Modern Casting articles from February 2009

Modern Casting archives from February 2009

Where It's At.(moderncasting.com)
February 1, 2009... Wherever you find the cast metal Where It's At sign (right) in this issue, access additional content exclusively on the web at www.moderncasting.com: * Table of Contents: Web-only article on lost foam casting in China. * "Guldens'...

Metalcasting blog.(moderncasting.com)
February 1, 2009... MODERN CASTING staff members sound off on a green metalcaster, marketing genius, the new Novel Solutions, a prescient metalcaster, castings for electric cars and why bad industry news should be read with an open mind.

Question of the month.(moderncasting.com)
February 1, 2009... The December web poll asked: How often does your company update its website? Yearly 38.9% Monthly 33.3% Daily or Weekly 13.9% Never 8.3% Don't Have One 5.6% This month's question is...

An opportunity is what you make of it.(Editorial)
February 1, 2009... Is the glass half full or half empty? Right now, it is tough for any metalcaster to look at the economy and see anything other than an empty glass (forget about half empty). Heck, just look at our Industry News pages this month, and you can...

Citation acquires lost foam supplier Foseco-Morval.(North America)
February 1, 2009... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Downsizing metalcaster Citation Corp., Novi, Mich., announced it has completed the acquisition of lost foam supply company Foseco-Morval, Bessemer, Ala. According to a Citation press release, Foseco-Morval's lost...

Crane Co. gains metalcasting facility in acquisition.(North America)
February 1, 2009... Industrial manufacturer Crane Co., Stamford, Conn., announced it has purchased Friedrich Krombach GmbH & Company KG Armaturenwerke and Krombach International GmbH, both of Kreuztal, Germany, including the valve maker's metalcasting facility....

Griffin Pipe idles Florence plant indefinitely.(North America)
February 1, 2009... Griffin Pipe Products Co., Downers Grove, Ill., announced it will stop production at its ductile iron pipe casting plant in Florence, N.J., indefinitely beginning in the middle of February. According to a company press release, the plant's...

EPA proposes new area source rules for metalcasters.(North America)
February 1, 2009... As part of its Urban Air Toxics Strategy under the Clean Air Act and a consent decree with the Sierra Club, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is required to promulgate new air emissions standards for smaller, or area sources, of...

Thresher Industries receives new purchase order.(North America)(Thresher Industries Inc.)(Brief article)
February 1, 2009... Aluminum and metal matrix metalcaster Thresher Industries Inc., Hanford, Calif., announced it has received a purchase order from Alto Products Corp., Atmore, Ala., valued at $25,000. Thresher delivered the first shipment of parts, to be...

Alcoa to sell cast wheels business in "extraordinary times".(North America)
February 1, 2009... Alcoa Inc., Pittsburgh, announced plans to divest its automotive wheel casting segment, along with a number of other units it called "non-core downstream businesses." According to a company press release, the sale of the cast wheel...

Superior Industries to close wheel casting plant.(North America)
February 1, 2009... Automotive wheel supplier Superior Industries International Inc., Van Nuys, Calif., announced it will close the metalcasting facility it operates in Van Nuys by the end of the second quarter of 2009. Superior produces aluminum automotive...

Quality certifications.(INDUSTRY NEWS)
February 1, 2009... The following metalcasters have passed recent certification or surveillance audits: Le Claire Manufacturing Co., Bettendorf, Iowa, (ISO 9001:2000); Florida Machine and Casting Co., West Palm Beach, Fla., (ISO 9001:2000).

Wescast to close one of two Ontario metalcasting plants.(North America)
February 1, 2009... Manifold supplier Wescast Industries Inc., Brantford, Ontario, Canada, announced it will close one of its metalcasting plants in Wingham, North Huron, Ontario, and transfer production to the second plant it owns in the small town. The...

TRW Automotive to close Warrenton Casting Center, seek buyer.(North America)
February 1, 2009... Diversified automotive supplier TRW Automotive, Livonia, Mich., announced it will cease manufacturing operations at its Warrenton Casting Center, Warrenton, Ga., at the end of the first quarter of 2009. Warrenton Casting Center is a gray...

