Just lost a full shift's pay on a bad batch of sand binder

Ordered a new brand of sand binder last week because the price was too good to pass up. Figured I'd save a few bucks on the big pour we had lined up for the 12th. Mixed it up like normal, rammed the molds, everything seemed fine. Came in this morning and half the cores just crumbled when we tried to set them. The whole batch was junk. Boss said the binder wasn't reacting right, probably a bad mix from the supplier. That's 8 hours of my time and about $300 in materials straight into the scrap bin. Now we're a day behind and I'm stuck cleaning out the whole system. Anyone know a solid binder brand that won't fall apart on you?

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finley_lopez986mo ago

That exact thing @tylerr29 said about the price being a warning sign is everywhere now. You see it with tools, food, even phone chargers that break in a week. It feels like the whole game is just finding the least bad deal where the product actually works like it should. Spending more for the boring, reliable option isn't exciting, but it's the only way to avoid wasting your whole day cleaning up a mess.

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tylerr296mo ago

That "price was too good to pass up" line is the universal sign you're about to get burned. I've been there with a cheap refractory coating that just washed off. You end up wasting more time and money than you saved. For binders, we just use the basic stuff from the big suppliers now. It's boring and costs more up front, but it never does that crumble thing. The extra few bucks is basically insurance.

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