Thread: Cast iron foundry for small qty run

JK I'll post a name and number for you on Tuesday.I have used them many times and if it's only a few parts you can get by without by a pattern.

Charlie,

I don't know what nor where Bridgeport is. The shop I was in was in downtown Mt. Pleasant.

More than 20 years since I was there. He may have moved to Bridgeport.

Jimmie might not even be the first name of the owner of that one, or that may have been his Dad, and Jimmie took over and run it bankrupt.

I'll ask my brother, lives and works down that way, to looksee if there is still a foundry there.

Might go see my own self, if this crap blowing up tonight, cold and blowing like hell out there, isn't so bad tomorrow. Got nothing better to do.

Not being able to do anything ain't much fun. Drive and BS is about the limit, and not very satisfying.

Cheers,

George

There's a place named Cattail Foundry and I've seen some of their fine work.

They are Amish and began their foundry as a means of producing replacement parts that were no longer available for their farming implements,steam engines, etc.

You send them a part, they send you the replacement, even if the part is broken, they'll do their best.

Don't bother trying to phone.

Cattail Foundry
167 W. Cattail Road
Gordonville, Pennsylvania 17529

Originally Posted by anteekfreek

There's a place named Cattail Foundry and I've seen some of their fine work.

Mentioned in reply #6 above. They're good people and know old engines and parts. I get castings from them from loose patterns from them in small runs, decent prices.

Charlie B's tales of woe sound all to familiar, even from a spectators vantage point......

Good luck Charlie.......

dk

jesse, there is a place in Oklahoma called CFM. i think they are in Blackwell. when i get to the shop tomorrow i will get contact info from our purchasing guy. these guys do good work and pour tons of stuff for us and they will pour a couple of pieces or hundreds. the only thing and it has been mentioned is the patterns you supply. some of ours they had to rework and some they didnt and i dont know enough about it to say why. but i figure they are close enough to you you could just drive over and talk to them.
there is or at least last time i knew was a place in Independence Mo. called National Aluminum and Brass foundry and the parts i have got from them have been excellent.

Originally Posted by anteekfreek

There's a place named Cattail Foundry...

Originally Posted by CharlieBiler

A very good friend of mine took me to one of the foundrys that has been mentioned in this thread. I filled the trunk of my car with wood and samples. With prints, we departed for a long trip. When we arrived, we were treated like dirt. I said very little and the shady fellow there made me so nervous that I thought better than to leave even a print behind. When we left; my buddy was upset that he had taken me to such a shyster. I just laughed it off and considered it a joyride on a beautiful fall day. Later that fall; I met a few fellows from McConnellsburg and they started telling similar stories, about the same foundry.

One in the same.

Originally Posted by William E Williams

One in the same.

I'm not sure that I understand what you're saying - are you saying that Charlie's experience was with Cattail? If so it would surprise me, I've had good experiences with them; but then it's really up to Charlie to say just who he the uncomfortable experience with. If you've had bad experiences with Cattail lay them out here.

I've had many jobs completed at reasonable cost and good quality by cattail foundry. both from patterns and from 'properly' prepared origional parts. I cannot say enough about the hospitality always shown me and my dog pooping all over the ground. I look forward to my visits as much as the good work I get. I have had jobs quoted from places all around the country and belive me the little guy is really up against the wall with most of these other operations. the folks at cattail, are not just involved in foundry work, but steam engine restoration as well and specialize in small jobs for 'reasonable' customers.

I sent a set of lathe legs from a lathe down one time with a note. thats all - no verbal communication needed. And a few weeks later two parts arrive the origional and the new.That was under $100 job only a year or two back. WHO will do a job like that for that money, go ahead tell me the name. I've shown that lathe to a dozen folks and its passes for origional until told. Had flywheels cast and when I made an error in the preparation of the origional, they corrected me and did the job right.

These are the guys who supply new casting of the parts for Frick steam engines.

I dont know what else to say, maybe I misread the postings and mixed up what folks are saying, but cattail's reputation is outstanding and used extensively by the gas/steam engine and old tractor/old iron community.

I was the buddy in the car that day. The guy turned the job away, 25 to 30 unit order, two parts per unit, 40lbs total per unit. He said $350 each, but did not want the work.

