Simple Solutions That Work! Issue 10

T he process of sand casting has been the same for hundreds of years. First, a pattern is placed in sand to create the mold and a gating system of some type is incorporated for the molten metal to flow into the mold. The pattern is then removed and the cavity is filled with molten metal. After the metal has cooled, the sand is broken away and the casting is removed. ALYSSA M. CORRAL Marketing & Social Media Coordinator Hoosier Pattern Co. ARTICLE TAKEAWAYS: • Traditional tooling versus 3D printing • Manufacturability is another gain when it comes to 3D printing HOW TO CREATE PROTOTYPES WITH 3D PRINTED SAND 16 Although we started as a traditional pattern shop—machining and building these patterns while becoming an industry leader—there was more to be explored within the sand casting world. Patterns are reusable and perfect for production use, but what about low volume productions or prototypes? How It Works The 3D sand printing process is fairly simple and works as a normal 3D printer would. A CAD file is plugged into the machine and a layer of sand goes across a large job box (70.9 x 39.37 x 27.56"). Binder is then dropped where the part is to be made—the binder joins the sand together and, after layers of this repeated process are bonded together, the mold is formed and extracted from the job box. The created mold is then cleaned and sent to the foundry to be poured within 10 days of receiving the purchase order. Benefits to 3D Sand Printing There are two big benefits to 3D printing prototype molds and cores—cost and time. Traditional pattern making is expensive and it can take months to get your first casting and maybe realize it's not even what you want. Under strict timelines, this may only give engineers and designers a couple of tries to get it right. With 3D printing, a customer can have a casting in a matter of days if needed. Depending on the size of the mold or core, multiple versions