Foundry Process

The mold is prepared by surrounding a pattern with packed sand in two halves. The pattern is removed and the two halves are fastened together leaving a cavity. One or more holes (called risers) are cut into the mold to allow the metal to be poured into the cavity.

We use an electric furnace to heat a fire-proof crucible that has been loaded with metal and heat it till it is white hot (approximately 1,200 °C for iron, 900 °C for bronze and 700 °C for aluminum).

In this photograph, the metal in the crucible is ready to pour into the mold.

In this step, the molten metal is poured into the risers in thhe mold. The metal flows through

Once the metal has cooled inside the mold, the two halves are split and the sand is cleaned off the article.

The last step is to remove the risers and smooth the rough edges. The article is then ready for polising and/or painting as required.