The document discusses various casting defects that can occur during sand casting including gas defects, shrinkage cavities, molding material defects, pouring metal defects, and mold shift. Gas defects like blowholes and porosity are caused by entrapped gases in the molten metal or gases released from the mold during pouring. Shrinkage cavities result from liquid shrinkage during solidification which can be prevented with proper feeding and risers. Pouring metal defects include mis-runs from insufficient metal flow and cold shuts where two streams of molten metal do not fuse together properly.