Unpopular opinion: I switched from manual sand ramming to a pneumatic vibrator for core boxes about a year ago

It cut my setup time in half, but some guys say it makes the sand too dense and hurts permeability. Anyone else tried this and noticed a difference in casting quality?

3 comments

3 Comments

tessa_clark7419d ago

Maybe @shaneb30 got lucky, but we saw more gas holes in our steel castings after switching. The sand just packs too tight for the gas to get out.

shaneb3022d ago

Switched to a vibrator for our green sand molds last spring. Saw a drop in blowholes on the heavier sections, honestly. The old guard griped about density too, but our scrap rate went down.

wyatt_thomas22d ago

Our shop in Toledo made the switch three years back. We used to get a lot of shrinkage on our gray iron valve bodies. After we started vibrating the cores, that problem just went away. The sand packs more evenly around the prints. I don't miss ramming those deep pockets one bit.