Iron, in its many forms, often alloyed with other metals and
materials has been solving engineering design problems for
centuries. The metal became so important that a whole period of
history was named after it, The Iron Age, as the use of wrought
and forged iron and steel superseded the use of bronze. All of
this early use was based around two forms of iron, wrought iron
and forged steel. Wrought iron is a very pure form of iron,
commonly 99.9% Fe, which can be heated and forged into shape.
Forged steel is basically wrought iron with carbon and silicon
added at small percentages. This gives a metal that can still be
forged whilst hot, but can achieve much greater hardness and
strength, particularly when cooled quickly, usually in water or
oil. This opened up whole new areas for use, often based around
the ability of the harder steel to be sharpened and hold its
cutting edge, such as knives and sword blades and in the 13th
and 14th centuries, gun barrels and Engineering Castings &
Engineering Cast Iron applications.

Little changed in the production and use of forged iron and
steel until the industrial revolution. One of the problems up to
that point was the difficulty in controlling the amount of
carbon and silicon in the iron to give a reproducible and
dependable analysis and to be able to get iron hot enough to
melt it and cast it. As analytical methods and production
process improved the reliability of the material did so as well.
It was also discovered that higher levels of carbon and silicon
gave a metal that was very fluid when molten that could be used
to cast intricate and complex shapes. This metal was cast iron.
It revolutionised the use of iron as an engineering and
structural material. Where previously many pieces of wrought
iron or forged steel had had to be joined together to form the
finished component, cast iron, because of the ability to cast it
into almost any shape, could be used to make the component in
one piece. This led to savings in weight and production time
benefiting Engineering Castings & Engineering Cast Iron
applications.

Cast iron became so widespread that it became the metal of
choice for the Victorian engineers where a cast component was
required that didn’t need the properties of brass or bronze. It
was also far cheaper to produce; the basic raw materials of
coal, iron ore and water power all being available in Great
Britain.

At the Foundry we have been producing engineering iron castings
for over a hundred years. As well as castings for the
engineering market, our customer base also covers the
decorative, architectural and artistic sectors and we can supply
castings from one off up to small to medium batch production
using Alkali Phenolic resin bonded sands. Our workforce of
highly skilled moulders can work from complex loose pattern
equipment, particularly where low volumes are required, whilst
our moulding line is suited for batch production. Our long
trading history, coupled with an investment programme that has
enabled us to keep up with modern production methods and
environmental legislation has meant that we have been involved
with many engineering projects and continue to be so. All our
castings are produced to a current ISO material specification
along with any further testing which a customer may require.
Our diverse customer base has also given us experience in a wide
range of applications for iron castings , including pumps and
valves, forges, foundries and rolling mills, automotive and
aerospace, a wide range of OEMs, quarries and mines, railways
and rolling stock, local authorities and artists and sculptors.
We also have long term trading relationships with local pattern
makers, machine shops and surface finishers which enable us to
quote for the complete supply of machined and painted castings.
The use of cast iron in engineering castings has continued to
this day and new applications have been found with the
introduction of ductile cast iron in the late 50's and, more
recently, alloyed irons, usually with nickel and/or chrome, to
give high wear resistance and the ability to operate in
aggressive environments and elevated temperatures. The newer
forms of engineering cast iron have led to castings which would
have previously been made from cast steel, a welded fabrication
or a forging now being made in a form of cast iron, particularly
ductile cast iron. New applications are being found all the time
and at Durham Foundry we can advise on the suitability of a
particular grade for a given application. We are members of the
industry technical association, Castings Technology
International (CTI) and through this membership have access to
world class advice and research funding.
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