Foundry tools and

1
equipments
MANUFACTURING PROCESSES-II
PROF. KUNALSINH KATHIA
[MECHANICAL ENGINEERING DEPARTMENT]
INTRODUCTION 2

• There are large number of tools and equipments used in foundry shop for carrying out
• different operations such as sand preparation, molding, melting, pouring and casting. They
• can be broadly classified as hand tools, sand conditioning tool, flasks, power operated
equipments,
• metal melting equipments and fettling and finishing equipments. Different kinds of hand tools
• are used by molder in mold making operations. Sand conditioning tools are basically used for
• preparing the various types of molding sands and core sand. Flasks are commonly used for
• preparing sand moulds and keeping molten metal and also for handling the same from place
• to place. Power operated equipments are used for mechanizing processes in foundries. They
• include various types of molding machines, power riddles, sand mixers and conveyors, grinders
• etc. Metal melting equipment includes various types of melting furnaces such as cupola, pit
• furnace, crucible furnaces etc. Fettling and finishing equipments are also used in foundry
• work for cleaning and finishing the casting. General tools and equipment used in foundry are
• discussed as under.
HAND TOOLS USED IN FOUNDRY SHOP 3

1. Hand riddle
2. Shovel
3. Rammers
1. Hand rammer
2. Peen rammer
3. Floor rammer
4. Pneumatic rammers
CONT… 4

4. Sprue pin
5. Strike off bar
6. Mallet
7. Draw spike
8. Vent roD
9. Lifters
10. Trowels
11. Slicks
12. Smoothers
13. Swab
14. Spirit level
CONT… 5

15. Gate cutter

16. Gaggers
17. Bellows
18. Clamps, cotters and wedges

OK. LETS UNDERSTEND THESE ALL IN SHORT….

HAND RIDDLE 6
SHOVEL 7
RAMMERS 8
TYPES OF RAMMER 9
SPRUE PIN 10

• Sprue pin:
• Sprue pin is shown in Fig. It is a tapered rod of wood or
• iron which is placed or pushed in cope to join mold cavity while the
• molding sand in the cope is being rammed. Later its withdrawal from
• cope produce a vertical hole in molding sand, called sprue through
• which the molten metal is poured into the mould using gating system.
• It helps to make a passage for pouring molten metal in mold through
• gating system
STRIKE OFF BAR 11

• Strike off bar:

• Strike off bar is a flat bar having straight edge and is made of
wood or iron.
• It is used to strike off or remove the excess sand from the top of a
molding box after
• completion of ramming thereby making its surface plane and
smooth. Its one edge is made
• beveled and the other end is kept perfectly smooth and plane.
MALLET 12

• Mallet:
• Mallet is similar to a wooden hammer and is generally as used in
carpentry or sheet
• metal shops. In molding shop, it is used for driving the draw spike
into the pattern and then
• rapping it for separation from the mould surfaces so that pattern
can be easily withdrawn
• leaving the mold cavity without damaging the mold surfaces.
DRAW SPIKE 13

Draw spike:
Draw spike is shown. It is a tapered steel rod having a loop or ring at
its one
end and a sharp point at the other. It may have screw threads on the
end to engage metal
pattern for it withdrawal from the mold. It is used for driven into
pattern which is embedded
in the molding sand and raps the pattern to get separated from the
pattern and finally draws
out it from the mold cavity.
VENT ROD 14

• Vent rod is shown in. It is a thin spiked steel rod or wire

carrying a pointed
• edge at one end and a wooden handle or a bent loop at the
other. After ramming and striking
• off the excess sand it is utilized to pierce series of small holes
in the molding sand in the cope
• portion. The series of pierced small holes are called vents holes
which allow the exit or escape
• of steam and gases during pouring mold and solidifying of the
molten metal for getting a
• sound casting.
LIFTERS 15

• Lifters are shown in FIG.They are also known as cleaners or

finishing
• tool which are made of thin sections of steel of various length and
width with one end bent
• at right angle. They are used for cleaning, repairing and finishing
the bottom and sides of
• deep and narrow openings in mold cavity after withdrawal of
pattern. They are also used for
• removing loose sand from mold cavity.
LIFTERS FIGURE 16
TROVELS 17

• Trowels are shown in Fig. 11.1(l, m and n). They are utilized for
finishing flat surfaces and
• joints and partings lines of the mold. They consist of metal blade
made of iron and are equipped
• with a wooden handle. The common metal blade shapes of trowels
may be pointed or contoured
• or rectangular oriented. The trowels are basically employed for
smoothing or slicking the
• surfaces of molds. They may also be used to cut in-gates and
repair the mold surfaces.
18
SLICKS 19

