c/foundry-workers

Tried a different riser height on our old Jones and Lamson molding line

We were running a big batch of gray iron pump housings and the boss said to try a 2 inch riser instead of our usual 2.5. I figured we'd get some shrinkage... but the castings came out solid with way less clean-up. Learned that old machine can handle a tighter pour if the metal temp is just right. Anyone else had a win by tweaking an old setup?

A guy at the scrap yard in Toledo told me to always check for zinc before melting down mystery brass, saved me a huge headache last month.

The week our old core machine finally gave out taught me more than a year of smooth runs.

Last Tuesday, the hydraulic pump on our 1987 Palmer core shooter seized completely during a big order for a local tractor company. We lost a full day's production trying to source a part, and the noise it made, a high-pitched shriek followed by a thud, is still in my ears. I ended up calling a retired guy named Frank who used to run the machine, and he walked me through a bypass fix over the phone using parts we had on hand. Has anyone else had an old piece of equipment fail in a way that forced you to learn a completely new repair?

Just realized I've poured over 1000 tons of metal in my career. That number kinda blew my mind.

I was filling out some paperwork for a safety award and had to add up my production hours. Did the rough math on average pour weights from the old brass fittings job in Toledo to the current steel castings run. Hit that four-digit tonnage mark without even noticing. It's wild to think about all that molten stuff, from tiny ingots to those massive gear blanks we did for the mill. Makes you think about the scale of this work over the years. Anyone else ever stop and calculate their lifetime tonnage? What did you get?

Showerthought: Our scrap rate dropped from 15% to 3% after switching to a new binder system.

We were using a standard sodium silicate mix for our cores, but the boss brought in this new organic stuff about six months ago. The difference in shakeout is night and day, way less breakage on the thin sections. What's the biggest single change you've seen cut down on waste in your shop?

A new guy on the floor asked me why I tap the sand mold three times before pouring

It was his second week at the old Hamilton Street foundry, and he just stood there watching my routine. I told him my first boss, a guy named Frank, showed me that back in '09. He said it's not in any manual, but it settles the fine grains and finds hidden air pockets. That little trick has saved me from more scrapped castings than I can count. Does anyone else have one of those old habits that just works?

Question about the old forge display at the county fair

I went to the state fair in Springfield last weekend and they had a blacksmithing demo next to the petting zoo. The guy running it was using a tiny, clean propane forge to make little hooks. It looked more like a fancy kitchen gadget than a real shop setup. He told the crowd it was 'just like the big industrial ones, but safer.' Made me think about the first time I walked into a real foundry and felt the heat from twenty feet away. Has anyone else seen a demo that was way too clean and neat to be real?

Unpopular opinion: I thought the old-timer who insisted on using a specific ramming technique for greensand was just stuck in his ways.

He showed me at the 2018 AFS CastExpo in Fort Worth how his method cut our scrap rate by 15% on a tricky job. Anyone else have a simple trick that actually worked better than the modern way?

Wasted $300 on a 'high heat' respirator that melted in under a month

I bought a fancy respirator online for pouring bronze, thinking the extra cost meant it could handle the radiant heat near the furnace. The face seal started to warp and get soft after maybe three weeks of use, making it useless and a safety risk. What brand do you guys actually trust for hot work that lasts more than a season?

Choosing between a dry sand mix and a green sand mix for a small bronze casting

I had to pick one for a custom gear pattern last week and went with dry sand for its better detail. It held the sharp edges on the teeth really well but took longer to set up. What mix do you guys like for small, detailed pieces?

A retired molder in Toledo told me he never used gloves for fine detail work

He said he could feel the sand's moisture better with his bare hands, which helped him catch bad ramming before the pour. Anyone else skip gloves for certain tasks, or is that just an old-school thing?

Spent two days chasing a chill on a simple gray iron pour

We had a job for some small gear blanks, standard stuff. The metal looked good in the furnace, but every casting came out with a hard chill right at the gate, making them useless. Checked the temp, checked the mold coating, nothing worked. Finally, an old hand came over, felt the sand with his bare hand, and said our moisture was way too low for how fine the sand was ground. We adjusted the muller cycle, added a bit more water, and the next pour was perfect. Anyone else run into a chill that just wouldn't quit because of something simple like sand prep?

I finally got to see the old steel mill museum in Pittsburgh and their sand molding display was wild

Had to choose between a new sand mixer or fixing our old furnace at the Tacoma shop

The old Simpson mixer was down to 60% capacity and the main furnace needed a $15,000 rebuild. We picked the furnace fix because we couldn't risk a full meltdown during the winter rush. It worked, but now we're hand-mixing a lot of facing sand... anyone else had to make a call like that between equipment?

