Loadingā¦
2
Unpopular opinion: I think the old way of ramming up molds by hand with a wooden mallet in our Tacoma shop was actually better for tricky patterns than the new pneumatic rammers everyone uses now.
I switched to the air rammer about 8 months ago for speed, but I swear I get more cold shuts and misruns on complex cores now, so I'm debating going back to the mallet for certain jobs... what's your take on manual vs. power ramming for detail work?
3 comments
Log in to join the discussion
Log In3 Comments
xena_webb5mo ago
Oh man, that's so true... it's like the power tool just blasts past the feel you get with your hands. I see it everywhere now, like people using electric screwdrivers and stripping heads because they lost the touch for when it's tight enough. Sometimes the old way just lets you listen to the work.
7
theagarcia5mo ago
Yeah, that "feel you get with your hands" thing xena_webb said is spot on. The air rammer just doesn't let you finesse the sand in tight spots. I keep a mallet on the bench for the tricky ones now, it's slower but way cleaner.
3
lindaw293mo ago
The air rammer has its place for sure, but you're right that it's not great for delicate work. Cold shuts and misruns usually come from not getting uniform sand density around the cores, and a mallet lets you feel exactly where it's packing tight or staying loose. Those pneumatic tools just hammer everything the same way, so tight spots get over-packed and you get voids in others. It's not really about losing the touch, it's that the tool doesn't have the control to match the pattern's needs. For complex cores on my shop's old jobbing work, I'll reach for the hardwood mallet every time.
3