We had a core shift on a big gearbox housing pour at the Milwaukee plant because the chaplets weren't set right.

The new guy on the line kept putting the steel chaplets directly on the pattern surface instead of sinking them halfway into the sand. When the metal hit, they floated and the whole core moved about a quarter inch. We caught it in shakeout, but it was a total scrap job. How do you guys train your teams to place chaplets so they actually lock the core in place?

3 comments

3 Comments

the_nathan26d ago

Remember my buddy's story from the Davenport foundry. They had a greenhorn setting chaplets on a big valve body mold, just like that. The foreman made him sit and watch as they poured the scrap box, the whole core lifting right up. Then they had him dig every single one out of the sand to see how shallow they were. He never made that mistake again after seeing the money and time melt away. Sometimes you just have to show them the cost.

dakota_patel9822d ago

My uncle worked a summer in a foundry and said the sound of a core shifting was like a sickening crunch. He still brings it up at cookouts. What's the worst sound you've heard on the job?

elliot_barnes26d agoMost Upvoted

Man, that's rough. We lost a whole batch of pump housings last year the same way. Now we make the new guys do a practice set with clay instead of metal so they can see the float happen.