Vent: I used to skip the mold wash step to save time
For years, I thought skipping mold wash was a smart way to speed up jobs. Everyone else swore by it for better surface finish, but I called it a waste. My castings looked okay, so I kept doing it my way. Then I had to make a complex gear pattern with fine teeth. Without wash, the metal stuck and tore the sand on demolding. The part was ruined, and we lost half a day remaking the mold. After that, I tried a quick zircon wash like the guys said. The next pour released smooth, with crisp details. Now I never skip it, even on simple jobs, because a few minutes saves hours of rework.