Simple Solutions That Work! Issue 10

I n my 25 years of casting experience, I have been assigned or asked numerous times to assist in the task of determining what is the best die lubricant to use. By no means is this an easy task and one may ask, “Exactly where do I start?” One thing is for sure; you do not just flip a coin, watch a commercial or simply switch to a product when you know none of its characteristics. There are several things to consider when picking the best die lubricant, and many trials to run. After reading this article, hopefully you will have a general understanding of how to pick the best die lubricant for your product line. First, there are several different manufacturers of die lubricants. They range from worldwide billion- dollar corporations to very small hometown chemists working in their garage. It’s true; I have met these people and they are just as good as the big companies. They typically have a smaller support team, yet are just as effective. This then brings up the question of how dependent are you on your supplier? Ask yourself, “Do I need them on site daily, weekly, monthly or only once or twice per year? What do I expect from my supplier? Do I need them to maintain my inventory? Do I need them to maintain or supply my delivery equipment?” Most importantly, “Do I need them to develop a product for my specific casting project?” If you answered yes to any TROY TURNBULL President INDUSTRIAL INNOVATIONS ARTICLE TAKEAWAYS: • Having Team Involvement helps with the critical changeover decision • Die Lubricant is the most critical necessity of your process. HOW TO SELECT DIE LUBRICANT 48 of these questions, this will help you determine which companies can assist you, and from whom to request a trial. Second, depending on your process, there are several questions to ask yourself when choosing your next die lubricant. These questions would include: What material am I casting? Is it aluminum, brass, magnesium, zinc etc.? What is my process? Are you performing conventional casting, high pressure squeeze casting, permanent mold, sand casting, low pressure casting, etc.? Am I polishing or painting after casting? Do I need to meet a Class A finish on my casting? All of these processes have different requirements, not only from the tooling and process design, but also in terms of equipment, application and, most importantly, the die lubricant. There are several die lubricants to choose from depending on your process. When choosing the proper lubricant, you must ask yourself what or why you are looking to change? Are there process issues such as porosity, blisters, cracks, flow marks/cold shut, carbon build-up? A mechanical mixing system ensures a consistent and correct lubricant:water dilution ratio, which is a key to cost savings.