First time casting aluminium, is my sand too wet?

[LittleForge]

Hi all,

I bought some greensand from Artisan Foundry but I can't seem to create a mould. I use talcum powder to help the two halves separate but it never comes apart cleanly like I've seen in demonstrations and any attempt to remove the part causes the sand to crumble.

When I do the squeeze test it it tends to hold it's shape but it doesn't snap cleanly. Is my sand too wet? Or dry? Or some unholy mixture of the two?
Any other advice you can give to a novice caster would be gratefully received as well.

[Michael G]

Welcome to the forum.

One thing with green sand casting is that the sand has to be rammed in really hard. I mean really hard. It may be that it is crumbling because it has not been packed in enough.

Michael

[bts]

I agree with Michael G, under ramming is a problem a lot of people have when using green sand.

I have seen experienced moulders have trouble with greensand after coming across from CO2 or Furan sands.
Practice more with different ramming pressures and don`t forget to add some gas vent holes.

Tony