DIY automated sand molding station

Discussion in 'Foundry tools and flasks' started by Tobho Mott, Jan 22, 2022.

  1. Tobho Mott

    Tobho Mott Gold Banner Member

    Check this out, this guy appears to have built a jolt squeeze and a ...mold separator? into a convenient workbench. He's got a pedal operated sand conveyor and the whole bit all set up. Pretty cool!



    Jeff
     
  2. Patrick-C

    Patrick-C Silver

    I know that is very cool! I plan to use some of his ideas on the molding bench that I am designing. I wonder what kind of sand he is using.

    Patrick
     
  3. HT1

    HT1 Gold Banner Member

    it appears to be green sand,

    you can save yourself a ton of money and grief and just buy a good air compressor and Pneumatic rammer,
    in real use , he will quickly start having problems with that DIY equipment

    V/r HT1
     
  4. Tobho Mott

    Tobho Mott Gold Banner Member

    In the comments for either this or one other video I checked out, he says he uses petrobond. What kind of problems would you expect? Just curious. I'm not sure how long he's had that setup or how much he uses it.

    Jeff
     
  5. Smoking Shoe

    Smoking Shoe Silver

    More mechanization means more points of failure and until you have some number of hours you don't know what will fail and how often.

    Take a look at the troubles AL203 had with his router. Mother nature finds the weak spots and there is nothing we can do about it. With enough time we eventually reach a stalemate with MN and whe lets us lead our lives with less stress.

    I do like the pneumatic lift. If it could be modified for different size flasks that would be even better.
     
  6. HT1

    HT1 Gold Banner Member

    His Screw together flasks to start with think how fun that will be once you get some sand in the threads, you will end up with an impact wrench to get that together and apart

    then of course just sand everywhere, those Pneumatics will start getting sandy, oil will make it worse so Dry Lube is all you can use so you will have to use it regularly ,

    I can ram 3 molds an hour entirely by hand , 12X12, he was doing (roughly) 8X8 in about the same time with several thousand dollars worth of equipment that can and will break ,

    sometimes simple is better

    V/r HT1
     
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  7. Melterskelter

    Melterskelter Gold Banner Member

    Hmmm, he did 6 molds in less than 45 mins. And very little exertion I might add.

    I use screws and bolts 1/2-13, 3/8-16, and 1/4-20 on almost all of my molds for a few years now. No trouble with sand. I blow out blind holes if needed. Through holes are pretty much self-cleaning as nuts need nothing but a tap on the table top if that. Nuts push sand off bolts. I drive my Torx 1/4-20 screws with an impact driver and the nuts I drive with a drill and socket.

    Maybe the pneumatics will be a problem, but, remember sand rammers are pneumatic and work well in the sand environment. It looks like this guy has some good common sense with respect to design. He has probably made some design decisions to reckon with sand.

    He could cut down his time some by molding in his sprue and riser.

    He could shorten his 1/2” clamping bolts as the pin lift draws his cope and flask.

    I think this guy will make any needed tweaks and his system will keep on getting better.

    Just a different take on this.

    Thanks for posting an interesting video, Jeff.

    Denis
     
    Last edited: Jan 23, 2022
    Patrick-C and Tobho Mott like this.
  8. Hi guys i just joined here, nice to see my video here allready thanks for sharing it tobo mott.
    Im sure i got a youtube notification saying you left a comment on the video but i never got to see your comment? And the notification disapeared?
    It is petrobond sand being used here.

    Thanks melter scelter, i have put a lot of thought into making the setup to fill my requirements and it has more than succeded.
    I have probably done around 1000 molds now with this machine and i only wish i had made it sooner.
    The cost was probably around £1k in total including the compressor and fabricating. I was lucky to get the hopper elevator for scrap money, Most parts are the cheepest parts available on ebay.

    I dont see any problems using pnematics around sand, its based on the common jolt/squees machines witch have been used for 100+ years in comercial foundrys.

    The bit that has improved quality the most is the mold spliter part, the rest is all simply labour saving and that it does very well and now i can easily do 36 mold in an 8 hour day without even feeling knackered at the end of the day. Ive also got it down to around 35 minutes for 6 molds now, this includes melting as i start the furnace before i start making molds, most of my time is now just waiting for sand to cool between each set.

    Also the threaded pins was a concern for me and ive always intended to change them but they havnt been an isue at all and just spin them off with fingers, so cant fix whats not broken. They could be shorter now as i originally pulled the molds by hand for years so the extra length helped on the deeper draft pattern.

