When drawing a pattern, I have often found it challenging to maintain left-right as well as fore-aft alignment all the while lifting the pattern. In the last couple months I have found that making some sort of tic mark on the pattern itself Usually just a short Sharpie line) while it is in the sand and then making a corresponding tiny cut in the sand opposite the tic can serve as an aid to maintining alignment of the pattern. That way I do not have to look quickly left and right and at the same time scan for front-to-back orientation. Instead I can keep my eyes on the relationahip of the sand and pattern marks and watch the spacing of the sand and pattern in that same area as I draw the pattern out. This has helped a good deal with all patterns but has been especially helpful on long narrow patterns like the 48" camelback straight edge I cast today. Maybe others have similar tricks they use? Might be good to share them here. Drawing a pattern without bruising the sand seems to require maximal concentration. Denis
I've got one deep pattern that I use long pins that aid alignment of the cope and drag as well as aid the removal of the matchplate. By keeping alignment while the pattern is removed six inches or so until there's enough gap from the taper of the pattern to be able to hand steady it for the rest of the removal. The pins are secured with grub screws so they can be adjusted up and down and be retracted while flipping the mould as they would otherwise get in the way and prevent the mould lying flat on the table. It's too heavy to be lifted easily by hand so the electric hoist lifts it kind of slow so the pins prevent any accidents until it's about half withdrawn from the sand.
I mark my snaps so I know which way to set the mold back together after removing the pattern and use draw pins to help with alignment and to help draw straight and true....however...rusty guides and draw pins can make it very difficult to separate the halves and actually cause more harm than good. I recently acquired about 1000 alignment pins and bushings of various sizes and will be adding these to any future snaps I build instead of trying to make draw pins. these also work well for core boxes or permanent mold type applications. I may even try to incorporate them into my vertical molding patterns for alignment on the machine.
Yeah, I spray paint a corner of a flask set by masking off a triangular area with the narrow end up. By using one color for a given flask set, parts are matched together and orientation is clearly indicated. This tends to reduce the dumbass errors I make , at least in that regard. This is much like the woodworker’s triangle to mark part orientation prior to glue up. Denis
I paint one whole side of the flask, each identical flask a different color. With the small marks I occasionally ended up putting them together wrong if I didn't pay enough attention.