• Slicks are shown in Fig. 11.1(o, p, q, and r). They are also
recognized as small double
• ended mold finishing tool which are generally used for repairing
and finishing the mold
• surfaces and their edges after withdrawal of the pattern. The
commonly used slicks are of the
• types of heart and leaf, square and heart, spoon and bead and
heart and spoon. The
• nomenclatures of the slicks are largely due to their shapes.
SLICK FIGURE 20
SMOTHERS 21

• Smothers are shown in FIG. According to their use and shape they
are
• given different names. They are also known as finishing tools
which are commonly used for
• repairing and finishing flat and round surfaces, round or square
corners and edges of molds.
SWAB 22

• Swab is shown in Fig.It is a small hemp fiber brush used for

• moistening the edges of sand mould, which are in contact with the
pattern
• surface before withdrawing the pattern. It is used for sweeping
away the
• molding sand from the mold surface and pattern. It is also used for
coating
• the liquid blacking on the mold faces in dry sand molds.
SPIRIT LEVEL 23

• Spirit level is used by molder to check whether the sand bed or

molding box is horizontal or not.
GATE CUTTER 24

• Gate cutter
• Gate cutter is a small shaped piece of sheet metal commonly used
to cut
• runners and feeding gates for connecting sprue hole with the mold
cavity.
GAGGERS 25

• Gaggers are pieces of wires or rods bent at one or both ends which
are used for reinforcing
• the downward projecting sand mass in the cope are known as
gaggers.
BELLOWS 26

• Bellows gun is shown in Fig.It is hand operated leather

made device equipped
• with compressed air jet to blow or pump air when
operated. It is used to blow away the loose
• or unwanted sand from the surfaces of mold cavities.
Clamps, cotters and wedges 27

• They are made of steel and are used for clamping the molding
boxes firmly together during pouring.
KINDS OF MOULDING SAND 28

• Green sand
• Dry sand
• Loam sand
• Facing sand
• Backing sand
• System sand
• Parting sand
• Core sand
GREEN SAND 29

• reen sand is also known as tempered or natural sand

• just prepared mixture of silica sand with 18 to 30 percent clay,
having moisture content from 6 to 8%. The clay an water furnish
the bond for green sand.
• is fine, soft, light, and porous. Green sand is damp, when
squeezed in the hand and it retains the shape and the impression
to give to it under pressure.
• Molds prepared by this sand are not requiring backing and hence
are known as green sand molds.
DRY SAND 30

• Green sand that has been dried or baked in suitable oven after the
making mold and cores,is called dry sand.
• It possesses more strength, rigidity and thermal stability.
• It is mainly suitable for larger castings.
• Mold prepared in this sand are known as dry sand molds.
LOAM SAND 31

• Loam is mixture of sand and clay with water to a thin plastic

paste.
• Loam sand possesses high clay as much as 30-50% and 18% water.
• Patterns are not used for loam molding and shape is given to mold
by sweeps.
• This is particularly employed for loam molding used for large grey
• iron castings.
FACING SAND 32

• Facing sand is just prepared and forms the face of the mould.
• Initial coating around the pattern and hence for mold surface is
given by this sand.
• This sand is subjected severest conditions and must possess,
therefore, high strength refractoriness.
• A facing sand mixture for green sand of cast iron may consist of
25% fresh and specially prepared and 5% sea coal.
BACKING SAND 33

• Backing sand or floor sand is used to back up the facing sand and
is used to fill the whole volume of the molding flask.
• The backing sand is sometimes called black sand because that old,
repeatedly used molding sand is black in color due to addition of
coal dust and burning on coming in contact with the molten metal.
SYSTEM SAND 34

• A so-called system sand is used to fill the whole molding flask. In

mechanical sand preparation and handling units, no facing sand is
used.
• the properties such as strength, permeability and refractoriness of
the molding sand must be higher than those of backing sand.
PARTING SAND 35

• Parting sand without binder and moisture is used to keep the

green sand not to stick to the pattern and also to allow the sand
on the parting surface the cope and drag to separate without
clinging.
• This is clean clay-free silica sand which serves the same purpose
as parting dust.
CORE SAND 36

• Core sand is used for making cores and it is sometimes also known
as oil sand.
• This is highly
• rich silica sand mixed with oil binders such as core oil which
composed of linseed oil