I always thought the old green sand mix was fine, but trying a new binder changed my mind.

For years at our shop in Toledo, we used the same sodium silicate binder for our cores. A supplier gave us a sample of a newer phenolic resin binder to test. We ran a batch of 50 identical gearbox housings, and the phenolic cores knocked out clean every single time, with way less veining. The sodium silicate ones needed extra grinding on almost a third of the castings. Has anyone else made a switch like that and seen a big drop in finishing time?

2 comments

2 Comments

parker_campbell2d ago

We had a similar thing with our facing sand. Boss insisted on the old coal dust mix for years, said it gave a better finish. Finally tried a cellulose substitute and the shakeout was so much cleaner, less smoke too. He still grumbles about it being "newfangled" every time he orders a pallet.

troyjackson2d ago

Maybe the grumbling is just his way of admitting you were right.