Casting Class

Pros, cons, and key differences between each casting process.

When should I use investment casting (also known as lost-wax casting or precision casting) or permanent mold casting?

How do I get from design to finished product? Tim and Rachel review the manufacturing process step by step, so you know what to expect. There are 11 steps from concept to creation: design, choosing a supplier, tooling, and more!

The pros, cons, and when to use each manufacturing method.

Learn which one is best for your custom design with Rachel Weber and Mary Jutzi.

We met with metal casting engineer Monty Fullerton to learn about 3 design opportunities for complex aluminum permanent mold castings: steel inserts, sand cores, and pulls/slides.

Johnathan and Rachel becomes Myth Busters! There are 8 huge misconceptions in the manufacturing industry:

1. Is manufacturing in decline?
2. Are all manufacturing jobs outsourced to other countries?
3. Are onshored products lower quality or more expensive?
4. Is manufacturing low-tech with limited innovation?
5. Is automation eliminating manufacturing jobs?
6. Are manufacturing jobs low-paying and undesirable?
7. Is manufacturing just an assembly line, conveyor belt process?
8. Is manufacturing dirty and bad for the environment?

Questions you NEED to ask when choosing a new supplier! Your shortcut to determining the experience and quality of a potential manufacturer.

With our hosts Tim Williams, Johnathan Johnson, and Rachel Weber.

What impacts casting cost?

9 factors affect the price of a casting:

1. Material
2. Design for Manufacturing
3. Quantity
4. Complexity
5. Machining
6. Heat Treat
7. Inspection
8. Surface Finish
9. Packaging

Learn how casting quotes are calculated so you can optimize your next project!

Tim Weber, with 40+ years of casting experience, looks at the state of foundries today. Changes in market, operation, technology, and more!

How hydrogen, flux, and other additives affect aluminum castings.

With Tim Weber and Mary Jutzi.

Topics

• What's Clean Metal (0:39)
• Dross, Slag, and Oxides (3:27)
• Hydrogen Gas (5:24)
• Atmospheric Pressure (6:34)
• Using Nitrogen (8:03)
• Adding Hydrogen to Aluminum (8:42)
• Measuring Gas Level of Melt (11:13)
• Temperature's Effect (12:33)
• Final Tips for Engineers (13:35)

Which casting material is best for my project?

In this episode, we'll explain the pros and cons of casting each metal, as well as the cost difference.

Thank you to our hosts Tim Weber and Mary Jutzi.

There are 3 permanent mold casting pouring methods:

1. Static Pour
2. Tilt Pour
3. Reverse Tilt Pour

Learn how each pouring method works and its effect on casting porosity!

A more informed customer is a better customer! That's why we educate our customers about the manufacturing process with guides, videos, and of course podcasts.  

But a company is only as strong as it's employees! Here's why our new employee training program works: our employees actually WANT to participate in it! Our Pay4Skill program incentivized and rewards learning.

Thank you to our Batesville Products panelists: 

1. Kim Haines, Human Resources Manger 
2. Tim Williams, National Sales Manager 
3. Johnathan Johnson, Regional Sales Manager 
4. Rachel Weber, Regional Sales Manager 
5. Tim Weber, VP of Marketing 
6. Mary Jutzi, Digital Marketing Associate

CHAPTERS 

• 00:00 - 00:39 Intro 
• 00:39 - 1:51 Welcome Panelists 
• 1:51 - 3:57 Engineering Resources 
• 3:57 - 4:57 FREE Design Guide 
• 4:47 - 6:44 Employee Training Programs 
• 6:44 - 10:35 Pay4Skill Employee Training 
• 10:35 - 11:17 Outro

No one wants defective metal castings. Learn how to identify and prevent 6 common porosity defects! 

1. Surface Porosity
2. Reaction Porosity
3. Gas Hole Porosity
4. Oxide Inclusions
5. Shrinkage Porosity
6. Hydrogen Gas Porosity

Thank you to our special guests at Porosity Solutions: https://porositysolutions.com/

• Brad Hohenstein - Porosity Solutions Founder
• Ernie Coberly - Porosity Solutions Instructor

And your friends at Batesville Products: https://batesvilleproducts.com/

• Monty Fullerton - Manufacturing Engineer (guest)
• Tim Williams - National Sales Manager (host)
• Rachel Weber - Regional Sales Consultant (moderator)
• Johnathan Johnson - Regional Sales Consultant (moderator)

CHAPTERS

00:00 - 00:39 Intro

00:39 - 02:15 Welcome Guests

02:15 - 03:34 Surface Porosity

03:34 - 04:55 Reaction Porosity

04:55 - 06:52 Gas Hole Porosity

06:52 - 08:53 Oxide Inclusions

08:53 - 11:42 Shrinkage

11:42 - 16:39 Hydrogen Gas Porosity

16:39 - 17:13 Outro

40+ year metal polisher shares his secret to polishing aluminum castings!

Can you mirror buff aluminum? Zinc?

Do all parts need polished? Even if they'll be powder coated? What about chrome plated? 

Welcome to Metal Polishing 101.

Learn about polishing tools and what finishes you can achieve in this month's podcast episode.

Thank you, Danny Courter, 40+ year metal polishing veteran for joining us!

Listen to the children's book Foundry Friends make a Casting!

Foundry Friends make a Casting uses fun and creative characters to tell the story of how a toy car is made. The toy goes through the metal casting manufacturing process - from engineering to polishing!  This storybook is a great way for children to learn about STEM through the lens of USA manufacturing.   

We wrote this book to introduce children to the magic of manufacturing. At Batesville Products, we engineer, cast, machine, inspect and polish aluminum castings for over 70 industries nationwide!  

Visit our website for coloring pages, free activity books, manufacturing experiments, and more!  https://batesvilleproducts.com/kids/

There are 5 things you should consider when machining aluminum castings:

1. Material & Heat Treat
2. Coolant & Cutters
3. Fixtures
4. Speeds & Feeds (and how this affects quoting!)
5. Ergonomics & Recycling 

Want to quote a new casting project or thinking about re-quote an existing part? Here's everything your supplier needs to know to give you the best quote possible!

The quoting process can be confusing, especially if you are shopping around at multiple foundries. Here's what you can expect. Your supplier will ask questions about...

• Background & Part End Use
• Timeline
• Machining, Polishing, Secondaries
• and more!

(and if they don't ask these questions - that's a red flag!)

How do robots impact the manufacturing industry? 

Here's an engineer's guide to manufacturing automation.  In this podcast, we discuss different types of manufacturing robotics, including...

• Industrial Robots
• Collaborative Robots (cobots) 
• Universal Robots 
• Mobile Industrial Robots

Robots empower employees, not replace them! Robotics have the potential to improve ergonomics, job satisfaction, and employee retention. 

Thank you to our special guests (or should I say Jeffs) from NEFF. Check out NEFF here: https://neffautomation.com/

Let's talk supply, demand, and availability of aluminum.

Like many materials, the price of aluminum has doubled in the last year. Why?

Energy costs, labor, and government regulations all impact the cost of aluminum. With material demand outpacing supply, availability is also a hot topic. It's imperative you have a supply chain you can trust and build relationships in the market. 

Did you know that 75% of aluminum ever produced is still in use today? That’s because there is no limit to how many times aluminum can be recycled!

While scrap metal recycling doesn't alleviate stress on the primary aluminum market, it is still an important market to explore.

Thank you Dave Moore for joining us! Dave is Owner/Operator of The Foundry Way: https://thefoundryway.com/

Sand casting, permanent mold casting, die casting - which process should I use? Here are the pros and cons of each metal casting method.