Hi All

Would anyone have any details, pictures of the cast Sherman moulds?

I have hunted as much as I can and cannot find anything and I am curious what the mouldy where made of and how.

Regards

There are pictures of the varioous foundries who produced these castings but I am interstaate for a few weeks and don't have access to my refeerences. There was a great thread on Missing Lynx in the Allied DG with photos - well worth searching for.
The Molds weree large sand castings as was the norm for large castings at the time.
Al

Do you mean the sand moulds they used at the foundry? Or the wooden forms they moulded the sand around? The sand was sacrificial, and was broken up to release the steel casting, so would not survive. But then I haven't even seen any pics of the wooden forms, which may have been scrapped after the end of production anyway.

The basic process was to make several "parts" of sand/cement mould that were keyed together. Each was removed from the form, and then carefully reassembled to make the cavity into which the steel was poured. Precise details like mating surfaces or bolt holes were machined in after the rough casting was made, since casting itself is not a millimetre-accurate process.

Hi Al

Forgive the delay in getting back to you and thank you for getting back to me, I will try missing Lynx as you suggest

Bob

Hi Tom

Thanks for getting back to me, it is the wooden (well even that is an assumption) that interest me, I would like to see these.

Regards Bob

If you are doing searches, then search on the word "pattern" as that's the term for the "positive" representation of the final product that the "negative" sand mould is made from.

In that time period they would have been mostly made of wood. Nowadays they are sometimes made of plastic or various metals, but many are still wood.

Paul

OK, I found the thread which references DR Jones excellent book regarding the manufacture of the Sherman. I gives details of how the turret was moulded in one piece and the same principle was used for the Hull:
http://www.network54.com/Forum/47208/thread/1297377869

The Book is highly recommended
Al