Auto parts maker General Aluminum Manufacturing to idle Richmond, Ind., plant.(North America)
February 1, 2009... Auto parts maker General Aluminum Manufacturing, Richmond, Ind., will idle its metalcasting facility and layoff 84 workers in early March, according to a notice filed with the state of Indiana. The company says the duration of the layoffs...

A true measure of productivity.(Letterbox)(Letter to the editor)
February 1, 2009... Just a note to say kudos's for hitting the nail on the head ("A Shift in Thinking, January 2009 editorial). I have long said that our "smaller" industry is not our father's metalcasting industry. Our industry (and those who think they know...

Looking for an objective viewpoint on excellence in the metalcasting industry.(Letterbox)(Letter to the editor)
February 1, 2009... I read the January editorial ("A Shift in Thinking") with great interest. I think there was something in it that merits deeper consideration. It read, "They also cite their exceptional quality, customer service and value added capabilities...

Correction.(INDUSTRY NEWS)(Correction notice)
February 1, 2009... In the January article "The Bell Tolls for Metalcasters," p. 46, the second paragraph indicates that in the 1200s, "metalcasters began producing bells by molding molten aluminum." It should have read "metalcasters began producing bells by...

Georg Fischer.(Newscast)
February 1, 2009... Automotive metalcaster Georg Fischer, Schaffhausen, Switzerland, has completed construction of its newest metalcasting facility in Kunshan, China. The company announced plans to build the new casting plant, which is intended to supply castings...

Buhler Technology Group.(Newscast)
February 1, 2009... The Buhler Technology Group, Uzwil, Switzerland, reported a 3% increase in order bookings in 2008, and its sales revenue grew by approximately 7%.

Citation Corp.(Newscast)
February 1, 2009... Citation Corp., Novi, Mich., announced its iron metalcasting facilities in Marion and Selma, Ala., have achieved more than two years without days away, restricted or transferred incidents.

KB Alloys LLC.(Newscast)
February 1, 2009... KB Alloys LLC, Reading, Pa., has completed its 2008 expansion plans at its Henderson, Ky., facility. The $2 million expansion and equipment installations were primarily focused on an upgraded strontium metal production plant, bar casting...

ABP Induction.(Newscast)
February 1, 2009... ABP Induction, North Brunswick, N.J., celebrated 106 years of serving the metalcasting and forging industries this year. Since its founding in 1903, the company has grown to 490 employees in the U.S., Germany, Brazil, China, India, Mexico,...

Faro.(Newscast)
February 1, 2009... 3-D measurement and imaging supplier Faro, Beringen, Switzerland, won the Defense Manufacturing Excellence Award from the National Center for Advanced Technologies.

Specialty chemicals company Sud-Chemie AG, Munich, Germany, has officially taken over Hi-Tech Ceramics, Alfred Station, N.Y., from previous owner Cookson Group plc, London.(Newscast)
February 1, 2009... Specialty chemicals company Sud-Chemie AG, Munich, Germany, has officially taken over Hi-Tech Ceramics, Alfred Station, N.Y., from previous owner Cookson Group plc, London. Cookson announced it entered into an agreement to sell the filters...

Calendar of events.(Brief article)(Calendar)
February 1, 2009... February February 18-20--AFS Southeastern Regional Conference, The Wynfrey Hotel, Birmingham, Ala. March March 8-11--North American Die Casting Association Die Casting Executive Conference, Rancho Las Palmas, Rancho Mirage, Calif....

Citation Corp.(Personals)
February 1, 2009... Todd Heavin was named senior vice president of operations for Citation Corp., Novi, Mich. He will report directly to the chief executive officer.

Smith Foundry.(Personals)
February 1, 2009... Smith Foundry, Minneapolis, made Peter Ryan its quality manager, a newly created management position at the company.

Ipsen Inc.(Personals)
February 1, 2009... Ipsen Inc., Rockford, Ill, hired Bill St. Thomas as its sales manager for North America.

National Academy of Sciences of the Republic of Armenia.(Personals)
February 1, 2009... Diran Apelian, director of Worcester Polytechnic Institute's (WPI) Metal Processing Institute, Worcester, Mass., has been elected a foreign member of the National Academy of Sciences of the Republic of Armenia. Apelian was born in Egypt to...

