MODERN CASTING .COM
LINKEDIN DISCUSSION Should You Clean Your Returns?
On the Foundry and Diecaster Network on LinkedIn, a mem- ber asked, “How many of you shotblast your aluminum gates and runners to clean off the sand before using them to recharge your furnaces? Accepted practice or waste of time and money?” Below are excerpts of some of the discussion points:
“It is not a waste of time, depending on the quality you are looking for. If you want to reduce potential hard points and contamination, it is a good practice.”—Didier Finck, Morgan Thermic
POLL QUESTION
The January website question asked:
What’s your sales forecast for 2012 compared to 2011?
38.6%
MUCH WORSE
18.2%
MUCH BETTER
15.9%
This month’s question is available at
www.moderncasting.com.
CONNECT WITH US
Like: American Foundry Society Follow:
@AmerFoundrySoc
Download: Metalcasting Newsstand app
Join: Foundry and Diecaster Network
ABOUT THE SAME
22.7%
SOMEWHAT BETTER
4.5%
SOMEWHAT WORSE
“We clean all returns before re-melting. We found that sand inclusions were dramatically reduced after the process was instituted.”—Dennis DeMott, Delta Technical Solutions
“The density of sand and aluminum is almost the same. Sand inclusions in castings can occur if the charge mate- rial is not cleaned prior to charging in the furnace.”—Sohan Lal, Max Bohr Academy
Editor’s Note: MODERN CASTING does not necessarily endorse the views expressed in the LinkedIn discussion.
Visit
moderncasting.com for a link to the Foundry and Diecaster Network.
BLOG ROLL
The Double-Edged Sword of Effi ciency
By most reports, the metalcasting industry is bouncing back from the re- cession. Forecasts indicate an industry wide upswing is coming, and anecdotal evidence of facilities running full-out abound. So why do we keep opening the papers and hearing the economy is struggling? Why are millions of people still out of work and protesting in the streets about their situation? Certainly, this is a diffi cult question. An article featuring Chicago White Metal Casting on NPR’s website of- fered at least one valuable insight: our effi ciency has allowed us to satisfy the demands of our customers without rehiring some of the less specialized workers we’ve lost.
This is good news for many small metalcasters across the nation. It is not so good news for workers who have made their living in the manufacturing sector all their lives. But the hope is that effi ciency will increase our ability to compete on the global scale.
Spread the Word With Twitter
Do you tweet? Twitter can be a way to touch base with customers, employees and neighbors.
Some metalcasters are already on board, including Bremen Castings @bremencastings, Sivyer Steel @SivyerSteel and Waukesha Foundry @waukeshafoundry, to name a few. Many news and industry organiza- tions dealing specifi cally with metal- casting are on there, too, including the American Foundry Society @amerfoundrysoc, Foundry-Planet. com @foundryplanet, Metal Casting Design & Purchasing magazine @Metal_Castings and our own Al Spada @SpadaLuvCasting.
Visit
moderncasting.com to read the full blogs and additional entries.
February 2012 MODERN CASTING | 3
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