Ermak Foundry & Machining, Inc.
Metal casting is when molten metal is poured into a mold and allowed to solidify into an object. The object that solidifies is called a casting. Sand casting is the most widely used metal casting process in manufacturing, and almost all casting metals can be sand cast. Sand casting is pouring molten metal into a […]
Metal Sand Casting Process—Step-by-Step Read More »
For over a half-century, Ermak has worked to master and perfect the art of sand mold casting. Sand casting is a popular method of producing non-ferrous alloy casts. This process was invented over 6,000 years ago and continues to undergo modernization. There are three types of sand used in casting, green sand, water glass or
3 Types of Sand Casting Read More »
Alloy Definition Alloy: verb, past tense: alloyed; past participle: alloyedmix (metals) to make an alloy.“alloying tin with copper makes bronze” What is a Metal Alloy? An alloy is a mixture of two or more elements with at least one metal that lends its properties to the total compound. An alloy occurs when the properties that happen with
For thousands of years, non-ferrous metals have played a part in human innovation. The first metals used by humans were non-ferrous. The use of bronze, a copper and tin alloy, signaled humankind’s transition from the Stone Age to the Bronze Age, around 3200 BCE. Non-ferrous metal casting is one of the most influential industrial methods
A Guide To Non-ferrous Metal Alloy Casting Read More »
Ermak and Patriot Provide Expanded Foundry Capabilities to Customers The combined offerings of Ermak Foundry & Machining (including the former Northwest Casting) and Patriot Foundry & Castings provide customers with expanded foundry capabilities. Existing and new customers benefit from the ability to produce nonferrous products from green sand, no-bake/air set, and permanent mold/gravity-fed die cast,
Ermak Acquires Patriot Foundry & Castings and RDS Dock Hardware Read More »
We often hear from customers looking to create a prototype part in order to test it, physically check it for fitment, and/or get customer feedback. Typically, the parts are requested to either be machined from bar stock or billet aluminum. While this is feasible, it tends to be expensive to complete the programming and time
A few years ago, we had a customer that had never used aluminum castings but didn’t like “hogging out” (a process of cutting out the center of raw bar stock) that was required to make his part. He thought it might be costing him extra money and at a minimum was causing logistical headaches. The
When to use castings vs. machining Read More »
A common question we’ve received over the years is “I’d like to explore moving my part(s) between foundries but have no idea how to do it.” The simple answer is that as long as there is a detailed process to follow and frequent communication (over communication) between the customer and the foundry transitions are fairly
How to relocate from a domestic foundry Read More »
Pre-COVID, we had been talking with customers who were exploring “reshoring”, the process of moving production back to the US from international manufacturing. The reasons varied, but the most frequent were shorter lead times, lower minimum quantities, higher quality products, concerns over products being copied/sold, more assurances in raw materials used, “Made in USA” for
Reshore-Broken Supply Chains Read More »
Lightweight, durable and highly recyclable, aluminum is a sustainable material of choice. Aluminum applications span from everyday items like fuel-efficient vehicles to smart phones to window frames to airplanes. It has a long list of inherent assets that makes it referred to as a “miracle metal” – lightweight, corrosion resistant, easily formed, highly conductive, highly