Smeltery in my understanding, in the recipe for casting various objects, such as plates, gears, rods, steel, etc., should not turn them back into molten metal, but rather smelt them, judging by the name.
Example: Smeltery should not turn 40 iron plates into 20 molten iron, but rather 20 molten iron into 40 iron plates.
But if this was the intention, then I will know that I need to use classic foundries.
(Sorry if the message turned out crooked, I am writing it as I understand it. Waiting for an answer.)

this is the intended way. i cant see the issue. smeltery is just the name. the recipes are called melting.

The smeltery is not an upgraded foundry. its a sidegrade

Okay, let's say it was intended that way. But... why?
Just... why?
It's just that the logic should be reversed, because the Smeltery is a direct upgrade from the Foundry.

its. its not. it isnt a direct upgrade. i literally said it
itsa sidegrade. similiar things different niche. it can only craft its own set of recipe different from the foundry's. has been like this since the release of the mod. the intermediate melting recipes are more recent but they were added to make the smeltery more useful. the smeltery is fine as it is and works how i intended. i dont understand what the problem is. the recipes you're talking about are not casting. they're melting. its in the icon. they melt them back into molten metal. its for waste and quality farming. different from casting, which is made in the foundry.

also 20 molten iron into 40 iron plates is crazy unbalanced. 40 iron plates into 20 molten iron is balanced because it wont cause resource loops and should only used when there's a surplus.