Casting shell knockout in cabinet

The task

Removing ceramic mould shells from precision cast components.

The problem

At one small foundry, ceramic mould shells used to be removed by hand using a lump hammer. This was very time consuming and not particularly effective at removing all of the mould material. Hand hammering operations like this expose workers to high magnitudes of shock vibration.

The solution

The company bought a knockout cabinet. This consists of a chipping hammer mounted in a steel frame inside an acoustically treated enclosure. The casting is placed in the cabinet and the chipper will only operate when the door is closed.

Casting inside cabinet before operation begins

Casting inside cabinet after mould removal

Automatic knockout cabinet and operator

The result

• The operator is not exposed to vibration.
• There is a small reduction in manual handling.
• It is a much faster method (eight times faster than the old method) and more effective.
• Noise exposures are lower than alternative methods.
• There is less mess around the workshop as the removed ceramic is all in one place, reducing clean up time.