Ted

Chester Pope
C.F.M Corp
PO Box 549
102 South 29th
Blackwell, OK 74631
cpope@cfmfoundry.com
(580) 363-2850
fax (580) 363-1662

Here's another plug for Cattail. They have always done superb work from my original parts at a good price. Sometimes they might take a while as they're very busy, especially in summer when they don't pour as often.

You might also check out Jay Walz at www.jwcastingco.com Jay has done some parts for me from originals. Again great work at a good price.

I wouldn't send anything to Mr. Rowlands as I believe he is no longer in the casting business.

Scraper
I have a St Louis foundry looking at my part but I think I will make a drive to Blackwell soon. just a couple hours north of me.

thanks
jesse

I've had good results from this foundry in Richmond, VA:
http://www.okfoundrycompany.com/
They made a short run of about 100 5" diameter wheels in ductile that turned out well. They'll do smaller jobs too.
Dan Watson

Originally Posted by jk03

I am looking for a cast iron foundry to pour 12 to 24 pieces at a time. This is an antique tractor bracket no longer available. I also have a few other items if this works out. Does anyone know a shop willing to run small jobs.

thanks
jesse

I own and operate a small foundry called Santiam Bronze Works in Lebanon, Ore. We do small runs of iron for the small business we specialize in loose piece patterns as well. We also cast sculpture using the lost wax method and have a basic machine shop as well. We are also set up to cast bronze gears.

Donald Eggert
541-401-4916 cell
541-451-3297 bus
deggert@gmail.com

Originally Posted by DKA

Interesting thread! Anyone know of any good iron foundries in the Chicago area?

DKA,

We are not a "foundry" per se but we do have the capability of pouring aluminum (319 &356) bronze, and iron up to about 150 lbs. We have our own in house wood pattern shop. We use no bake sand for low qty and steel/iron permanent molds in tilt pour machines for higher qty's. We also have a low pressure casting machine for aluminum.
I say we are not a foundry because although we do have a foundry in the shop, our business is mfg of custom products, some of which have cast components. We used to have our iron permanent molds poured by Shumway out in Batavia but they closed their doors several years ago. I've yet to find a decent alternative so mostly we just pour our own iron molds now. Not nearly as nice surface finish as Shumway did but the more we do it, the better were gettin! You might try Arrow pattern and foundry in bridgeview or Clinkenbeard out near rockford. Heck, if your in a real bind, and this is for a legit business need vs one-off hobby casting, shoot me a pm and we may be able to help. (and I drive through Wheaton every day on the way in to work!)

And Heres another plug for cattail. and if you go over to owwm.org you can probably find about another hundred or so people who will vouch for them. They do sometimes have a wait as they are recommended by many of the antique tractor and steam engines groups and i believe are THE foundry for the rough and tumble engineers historical association. They are always busy and their product comes out better than many of the other foundry's work ive seen. If they were busy and you just showed up with a large amount of work without contacting them first ( if you had contacted them in advance i apologise for saying that) then maybe they were a bit put off.



Sean

For iron castings you could try
Silverton Foundry
600 Pine St
Silverton, OR , 97381-1056
Phone: 503-873-6826
FAX: 503-873-7331

I've used Silverton for several years for small quantities, and have always been pleased. They will do small quantities, and are willing to mold loose patterns. There is a very substantial overhead for loose patterns as opposed to match plates, though

Originally Posted by Ollie

We used to have our iron permanent molds poured by Shumway out in Batavia but they closed their doors several years ago.

Good old Shumway. During the summer of 2007, the seven buildings that made up the C.W. Shumway Foundry along Shumway Avenue were demolished. The foundry operated for 130 years, from 1872 to 2002.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Academy_Awards

The original Oscar mold was cast in 1928 at the C.W. Shumway & Sons Foundry in Batavia, Illinois, which also contributed to casting the molds for the Vince Lombardi Trophy and Emmy Awards statuettes.

Sad to see them close up shop. Probably just a matter of time before they closed down, way too close to the down town yuppie shopping area in Batavia to be good for tourism. 10 years ago I went to them for casting a mill stop. He said he could ram up a sample from a loose pattern. How many foundries could say that today?


Steve

FWIW, I saw a friend today who works for Buck Iron - http://buckcompany.com/ . He said their minimum cast iron pour is 25 molds, so the minimum number of parts would depend on how many parts were cast in each mold.