Rant: The day our sand muller went down right before a big pour

We were ramping up for a 300-pound bronze pour at the old Johnson Foundry in Spokane, and the muller's main drive belt snapped with a sound like a gunshot. I had to jury-rig a temporary fix with a spare V-belt from an old forklift just to get the sand conditioned in time. What's the weirdest quick fix you've ever had to pull off to save a pour?

3 comments

3 Comments

cora_west524d ago

Man, that sound is the worst. I once had to use a length of old manila rope as a drive belt on our small muller. It was all we had in the shop and it actually held for the whole pour. The smell of burning rope mixed with hot sand is something I will never forget. We got the job done but the whole place smelled like a campfire for a week.

abby_fisher24d ago

That smell really does stick with everything. For a quick fix, a strip of old inner tube can work better than rope. It grips well and doesn't burn as easy, plus it's usually free from any bike shop. Just cut it to the right width and splice the ends together with a couple of small bolts.

craig.parker24d ago

Yeah, the smell of burning rope is something else... I read that it's from the oils in the fibers.