Simple Solutions That Work! Issue 8

A major foundry providing parts to the rail industry has recently discovered how to save time and money by using a protective coating on their core boxes and molds made from tool steel. CHALLENGE The foundry has over forty different core boxes and molds all made of aluminum — a pretty common material for this application. This foundry believed their boxes were not lasting as long as they would have liked, and learned that if their boxes had been made from tool steel, that a thin dense chrome (TDC) coating could be applied to protect and make the tooling last longer. Before this foundry was willing to undertake the expense to remake over forty core boxes and molds, they needed to conduct trials that needed to be convincing. TRIALS This foundry conducted trials over a period of two years – and the results were always the same. A simple coating of TDC protected their tooling and made then last longer. In addition to reducing tooling wear, it also made it easier to clean. They also discovered that the coating could be easily stripped, therefore the core and mold boxes could be recoated, which added to their longevity. SAVINGS This savings were so great, that the foundry made the decision to remanufacture all of their tooling to tool steel, and created a preventative maintenance program for each piece of tooling. The cost to rebuild the boxes using tool steel was over $200,000 each. With the new preventative maintenance program using a Thin Dense Chrome, the Coreboxes and Patterns can be coated, used, stripped, and then recoated at the expense of just the coating. Each time achieving high production output of over 50,000 parts. CHRIS NEELY Vice President of Sales ARMOLOY ARTICLE TAKEAWAYS: • Understanding pre-hardened tool steels for core boxes • Why coatings are important to tooling WHY CORES & PATTERNSMADE FROM TOOL STEEL &COATED LAST LONGER 10