Diana Lados, an assistant professor of mechanical engineering and director of WPI's Integrative Materials Design Center, received the Orr Early Career Award.(Personals)
February 1, 2009... Diana Lados, an assistant professor of mechanical engineering and director of WPI's Integrative Materials Design Center, received the Orr Early Career Award from the Materials Division of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers.

Obituaries.(INDUSTRY NEWS)(Obituary)
February 1, 2009... Robert Bradley, Pittsburg, Kan., died Aug. 7, 2008. He was a longtime member of the American Foundry Society and helped start the metalcasting program at Pittsburg State Univ., Pittsburg, Kan., in the 1960s. He was active in the metalcasting...

Trade winds: protectionism and fair trade policies are key issues facing the metalcasting industry in 2009.(WASHINGTON ALERT)
February 1, 2009... AFS Government Affairs Representative--Waterman & Assoc., Washington D.C. In November, leaders from 20 major and emerging economies met in Washington, D.C., for a global economic summit, issuing a pledge to refrain from protectionist...

Changes made to Form I-9.(On the Hill)(Brief article)
February 1, 2009... The Department of Homeland Security's U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) posted an "interim final rule" in the Federal Register in December of last year, making changes to Form I-9 and reducing the documents employers can accept...

Trucker hours limited.(On the Hill)
February 1, 2009... The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration issued a new rule governing the number of hours that commercial truck drivers can drive each day. Truck drivers will continue to be limited to driving for 11 hours within a total workday of no...

Goldens' leap: Goldens' Foundry and Machine made a leap and purchased a new casting facility that doubled its capacity and charted a path for the company's future--for better or worse.(Cover story)(Company overview)
February 1, 2009... The casting facility in Cordele, Ga., was just sitting there, quiet and empty. Production at what was once a dedicated automotive supplier had been abandoned for more than two years, waiting for some other owner with some other plan to make it...

Developing a model for better cupola operation: research projects are routinely underway at several universities, metalcasting facilities and research agencies, all with the aim of improving the metalcasting process, quality and marketability. Here we share the details of two newly-completed American Foundry Society research projects.(R&D Advancements)
February 1, 2009... Objective: Improve cupola efficiency and reduce emissions. Approach: Develop a computer model to optimize cupola operation without requiring physical changes to the cupola, and then test the model results on a real cupola. Results: The...

Which area of metalcasting warrants research?(R&D Advancements)
February 1, 2009... MODERN CASTING asked several researchers in the industry to make an argument for what they consider to be the area of metalcasting that most deserves dedicated research. The investigators state their case: "According to a recent survey...

Eliminating CO gas defects.(R&D Advancements)
February 1, 2009... Objective: Eliminate the CO gas defects that form in iron castings during solidification. Approach: Determine the conditions in castings associated with CO gas defects. Identify the cause of those conditions and eliminate or control them....

6 Rules for better abrasives use: following these rules of thumb may keep your grinders from losing one.
February 1, 2009... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] The grinding room is noisy, dirty--not the most desirable place in the metalcasting facility to work. But that shouldn't keep your grinding personnel from using all the resources available to them to do their job...

Cores, cores everywhere: many metalcasters are swimming in inventoried cores, but certain strategies can help keep them afloat.
February 1, 2009... A midwest metalcasting facility received a software tool in late 2007 that would eventually streamline its disorganized core room. But some of the employees in the shop felt as if the tool were an anchor dragging them down when it first bobbed...

Protect your permanent molds: wear of permanent molds can lead to dimensional inaccuracy, poor casting surface quality and cracking. This article examines several steps to prolonging mold life.
February 1, 2009... Most permanent mold tooling is capable of withstanding tens of thousands of cycles before needing replacement, but daily use causes wear and tear that may affect dimensional accuracy and ultimately casting quality. Dirt, alloy soldered onto the...

Start earning publicity.(MARKETING MATTERS)
February 1, 2009... Let's count the many good reasons for launching and maintaining a public relations (PR) campaign for your metalcasting facility. First, properly executed, publicity attracts new business. Second, PR can strengthen relationships with...

