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Apart from the dubious machiningThese Rider Ericsson castings Im fighting with have a few problemsIv never been a lover of castings wonder why
GrahamIf you some more from the past :Note this is from when I was 16 now 69My uncle was a brass mouldier that's where the willow wand info came from they used Coke fired hole in the ground crucible boy you had to be tough to pull them out Another uncle used to do CI moulds built up with bricks covered in the afor mentioned material and struck off with a strickel /sp these were for large slag ladles and siphons used in the old town gas pipe workSo not done it but seen a lot done Have you come across the old timers not wanting the sunlight to shine in the foundry because they judged the temp by colour , they would not tolerate the pyrometers Now a bit for the steam buffs , the pipe pit crane was a king post crane hydraulic powered , fluid used cannel water the pumps were triple units ( not expansion jobs but three proper HP cylinder ones) with very large acumilators spread around the worksBoy that's made me feel old Stuart
Hello Jason.I don't have a lot to say about mould misalignment. IMO there's only one guilty party, the supplier !! I rejected any castings that weren't up to scratch, the foundry soon learned the hard way that faulty castings don't sell.Strong words, yes, but true.I have attached a photo of the " Full " plate pattern of our ill fated Hornsby Akroyd engine. You will note the four " Slip blanks " which aid correct registration of the two flask halves. You might also notice, at either end of the pattern the tapped holes for the addition of guide runners. These guides align the plate to the flask box pins.Our " loose, odd side " patterns were always fitted with patternmakers pegs so any misalignment in a casting was down to the moulder and not the pattern.Kind regards, Graham.
So the white gritty stuff in the holes was slag and not sand?