the wire directing tube in proper orientation the preferred angle of incidence results in the wire impinging on the pouring stream within the mold a short distance above the meniscus by proper adjustment of the angle of feed tube 34 the wire may be caused to impinge on the pouring stream at any location between the bottom of the shroud tube and the level of the liquid 53 in the mold as a specific example of the operation of this invention 3 32 inch diameter aluminum wire was fed through the wire feeding apparatus at both slow and maximum speeds under good shrouding conditions without incurring any casting problems numerous transverse slices were cut from the cast billets and analyzed for aluminum content and distribution the tests indicate that the aluminum distribution across the cross section of the billet has no significant variation etch tests were made to determine whether any large slag pockets were present at or near the surface of the billet the results showed that the aluminum recovery is substantially 100 and that the aluminum distribution across the billet is relatively uniform there were very few inclusions and no slag pockets in the etch tests the directional wire feed apparatus can be employed with any presently known shrouding device which completely excludes air from the shrouding device in fact in the case where a mold top is completely covered.