'Why do you like this foundry stuff?'. (Editorial).

"Why do you like this foundry stuff?" My wife asked me this question recently while we were picking up some supplies at Home Depot for a remodeling project. It came on the heels of me dragging her to see a unique casting application that was engineered into a landscape utility loader the store had on display. She apparently picked up on some excitement as I described how one of the loader's components had been converted from a multi-part fabrication and was named a Best-in-Glass Cast Component in our 2003 AFS Marketing Div/Engineered casting Solutions Casting Contest (see p. 26 for more details). The problem was that she couldn't understand why I was excited.

Now my wife has heard my typical explanation about why I like this "foundry stuff--a long-winded diatribe on molten metal, engineered components, and the foundation of manufacturing and our country's wealth--so I decided to answer with a new response this time. I decided to tell her the story of my first in-depth, interactive experience with a foundry in January 1998.

At that time, I had been a member of the MODERN CASTING staff for about six months. I was at the point in my career with the magazine that it was time to follow in the footsteps of past editors and "work" at a foundry. My destination was Palmer Foundry, Inc., Palmer, Massachusetts, a 65-employee aluminum green sand and nobake shop.

The goal of an editor during our workdays is to throw yourself into every aspect of a casting operation, from coremaking and molding to melting and shakeout, and become a true "foundryman" with "sand in your shoes." The hope (from MODERN CASTING's perspective) is that the editor begins to truly understand what a foundry is, how it operates and what makes it tick. The hope (from the editor's perspective) is that you make it through the assignment without embarrassing yourself. In my case, however, the workdays grew beyond simple survival into something more.

"Why the drastic change of heart?" asked my wife.

"Because, for the first time in my life, I used my hands to manufacture something," I responded.

Among many things, I rammed, jolted and squeezed molds and poured (with help) a six-foot tall ladle of molten aluminum. For an editor that was used to sitting at a desk typing on a keyboard, the opportunity to use my hands to create from scrap and ingot a complex, engineered aluminum component that would help society filled me with a great sense of pride. I never took woodshop or metalworking classes in school. I wasn't a big believer in tinker toys or building blocks as a child. Boy, was I wrong.

My recanting of this story started me thinking about what drives those that love the metalcasting industry. What memory or experience from their past days in the foundry would they like to share? What comes to mind when someone asks you why you like this "foundry stuff?"

MODERN CASTING has set up a forum for the industry at www.moderncasting.com so metalcasters can tell us why they like the casting industry and/or what about it they hold dear. As our industry fights to recover from the production lows of the last three years, we should stop and remember why we have made this industry a part of our lives.

By the way, when I did finally finish answering my wife's question, I hadn't convinced her of anything. She still couldn't understand the excitement over metalcasting. Truth be told, I think she now understands me even less.

But I think that is the key. To be excited about metalcasting and to become part of the foundry industry, you have to dig your hands in the sand and feel the heat radiating off a furnace. Only by investing yourself into this industry will you see the returns you desire.

Don't forget to visit www.moderncasting.com and tell us why you like this foundry stuff!

Alfred T. Spada, Executive Editor