March 27, 2006 —— T&L Foundry Inc., near Tulsa, OK, has achieved significant reductions in shakeout time using cores made with GMBOND sand binder, according to Hormel Specialty Products Division, the supplier of the organic binder product. T&L Foundry produces nonferrous castings in sizes ranging from a few ounces up to 1,000 lb.

Bender Foundry Service, a core manufacturer and sand distributor in Sigourney, IA, that recently began using GMBOND, supplies cores to T&L Foundry. Hormel reports that the foundry reduced its shakeout time for a small, aluminum gas-valve casting from approximately one week per thousand to three hours per thousand. Previously, removing cores manually and mechanically from the casting had led to many cracked parts.

T&L Foundry has also tested GMBOND on other cast parts and experienced easier core-removal. According to T&L Foundry president Bill Covington, "By using cores made with GMBOND sand binder, we were able to solve our shakeout problems and avoid purchasing additional equipment, such as an oven to bake out cores."

According to Hormel, foundries using cores made with the GMBOND process note easier shakeout, lower toxic emissions levels, and lower energy costs because there is no need to bake-out the cores. "Testing by the Casting Emission Reduction Program (CERP) has found that GMBOND reduces volatile organic compound (VOC) emissions by more than 90% in baseline comparisons to cores made with phenolic urethane resins," Hormel states.