    Best regards.

    Luke.
     
  9. Tobho Mott

    Tobho Mott Gold Banner Member

    Hi Luke, welcome to thehomefoundry.

    I remember commenting on your video but not exactly what I said. Not sure what happened there...

    Jeff
     
    Cringleengineering likes this.
  10. rocco

    rocco Silver

    A couple times in recent month I've had that happen with comments that I've left on videos.
     
    Cringleengineering likes this.
  11. Tops

    Tops Silver Banner Member

    Luke, thanks for joining us on the forum and nice job on your set-up..
    I had a few different jobs in a welding shop (grunt, CNC operator, lab assistant, engineer) that supported millwrights and processing industries in general.
    Seeing the hopper, auger, fabricated metal painted blue, cylinders...took me back for a moment.
     
    Cringleengineering likes this.
  12. Is there a specific Pneumatic rammer that you would recommend? For the same size of work.
     
  13. Melterskelter

    Melterskelter Gold Banner Member

    I picked up a used Jet rammer on eBay a couple years ago. It does the job and has required no maintenance..


    JET Benchtop Sand Rammer — 2 9/16in. Stroke, Model# JCT-1601

    Denis
     
  14. Tops

    Tops Silver Banner Member

    Thanks Denis. I suppose having a moving handpiece allows for all kinds of variation in flask size.
    Has anyone try the "D3-6-9" entry-level types off Amazon?
    I still like the molding setup that was originally posted.
     
  15. rocco

    rocco Silver

    There are a number of similar looking rammers on Amazon for between one and two hundred dollars, anyone here have any experieince with those?
     
  16. My next question is does it really take 17 CFM at 90psi? That's a nice compressor, like really, really nice in my world. $3000.00 + ?
    Are there cheaper options for a old guy that's trying to not abuse his back?
     
  17. Melterskelter

    Melterskelter Gold Banner Member

    I suppose it does consume a lot of air---in continuous use. I found a used 5-HP two-stage Speedaire compressor that I hooked up to it. But, on even my bigggest, 450 pound, molds I probabbly only run it for a minute or two continuously. And on a 75 pounder it probab;y would run in 10 or 15 second bursts. So, a lower horsepower compressor with a larger tank would store enough air to allow you to use it pretty well I would think. I have not actually tried it on a pancake compressor. I think it might be a struggle to use it effectively as the tank is so small.

    The rammer is a very nice tool to use. On larger molds my arm would be very tired if I did not have it. One alternative to consider is instead of hand ramming on a bench, using a long-handled rammer and ramming molds on the floor allows use of larger muscles and results in less fatigue, if your setup allows this method to be practical.

    Denis
     
  18. Thanks for the reply, Denis. Just one last question, I have been looking at 2 different compressors from Harbor Freight one oil free and one not, at the same price. The oil free has a 21 gal tank and 175 psi at 4 cfm while the other has a 20 gal tank , 135 psi at 4 cfm, do you trust oil free compressors. The only ones I ever used was a pancake style and I went though two in about 4 hours. They were being abused, but they are just junk. Anybody have anything good to say about oil free compressors?
    To the OP I do apologize for the thread drift but I do have to make things easier on my back or give up the hobby.(and it's just a hobby) I was wondering if there is any more information on your mold separating system, that is one of the thing I have trouble with is lifting the cope straight up. I concentrate so much on the straight up part I forget about the lifting properly part.
     
  19. Melterskelter

    Melterskelter Gold Banner Member

    I guess the question above about a mold separating system was directed to me. If so, this thread has most of the info about my hoist system.

    http://forums.thehomefoundry.org/in...edal-foundry-hoist-prototype.1016/#post-25384

    I have been using it for about 3 years now with only incidental modifications. It works very well and I would hate to be without it. In my case I use very short registration pins between flask segments as my patterns do not generally extend past the lips of the cope cheek or flask. I like the short pins as they seem easier to lift smoothly and are also easy to use when joing in cope to drag etc. Most people prefer much longer pins.

    Denis

    Denis
     
  20. crazybillybob

    crazybillybob Silver Banner Member

    My last compressor (3HP 35Gal tank) was oil free. It worked great for 10-15 years for me.... When it did fail it did it all of a sudden and it throw pieces all over the basement (I was still finding loose ball bearings when I moved out 2 yrs later).
    My "new" Compressor is a 1950's era 5Hp 80 Gal 2 stage oiled. I don't have enough time with to have an option other than it runs quitter the the smaller oilless.
     

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