Birdsboro Ferrocast reopens historic foundry.Birdsboro Ferrocast, Inc. recently conducted an 'inaugural pour" to mark there opening of its steel foundry in Birdsboro, Pennsylvania Birdsboro is a borough in Berks County, Pennsylvania, eight miles (13 km) southeast of Reading. In the past, Birdsboro was noted for its large foundries and machine shops, all of which are no longer in operation. . The facility is the oldest operating steel foundry in the United States United States, officially United States of America, republic (2005 est. pop. 295,734,000), 3,539,227 sq mi (9,166,598 sq km), North America. The United States is the world's third largest country in population and the fourth largest country in area. . During the ceremony, three-ton steel ingots for Phoenix Steel Co., Phoenixville, Pennsylvania Phoenixville is a borough in Chester County, Pennsylvania, 28 miles (45 km) northwest of Philadelphia at the junction of French Creek with the Schuylkill River. The population was 14,788 at the 2000 census. , were poured before a crowd of local officials, suppliers and area media who joined Birdsboro employees and their families in the celebration. Three weeks later, the foundry poured its first casting: two die blocks of a special alloy steel with a combined weight of 30 tons. The blocks were to be shipped in mid-August to a die manufacturer for the automotive industry The automotive industry is the industry involved in the design, development, manufacture, marketing, and sale of motor vehicles. In 2006, more than 69 million motor vehicles, including cars and commercial vehicles were produced worldwide. . Birdsboro Ferrocast also will be pouring several machine frame castings for equipment that will eventually be shipped to the Peoples Republic of China by Jones and Lamson, the Connecticut firm that contracted for the castings. The ability to hire experienced foundry craftsmen has helped with the startup," said Elmer Gates, Birdsboro chairman. 'It's our sincere intent to maintain the reputation for-quality that is synonymous with synonymous with adjective equivalent to, the same as, identical to, similar to, identified with, equal to, tantamount to, interchangeable with, one and the same as the Birdsboro name." The foundry can produce steel castings as heavy as 180,000 lb, which is among the heaviest weight capacities in the U.S. Birdsboro operated continuously from 1740 until 1987, when it was shut down by a labor dispute. After it bought the foundry in April 1991, Birdsboro Ferrocast did renovations that included the installation of upgraded pollution- and quality-control systems. When required, the patternshop will be prepared for new patternmaking patternmaking In materials processing, the first step in casting and molding processes, the making of an accurate model of the part, somewhat oversize to allow for shrinkage of the cast material as it cools. and pattern maintenance. The shop has a substantial inventory of customer castings, each one labeled, stored and ready for use. |
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