Dimensional tolerances in aluminum castings.(CASTING FACTS)
February 1, 2009... AFS Technical Department, Schaumburg, Illinois Casting purchasers often ask what tolerances they can expect to hold on their final cast components. Metalcasting engineering and casting processes play a critical part in answering this...

Nine metalcasting facilities earn millionaires safety award.(AFS/CMI NEWS)
February 1, 2009... AFS has announced the winners of the 2008 Millionaires Safety Award. The annual award recognizes facilities that reach the million mark in consecutive man-hours worked without incurring an occupational injury or illness that results in days...

AFS Government Affairs Committee selects priority issues for 2009, sets agenda for conference.(AFS/CMI NEWS)
February 1, 2009... The 2009 U.S. Metalcasting Government Affairs Conference, held May 4-5 at the Capitol Hilton, Washington, D.C., will focus on environmental and workplace safety, energy and health, which have been set as priority issues for the industry by the...

Chapter meetings.(AFS/CMI NEWS)(Calendar)
February 1, 2009... To view a complete list of AFS upcoming chapter meetings, visit www.afsinc.org/chapters. CMI Course Schedule Feb. 17-19 Analysis & Reduction of Indianapolis Casting Defects (44-09) March...

Metalcasting Solutions Seminar kicks off Northwest Regional Conference.(AFS/CMI NEWS)(Conference news)
February 1, 2009... The next installment of the AFS Metalcasting Solutions Seminar will take place March 18, just before the start of the AFS Northwest Regional Conference. Both events will take place at the Red Lion Hotel, Seattle. The Metalcasting Solutions...

Learn Gating & Risering with new publication.(AFS/CMI NEWS)
February 1, 2009... The second edition of the Basic Principles of Gating & Risering is now available. It is designed for beginner and intermediate students of metalcasting practice and focuses on the science of metal flow and solidification, as well as principles...

AFS Global Technology Series includes Campbell workshop.(AFS/CMI NEWS)
February 1, 2009... The second installment of the AFS Global Technology Series was held Nov. 12-13 at AFS Headquarters, Schaumburg, III. Nearly 30 metalcasting personnel met for an interactive two-day workshop and technical discussion with Professor John Campbell,...

Attendee, exhibit registrations open for 113th Metalcasting Congress, hotel rates renegotiated.(AFS/CMI NEWS)
February 1, 2009... Attendee and exhibitor registrations are open for the 113th Metalcasting Congress, which will be held April 7-10, at the Paris Hotel, Las Vegas. More than 1,800 industry people from around the globe are expected to attend. Attendees will...

Rapid prototyping method works for industry, art.(New Product)
February 1, 2009... The additive fabrication method known as selective laser sintering (SLS) is best known for producing tough, durable parts for rigorous testing and wax patterns for investment casting directly from 3-D CAD data. For this reason, Robert Graham...

Basketless heat treating saves energy, improves mechanical properties.(New Product)
February 1, 2009... High volume aluminum casting facilities, particularly automotive suppliers, often perform heat treating in-house. The process is necessary to improve mechanical properties, stabilize the material for service and reduce or eliminate residual...

Shot blast system.(METALCASTING SUPPLIES)
February 1, 2009... Viking Blast and Wash Systems has released its new 48 ST Airless Swing Table Shot Blast System, which includes a table attached to the door. When the blast door is opened, the worktable swings clear of the cabinet for easy loading and...

Vertical machining center.(METALCASTING SUPPLIES)
February 1, 2009... Makino has created a new five-axis version of its V33i hardmilling vertical machining center, the V33i-5XB. The new version enables single set-up access to multi-sided parts and five-axis geometries. The added fifth axis provides increased...

Refractory products.(METALCASTING SUPPLIES)
February 1, 2009... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Pyrotek has launched two new products with its Mastic refractory consumables line for applications in the transfer, delivery and casting of molten metal. Mastic 85 and 85N (non-refractory ceramic fiber-based) are...

Drumroll please...(SHAKEOUT: In case you didn't know...)
February 1, 2009... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] When you find yourself tapping your foot to a favorite rock song, you likely have a metal casting or two to thank. Snare drum shells are made of wood as well as cast in aluminum, steel or copper. These shells are...