Domestic Casting Co LLC history

The story of the Leach family business begins in Ireland in 1845.

Seeking more favorable conditions for the family, they moved to Hartford, Connecticut, in 1846, where the people of Hartford had plunged into a frenzied period of money making and business expansion.

Furthering the development of this machine led to the first die casting machine patent in 1849 by J.J. Sturgiss, it was used to supply the growing need of lead type in the rising newspaper industry.

The foundry began operating in 1872 to supply iron castings to the Atchison, Topeka, and Santa Fe Railroad, indirectly marking Atchison Casting's entry into a market that would support the company more than a century later.

The original business journal states, “Opened for business today, March 17, 1880.” The obvious pride of accomplishment is evident on Page 1 of the old book, “The list of assets includes shovels, miscellaneous foundry tools and a steam engine with a $650 mortgage.”

The first authenticated record of the use of investment castings in dentistry appears in a paper written by Doctor D. Philbrook of Council Bluffs, Iowa in 1897.

The Northwest at the turn of the century In 1901, Portland’s natural port via the Columbia River made the city a hub of commerce for inland industries like logging, mining and agriculture.

Nearing retirement age in 1905, Francis P. sold the foundry to his sons, Winfield and George Leach, which they renamed Leach Brothers Iron Works.

In 1906, the foundry's operations were combined with a machine shop, the St Joseph machine shop.

The development of the steam shovel allowed loading of larger feed material, and by 1910, gyratory crusher feed sizes had grown from 18” to 48”.

In 1916, Hobart M. Bird — whose descendants continue to operate Columbia to this day — first joined the company as a member of the foundry team.

In 1922, the Nebraska state government awarded the company the steel contract for construction of the State Capitol building in Lincoln, Nebraska.

The Roaring ’20s In 1923 the first three-phase electric arc steel melting furnace west of the Mississippi River was installed at Columbia Steel.

Surviving the Great Depression The Wall Street crash of 1929 seriously impacted many of the manufacturers who relied on Columbia Steel castings.

In 1930, another major expansion was completed when a new steel foundry was built in Atchison.

By 1933, many of the equipment manufacturers that relied on Leach Brothers to cast their products were weakened or bankrupt.

They opened Pacific Ball Manufacturing Company in Los Angeles in 1935.

After the turn of the century, the foundry was sold to Leo Niemuth; then again to Charlie Dombrowski who ran the foundry until his death in 1955.

In 1956, the Atchison works acquired a company named Rockwell Spring and Axle Company, which later became the defense industry behemoth known as Rockwell International Corporation.

1971 Columbus Foundries, Inc. is formed.

The next major innovation to the casting world came half a century later when ESCO Corp. was the first steel foundry to make alloys through the process of Argon Oxygen Decarburization (AOD) in 1973.

In 1974, the name was changed again to its current one, Omaha Steel Castings Company.

In 1980, the Specialty Castings Division was created to offer a wider array of alloys and casting processes to take advantage of these changes.

1984 Intermet Corporation is formed and assumes control of Columbus Foundries.

In 1985, a year after its formation, Intermet's stock began trading on the public market, touching off an energetic acquisition spree.

In 1986, the company introduced a premium manganese steel, trade named Xtralloy®, which proved highly successful in aggregate and mining crushers.

Eventually, however, Rockwell's commitment to the Atchison works began to wane, particularly after the company sold its valve divisions in 1989.

By 1990, Columbia Steel was one of the larger domestic manufacturers of replacement wear parts for industry.

When the company commenced business in 1991, it served 12 customers.

A stainless steel-making plant was installed in January 1992 as part of Aiken's efforts to give the new company a broader footing, both in terms of the types of castings it could produce and the customers it could attract.

Once the company switched into the acquisition mode, it did so with vigor, beginning with its second acquisition, the February 1993 purchase of Amite Foundry and Machine, Inc.

In April 1994, the company paid $14 million for $24 million-in-sales Prospect Foundry, Inc., a manufacturer of ductile and gray iron castings.

In December 1995, the success of the Prospect Foundry acquisition a year and a half earlier encouraged Aiken to deepen the company's involvement in ductile iron castings.

By 1996, Aiken counted more than 300 customers involved in a variety of markets, including locomotive, farm equipment, military, utility, mass transit, and general industrial.

The last acquisition of the year occurred in October 1997, when Inverness Castings Group, Inc., a producer of aluminum die castings, became the company's 15th foundry.

In May 1998 the company entered a joint venture for PortCast, a foundry company located in Portugal.

The acquisition, announced in November 1999, included two companies, Ganton Technologies, Inc. and Diversified Diemakers, Inc., which, combined, were expected to generate $235 million in sales in 1999.

Between 2000 BCE and 1200 BCE, the Hittites developed a process for smelting the iron – heating its ore to purify it – expanding its usability.

The company had no plans to add to its roster of operating companies in 2001.

The struggles continued in 2002 as the company eked out a profit of $9 million on still lower sales of $814.9 million.

In June 2003 Gary F. Ruff was promoted from president and chief operating officer to CEO, succeeding John Doddridge, who remained chairman until the following year, when Ruff took on the chairmanship as well.

2004 Sharply rising prices for scrap metal force Intermet to seek Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.

The firm emerged from bankruptcy as a private entity in November 2005.

The American Foundry Society produced Spotlight On: Metalcasting, a documentary that aired on PBS in 2009.

Today’s Columbia Steel In 2016, Columbia Steel celebrated 115 years of service to its customers.