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Appreciation post: A meltdown at the old Johnson Foundry in 2019 changed how I handle every pour now.
I was running the cupola on a big job for a local machine shop, pouring a set of heavy gear blanks. We had a bad batch of coke that looked fine but burned way too hot and fast. The iron overheated by about 300 degrees before we caught it, and the mold wash just burned right off. The foreman, a guy named Carl, yelled 'kill the air' and we had to scramble to cool the whole line. Now I test a handful of coke in a small crucible before it ever touches the main charge, every single time. Anyone else have a simple check they added after a close call like that?
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alice_harris3521d ago
That coke story is a real wake up call. We had a similar thing with some reclaimed sand that wasn't bonded right. Whole mold face collapsed on a pour, ruined a whole pattern. Now it's a quick hand squeeze test on every new batch, no matter what the ticket says. Just make a ball of it in your fist, if it doesn't hold its shape you know right away. That extra thirty seconds saves so much headache.
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jade321d ago
That hand squeeze test sounds like a total lifesaver.
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eva_garcia5621d agoMost Upvoted
Tried that test once and squeezed so hard I almost made sand diamonds. Still better than a collapsed mold though.
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