters and tundish linings. All of these units are tied to our remote control system, allowing us to monitor and each bake from anywhere.

Heavy lifting is no problem—we’re equipped with a 15-ton overhead crane and a fleet of forklifts with capacities ranging from 5,000 to 33,000 pounds. From start to finish, our casting process is built for precision, scale, and speed.