That moment the sand mold exploded on me in Toledo

I was running a big green sand job last Tuesday at the old Toledo plant, a 300 pound valve housing. Right as I was closing the cope, I heard this weird hissing sound from the vent. Before I could even step back, the whole side of the mold blew out, sending sand and steam everywhere. Turns out the core had a hairline crack from storage and was soaking up moisture. I had to stop the line for 45 minutes, clean out the drag, and re-ram the entire half with fresh sand. The foreman just shook his head and said, "Always check your cores for stress marks before you set 'em." Has anyone else had a mold failure from something stupid like a bad core vent?

3 comments

3 Comments

jackson.max6d ago

Took him the rest of the shift" and then having to buy lunch for a week? Thats brutal man. Hate when stuff like that happens from something you couldn't really see coming either.

xenam846d ago

My buddy Ron had this happen with a ductile iron casting at a shop in Akron. He preheated what he thought was a dry core, but there was trapped moisture deep inside. The whole core blew apart as steam built up, cracked the mold face clean in two, and sent green sand across three work stations. Took him the rest of the shift to get everything sorted and the foreman made him buy lunch for the crew for a week.

the_john6d ago

Man, that brings back memories of a similar mess I had with a stubborn core at a shop in Toledo.