Welcome to e-Connections, the weekly AFS email newsletter. In this April 28, 2009, edition:
Craft Pattern & Mold Takes Home Casting of the Year
The metalcasting industry recognized nine cast components as top designs for the 2009 Engineered Casting Solutions and AFS Casting Competition. The components are being used in a variety of industries, including material handling, agriculture, energy production, military, aerospace and automotive.
Craft Pattern & Mold Inc., Maple Plain, Minn., earned top honors in the annual competition for its Polaris motorcycle frame casting. The casting replaces an assembly of more than 20 parts and serves as the main structural frame component for the Polaris Victory Core concept motorcycle. The design incorporates the gas tank, air inlet, air intake box, electrical routing, and seat and motor mounts. The casting design reduced weight by 30%.
Best in class winners in this year's competition included:
- Alum-Alloy Co. Inc., Ontario, CA
- Signicast Investment Castings, Hartford, WI.
- Piad Precision Castings Corp., Greensburg, PA
- Bremen Castings Inc., Bremen, IN
Honorable mention winners in this year's competition included:
- Aristo-Cast Inc, Almont, MI
- P&H Mining Equipment, Milwaukee
- LA Aluminum Casting Co., Hayden Lake, ID
- Precise Cast Prototypes & Engineering, Commerce City, CO
This year’s Casting Competition was sponsored by MAGMA Foundry Technologies, Schaumburg, Ill. MAGMA will provide the winners with a one-year license of MAGMASOFT software, including training and implementation assistance.
For more information on the competition, reference the articles published in the May issue of MODERN CASTING and the May/June issue of Metalcasting Design & Purchasing, or contact Dave Krugman, AFS, at 800/537-4237 x 286 or dkrugman@afsinc.org.
AFS Produces Energy Savings Webinar Series
In an effort to keep the metalcasting industry abreast of the latest developments and savings opportunities relating to energy, AFS will be producing an energy webinar series. With the exception of Module 1, which will be free, each session will be available for purchase as single or a group of modules, and will include:
- Tuesday, May 12 - Getting Started: Understanding the Issues (Module 1)
- Thursday, May 14 - Utilities (Module 2)
- Tuesday, May 19, - Controlling Melting Costs: Ferrous Alloys (Module 3)
- Thursday May 21 - Controlling Melting Costs: Non-Ferrous Alloys (Module 4)
- Tuesday, May 26 - Managing Compressed Air Systems (Module 5)
- Thursday, May 28 - Plant Environment and Equipment (Module 6)
- Thursday, June 4 - Implementation Plans: Energy Assessments and Best Practices (Module 7)
Modules 2-7 will be available individually or as a package. Single modules are $99, two modules are $175, 3 modules are $250 and the entire package is $350.
For more detailed information on these modules, visit the AFS Energy Savings Webinar Series website by clicking here. To register, contact Becky Erickson, AFS technical assistant, at 800/537-4237 x 246 or rebecca@afsinc.org.
Looking to Participate in Sand Casting Research? New Consortium Seeks Your Help
AFS, the Univ. of Northern Iowa and the National Industrial Sand Association is investigating the establishment of a multiple institution research consortium to coordinate new research efforts towards producing sand castings with improved dimensional accuracy and repeatability. This group is organizing a near net shape workshop to be held at AFS Headquarters in Fall 2009, where you will get a look at what has been done in near net shape technologies and have a chance to provide input and direction for the project.
At this workshop, you will have the opportunity to hear from casting users about their requirements, suppliers of equipment to produce near net shape castings and sand molding manufacturers approaches for improved dimensional tolerances.
If you are interested in participating in this consortium, contact Scott Lammers, AFS technical director, at 800/537-4237 x 228 or scottl@afsinc.org.
MetalcastingDesign.com’s Video Library Grows
The library of metalcasting facility video tours on MetalcastingDesign.com has grown to include four plants since launching at the beginning of the year.
With approximately one facility tour added per month, the list now includes permanent mold aluminum job shop Corbitt Manufacturing Co., St. Charles, Mo., sand caster AlumAlloy Co. Inc., Ontario, Calif., multi-process job shop U.S. Aluminum Castings, Entiat, Wash., and short run ferrous plant St. Louis Precision Casting Co., St. Louis.
The tours are designed to take metal casting designers and purchasers through the nation’s metalcasting facilities to give them an insider’s look at the way they operate. Click over to www.metalcastingdesign.com, and come along as our editors continue to tour the industry.
Get Hands Dirty with Hands-On Intro to Metalcasting Course
CMI will be offering a Hands-On Introduction to Metalcasting course June 23-26 at Pittsburg State Univ., Pittsburg, Kan. You asked for it—a course that brings the lab back to the classroom. This course will include laboratory sessions for green sand, cold box, shell, nobake, permanent mold, lost foam, investment casting, and quality tests such such as hardness, tensile strength and metallographic sample preparation.
In addition, lecture topics including patternmaking, molding and coremaking processes, alloys poured, melting methods, gating and risering, cleaning and finishing, defects and inspection techniques will be covered.
For more information or to attend this course, contact AFS customer service at 800/537-4237, or click here to register.
