No-bake sand castings are also referred to as air-set sand castings, resin bonded sand castings. The process is called No-bake because it is not subjected to heating the mold before pouring casting. In the no-bake sand castings process, sand is mixed with resin and curing agent and then molded around the cope and drag halves of the tooling, the sand mixture hardens in a short time, and then the tooling is drawn. Then refractory coating is applied to both mold halves before they are brought together to form one complete mold for pouring. No-bake molded cores also can be produced using a similar method and assembled into the mold to form more complex shapes.

As the second most popular method for producing cast components, no-bake sand castings has proven its worth as an efficient means for medium and low volumes of complex metal parts. The advantages of no-bake sand castings are:

  • Good dimensional tolerances and surface
  • Inexpensive pattern material can be used, like wood
  • Low to medium volume production capability
  • Reduced opportunity for gas related defects

Metals apply to no-bake sand casting