I started working summer jobs in 1972 at the age of 14. I worked the cleaning room and general help.

I went full-time at age 21, and for experience, I traveled. I worked in a lot of different shops, working with iron, brass, and aluminum, always looking for the best practices and tools.

I’ve learned that it is now the equipment that makes a world-class foundry, but adherence to process control. I’ve also learned that in building a foundry, there are 2 philosophies – build vertical or build horizontal. This is the very first consideration.

A vertical foundry uses overhead conveyors, silos, snad hoppers, and extra compressors to clow sand through piping. They can do this with a small amount of space, but the added expense of maintenance and extra crew to keep all of these machines running is very high. It’s all done with an eye on higher productivity and there is a little, but, in my mind, not enough to justify the expense, which, incidentally is passed on to the customer.

The second philosophy is Horizontal, which is the philosophy that I used. This form of building requires much more room, as the sand is laid out on the floor in what are called windows.

I use the same squeezers, the very same furnaces, and the very same cleaning room equipment. Gone is the crowding of people and equipment.

The sand and sand control is critical to a quality casting. Because the sand is laid out, I can inspect every bit of it, just by walking through the shop. Even the crew becomes familiar with the nuances of the sand, which is very helpful.

Process control in the furnace room begins with a freshly cleaned crucible at the start of each shift. You never see this in other shops. You see, trash builds up on the sides of the crucible, and that trash gets into the melt. The build-up also reduces melt efficiency and the life of the crucible. Imagine a pot in your kitchen that is used constantly, but is never cleaned. The results are the same. A clean pot makes a big difference. My men are taught to keep the furnace clean!

I use the same metal as most other shops. I can provide certifications for the alloy used, in fact, I expect it. No problem.

My pyrometer measures to within one degree at 1500 F, and we use nitrogen to degas. Degas starts when the metal goes to full melt (about 1150 F) and continues through the rise to pouring temperature.

In the last 10 years, we have had only one issue with hydrogen in the melt, and that was due to a furnace burn-out. We ended up pigging the pot, because the metal was trashed and couldn’t make parts.