I’ve always found that good recordkeeping can be one of the key items to make you successful in your career. Being able to quickly find information can be highly valuable in your personal and business life. This holds true for keeping good records of the pattern equipment (commonly referred to as tooling) your company owns. But what records should you keep? Following is a list of the items I have found to be helpful.
Probably the most important item on this list is the location of your pattern equipment. Knowing what foundry supplier holds which tooling is highly important, especially if you own a large number of patterns at numerous supplier locations. We are all painfully aware of the supply chain issues affecting business today, and situations such as fires and business consolidations are common instances that can disrupt your flow of castings and require you to move tooling to a different metalcaster. 

In addition to the foundry location, knowing the storage location within the foundry itself can be very helpful in the case of a foundry ceasing business. This may not be provided by your supplier unless specifically requested. I have personally been involved with trying to locate tooling stored at closed foundries, and it is not an easy or pleasant task to search through hundreds or perhaps thousands of patterns and coreboxes looking for your set of tooling. Knowing the storage location would be very helpful in this situation. Also, proof of ownership can be extremely helpful in instances where a bank has taken control of the foundry assets. Having this proof will enable you to move your tooling much quicker.

Having a description of the tooling along with photos of it is extremely helpful. Often, you may receive documentation that seems to be complete at first glance. For example, a description might be, “four impressions on a 20 x 24 pattern and a two-cavity core box.” This is really only very basic information, and a lot more detail is required to be considered an accurate description. We know the pattern fits a 20 x 24-in. flask, which is important, but what molding process is the pattern rigged for? Several brands of molding machines use a 20 x 24 flask, not to mention the different styles, such as squeezer, airset, and cope and drag processes. Knowing the process type is critical information; the cope and drag and airset molding processes have two pattern halves to account for. If there are any loose pattern pieces or shaped chill patterns, these should also be contained in the description.

The material used for the tooling is also important. Is this an aluminum matchplate that has integrally cast impressions, or are the pattern impressions mounted on the pattern plate? Mounted impressions can be any type of metal, as well as wood or plastic. The same holds true for core equipment—process types often dictate what materials are used for a core box. Airset cores can use wooden, metal, or plastic core boxes; shell cores require an iron core box. 

Depending on the size and type of core produced, you may own additional equipment. Some complex core shapes may require a de-finning plate to help remove core fins instead of having them manually removed. Core assemblies may require a fixture to ensure the quality and integrity of the assembly. Large cores may need lifting fixtures to help employees move them and coresetting fixtures and gauges to help place the core accurately in the mold. 

If your casting is machined by the foundry, you undoubtedly own a machining fixture and perhaps special gauges that may be required for precision measurement and validation. Is your rough casting used to produce multiple finished part numbers through different machining configurations? If so, you may own multiple machining fixtures. Some castings require straightening after heat treating, so a straightening die or fixture could be part of your tooling.

Having a detailed description and photos of all the foundry-related tooling used to produce your casting is important. It can help your engineering team understand tooling requirements when design changes are being contemplated. It also can help in the replacement of tooling in the case of a fire or other disasters at the foundry. If you don’t have detailed and accurate descriptions of your tooling, you should seriously consider launching a project to complete this effort.     CS

Click here to view the column in the Jan/Feb 2022 digital edition.