Update: I saw a guy get his glove caught in a conveyor at the old Midland Steel plant

It was about five years ago during a night shift. He was trying to clear a jam on the sand feed line without locking it out first. The machine grabbed his glove and pulled his whole arm in before it tripped the emergency stop. He only broke his wrist, but it could have been a lot worse. Everyone says 'just be careful' but I think we need to push for more automatic lockouts on those old systems. Has your shop upgraded any of the older gear to make it safer?

Just wasted $80 on a cheap knockoff pouring shank

I mean, I grabbed it from some online tool shop because it was half the price of the usual brand. The thing cracked on the third pour, spilled about 15 pounds of bronze, and ruined the mold. Total waste of metal and my whole morning. Has anyone found a decent budget shank that actually holds up?

Shoutout to the guy in Toledo who showed me his sand mix

I used to pack facing sand by feel, thinking more was better for mold strength. He let me run a test with his exact 30% bentonite blend, and the surface finish was way cleaner with less gas holes. Now I weigh my mix for every job instead of guessing. Anyone else switch to measuring after seeing the difference?

Overheard a new guy at the Pittsburgh plant call our old core boxes 'relics' while he was setting up his 3D printed ones, which got me thinking about whether we're holding onto tradition too tightly or if the old ways are just more reliable.

I'm torn because those printed cores are fast and perfect every time, but I've seen a steel-to-iron pour from a 40 year old wooden box hold a tolerance a plastic one just can't... what's your take on new tech versus proven gear?

Our old sand slinger's main drive belt snapped halfway through a Tuesday pour

It was a 2-inch wide V-belt that had been on there since before I started. We had a spare in the maintenance locker and got it swapped in under an hour by rigging a temporary block on the hoist. Anyone have a good source for heavy-duty belts that can handle the constant start-stop shock loads?

The week our main cupola went down and we had to get creative

Last Tuesday, our big cupola furnace blew its main blower motor right at the start of a 50-ton iron pour order. We were dead in the water for 36 hours waiting on a part. Instead of just sitting, the whole crew shifted to cleaning and prepping every single mold line we had, something we never have time for. We even jury-rigged a smaller furnace to keep some small-batch work going. By the time the motor came in, we were so set up that we caught up on the whole backlog in two days. Has anyone else had a major breakdown that forced a different workflow that actually helped?

Serious question, has anyone ever had a core shift right at the pour?

I was running a big gray iron job at the plant in Toledo, a 500-pound gear housing. We had the mold set, cores in place, everything looked perfect. The furnace was tapped, metal was at 2750 degrees, and we started the pour. Halfway through, I saw the cope lift maybe an eighth of an inch. I yelled to stop but it was too late. The whole core assembly shifted inside the mold. We let it cool, broke it out, and the casting was scrap. The boss blamed it on insufficient mold weight, but I swear we used the standard 1000 pounds of weights on top. What's the fastest way you've found to check for a potential shift before the metal hits the sprue?

Had a pour go sideways on Tuesday because of a bad vent plug

We were casting a big gear blank, about 200 pounds of iron, and the mold looked perfect. Right after we poured, though, we got a nasty blowback from a vent that was clogged with old sand (someone must not have cleaned the plug properly). It shot hot metal about three feet back toward the furnace, which was a real mess to clean up and meant the whole casting was scrap. Has anyone else had a simple thing like a dirty vent cause a whole job to go bad?

A trick with old sand that saved our pour last week

We had a big job for a local machine shop and our green sand was acting up, too wet from the rain. My foreman in Toledo said to mix in some dry, used sand from a batch we ran three months ago. We tried a 30% mix and it fixed the mold strength right away. The castings came out clean with no blow holes. Has anyone else tried blending old sand back in to fix moisture problems?

Rant: The old sand system at the Midvale plant versus the new automated one

Back in 2010, we were still mixing green sand by hand in the big hopper at the Midvale plant, which took three guys about 45 minutes per batch. Now the whole line is automated with that new Palmer system, and the mix is done in under ten minutes with one operator watching a screen. It's way more consistent, but I kinda miss the feel of getting the sand just right by hand. Anyone else's shop make a big switch like that and have mixed feelings about it?

Update: A foreman in Toledo showed me why you never skip the pre-heat on a cold core box.

He pulled a perfect, unfilled casting from the line and said, 'That's a $200 core, gone. The metal hit a cold surface and froze before it could fill.' Anyone else have a simple step they've seen crews try to rush?