Overheard a foreman talking about sand moisture and it clicked

I was grabbing coffee yesterday and heard our foreman, Mike, telling the new guy that a 1% change in green sand moisture can change the mold strength by over 30%. I always just added water until it 'felt right' in my hand. That number stuck with me, so I started using the little moisture tester we have by the muller. After three days of checking, my scrap rate from broken molds is already down. Has anyone else seen a big difference after they started measuring instead of guessing?

3 comments

3 Comments

fisher.jessica26d ago

Honestly, I've seen the opposite happen. We got real strict with the moisture meters for a while, and our core shift went up. The old timer who trained me swore by the squeeze test, said it accounts for the sand batch differences the meter misses. My scrap was lower when I used his method. Sometimes the tech gives you a false sense of being exact.

craig.parker26d ago

The squeeze test is great, but it can't replace a meter's consistent baseline reading.

tessap9726d ago

Our plant had that same debate a few years back. The key we found was using the meter for a baseline check but still doing the squeeze test for feel. The meters are good for a number, but they can't tell you about sand grain shape or clay lumps that change how it packs. You need both to catch all the variables.