Foundry castings finishing — Decoring and shot blasting

Finishing is the last operation in the casting manufacturing cycle.

An analysis of production costs showed that finishing represented on average 15% of the part price for large production runs, and up to 30% for small and medium-sized steel parts.

Constantly improving working and environmental conditions, the growing difficulty of recruiting qualified personnel for these positions, and quality requirements have led companies to upgrade workstations in order to guarantee their customers the best value for money.

The range and means of finishing are adapted to the foundry processes used and the geometry of the part.

However, with a few exceptions, there are three main types of operation:

• uncapping ;

• shot blasting ;

• deburring/finishing.

Once the metal has solidified, the part or cluster is removed from the mold. Depending on the type of molding, a certain amount of sand, or molding compound, will adhere to the part and must be removed by a cleaning operation more commonly known as sandblasting or shot blasting. Once the part has been stripped of its gangue, it remains to remove all burrs and other appendages, so as to deliver a part that complies with the customer's specifications. This final deburring/finishing operation is the subject of article .