Astech Inc., a steel jobbing foundry in Vassar, MI, installed an automated carousel molding line and a new core blowing machine recently. Both systems were supplied by Palmer Manufacturing & Supply.
This project follows an expansion of the foundry’s production space to 75,000 sq. ft., in 2012.
Astech is a specialty producer of iron and steel castings in low to medium volumes, including its own line of austenitic manganese steel structures supplied for wear-resistant applications. Included in this are a series of cast replacement liners for blast cleaning machines, including Wheelabrator, Pangborn, BCP, Goff, and other models.
Wear-resistant castings are supplied to manufacturers in power generation, mining, pulp and paper, automotive, agriculture, steel processing, asphalt and cement industries.
The new Palmer, eight-station carousel line is dedicated to producing no-bake molds. It will accommodate molds with maximum dimensions of 50x72x48. The maximum weight for cast part is limited to 900 lb.
“Our new no-bake line has increased production significantly,” according to Astech president Alan Bukach. “Adding automation to our no-bake process has improved our mold quality and downstream processes as well.
“The Palmer core blower affords us a great deal of flexibility in adapting to a wide spectrum of core configurations,” he added.”