Sand casting, also known as "greensand" casting, is a

flexible art technique that results in beautiful and

interesting art or functional items such as door handles and
car parts. With the correct tools, most of which are simple
and inexpensive, anyone can take up this interesting hobby

Tools used in Sand Casting

Sieve and Parting Dust
One

of the first tools you will need to sand cast is a sieve, also
known as a riddle or a screen. This is used to cover the pattern
with fine sand. You will also need a sock full of "parting" dust.
This is a hydrophobic dust that will keep moisture off of your
pattern. It works along the same principle as baby powder,
absorbing excess moisture.

Striker and the Spoon

A striker

is a specially cut piece of wood approximately 10 inches

by 1 1/2 inches. Sand casters use these to pound the sand into the
mold. The spoon is exactly what it sounds like, just a regular
teaspoon from the kitchen. It is used to smooth any rough areas
of the sand.

Runner-bar Pattern and Dowel

A runner-bar

pattern is used by sand casters to keep whatever

object you are molding in place. It is a a small piece of wood
rectangular wood. A dowel is also a small piece of wood, but is
cylindrical and is used to make a "pop-up" hole in the mold,
which will enable you to remove the mold once it is finished.

Big Hole Cutter and Trowel

Trowels

are used to smooth the mold once you are nearing

completion. The big hole cutter is made of a 1/2-inch copper pipe
and is used to make the large hole where molten metal will be
poured when the mold has been cast.

Equipment
Mold
In sand casting, the primary piece of equipment is the mold, which contains
several components. The mold is divided into two halves - the cope (upper half)
and the drag (bottom half), which meet along a parting line. Both mold halves are
contained inside a box, called a flask, which itself is divided along this parting
line. The mold cavity is formed by packing sand around the pattern in each half of
the flask. The sand can be packed by hand, but machines that use pressure or
impact ensure even packing of the sand and require far less time, thus increasing
the production rate. After the sand has been packed and the pattern is removed,
a cavity will remain that forms the external shape of the casting. Some internal
surfaces of the casting may be formed by cores.

Core
Cores are additional pieces that form the internal holes and passages of the
casting. Cores are typically made out of sand so that they can be shaken out of
the casting, rather than require the necessary geometry to slide out. As a result,
sand cores allow for the fabrication of many complex internal features. Each core
is positioned in the mold before the molten metal is poured. In order to keep each
core in place, the pattern has recesses called core prints where the core can be
anchored in place. However, the core may still shift due to buoyancy in the

molten metal. Further support is provided to the cores by chaplets. These are
small metal pieces that are fastened between the core and the cavity surface.

Sand
The sand that is used to create the molds is typically silica sand (SiO 2) that is
mixed with a type of binder to help maintain the shape of the mold cavity. Using
sand as the mold material offers several benefits to the casting process. Sand is
very inexpensive and is resistant to high temperatures, allowing many metals to
be cast that have high melting temperatures. There are different preparations of
the sand for the mold, which characterize the following four unique types of sand
molds.

Greensand mold - Greensand molds use a mixture of sand, water, and a

clay or binder. Typical composition of the mixture is 90% sand, 3% water, and
7% clay or binder. Greensand molds are the least expensive and most widely
used.

Skin-dried mold - A skin-dried mold begins like a greensand mold, but

additional bonding materials are added and the cavity surface is dried by a
torch or heating lamp to increase mold strength. Doing so also improves the
dimensional accuracy and surface finish, but will lower the collapsibility. Dry
skin molds are more expensive and require more time, thus lowering the
production rate.

Dry sand mold - In a dry sand mold, sometimes called a cold box mold, the
sand is mixed only with an organic binder. The mold is strengthened by
baking it in an oven. The resulting mold has high dimensional accuracy, but is
expensive and results in a lower production rate.

No-bake mold - The sand in a no-bake mold is mixed with a liquid resin and
hardens at room temperature.

The quality of the sand that is used also greatly affects the quality of
the casting and is usually described by the following five measures:
Strength - Ability of the sand to maintain its shape.

Permeability - Ability to allow venting of trapped gases through the sand. A

higher permeability can reduce the porosity of the mold, but a lower
permeability can result in a better surface finish. Permeability is determined
by the size and shape of the sand grains.

Thermal stability - Ability to resist damage, such as cracking, from the heat
of the molten metal.

Collapsibility - Ability of the sand to collapse, or more accurately compress,

during solidification of the casting. If the sand can not compress, then the
casting will not be able to shrink freely in the mold and can result in cracking.

Reusability - Ability of the sand to be reused for future sand molds.

Packing equipment
There exists many ways to pack the sand into the mold. As
mentioned above, the sand can be hand packed into the mold.
However, there are several types of equipment that provide more
effective and efficient packing of the sand. One such machine is
called a sandslinger and fills the flask with sand by propelling it under
high pressure. A jolt-squeeze machine is a common piece of
equipment which rapidly jolts the flask to distribute the sand and then
uses hydraulic pressure to compact it in the flask. Another method,
called impact molding, uses a controlled explosion to drive and
compact the sand into the flask. In what can be considered an
opposite approach, vacuum molding packs the sand by removing the
air between the flask and a thin sheet of plastic that covers
the pattern.

Casting Defects:
1) Misruns (due to rapid solidification in the
runner)
2) Cold shuts (due to rapid solidification before
complete filling of the mold)
3) Cold shots (due to splattered globules of
metal during pouring)

4) Shrinkage cavity (due to lack of riser

system)
5) Microporosity (due to localized solidification
shrinkage)
6) Hot tearing (due to the die's prevention of
contraction)