After 40 years in the foundry, I have learned and practiced the Four elements of casting. Patterns, molding, melting and finishing. They work together to make a good casting. There are two types of sand foundries, ferrous (iron) and non-ferrous (aluminum, brass, etc.)
As a teenager, I shoveled mountains of black sand, moved weights and clamps between pours in an iron foundry. Inland Foundry 1979-84 and 1990-92. It was hot and dirty. The large vertical boring machines had piles of shavings that needed shoveling, iron shavings are very heavy. Coke (refined coal) was unloaded from a nearby rail line, I was sent into the car to kick stubborn piles down the chute, always covered in coal dust afterward. Working with shell-core and on the molding floor, going where I was needed.
Presto Casting in Glendale, AZ from 1985-89. Precision magnesium and aluminum castings for the aerospace industry using “no-bake” core sand from a continuous mixing machine. Some core boxes had dozens of pieces that fit together like a puzzle to make one complicated core. The cores were filed and fit together, joints filled with an alcohol and clay mixture to round (fillet) the joints.
Metallic Arts (1993-2000) was the last foundry in Washington state to have a “journeyman” foundry program, I was the last apprentice in the program. The 2 year program divided into 6 months in each element. Patterns, molding, melting and finishing. Less than 20 employees and the foundry was almost 100 years old, each step of the process was filled with tradition.
Lost & Foundry 2000- 2019. Started as a backyard hobby in 1995. When Metallic arts closed in 2000, we started selling castings and small hobby furnaces.