Rant: That pour where I forgot to vent the mold

I was in the middle of a big pour last Thursday on a 200 pound casting, got into a rhythm, and completely forgot to open the vent holes on the cope. The whole thing buckled about halfway through, blew sand everywhere, and I spent 45 minutes cleaning up with a shovel. Anybody else ever zone out and mess up the simple stuff?

2 comments

2 Comments

butler.abby2d ago

My first big pour I walked away for literally 30 seconds and came back to a whole cope section lifting up like a balloon. The sand shower was brutal, I felt sand in my boots for a week. Venting is so easy to forget when you're focused on the metal flow. At least your pour was on a 200 pounder and not something huge, it could have been way worse with more mold shift.

tessa3682d ago

Oh come on. You're making this sound worse than it is. Forgetting to vent is just part of the learning curve. I've done it three times this year alone and it's really not that big of a deal. Sand blows everywhere, you sweep it up, you move on. A 45 minute cleanup isn't the end of the world. Plus now you'll never forget again, so it's actually a good lesson. Beats the alternative of never trying something ambitious at all.