Production Castings history

1815-Cupola is introduced to the United States (Baltimore).

1817-First iron water line in the United States, 400 ft long, is laid in Philadelphia.

1818-First United States cast steel is produced by the crucible process at historic Valley Forge Foundry.

1837-First reliable molding machine on market is made and used by S. Jarvis Adams Co., Pittsburgh.

1760 – 1840 AD - The Industrial Age saw rapid advancements in the casting processes and the need for more castings.

1847-Cast steel guns are made by Krupp Works in Germany…Asa Whitney, Philadelphia, obtains a patent on a process forannealing chilled-iron car wheels cast with chilled tread and flange.

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.

1863-Metallography is developed by Henry C. Sorby, Sheffield, England, enabling foundrymen to polish, etch and microscopically examine metal surfaces for physical analysis.

1867-James Nasmythe, inventor of the steam hammer, develops a gear-tilted safety ladle to prevent pouring accidents.

1870-Sandblasting is developed for large castings by R.E. Tilghman of Philadelphia.

1874-The Colliau cupola, the first commercially made cupola in America, is introduced.

1876-The first authenticated aluminum castings were produced by Colonel William Frishmuth at his Philadelphia foundry.

1880-87-W.W. Sly, Cleveland, develops the first casting cleaning mill, greatly reducing hand-chipping and grinding to allow a custom finished product.

1884-The first architectural application of aluminum, a cast aluminum pyramid produced by Col.

1890-The first motor-driven mold conveyor is installed, integrating molding, pouring and cooling operations.

1898-Poulson and Hargraves (U.K.) produce the first sand molds bonded with sodium silicate…Germany’s Imperial Navy recommends copper-nickel alloys containing 4-45% Ni for salt-water piping system.

1899-Electric arc furnace, developed by France’s Paul Heroult, begins commercial production.

1900-Brinnell hardness test machines are introduced…Aluminum-bronze begins regular production in the United States

1901-American Steel Foundries (St Louis) produces the first centrifugal cast rail wheels.

1903-The Wright Brothers’ first successful machine-powered aircraft contains a cast aluminum block and crankcase (together weighing 152 lb), produced either at Miami Brass Foundry or the Buckeye Iron and Brass Works.

1906-The first electric arc furnace is installed in United States at Halcomb Steel Co., Syracuse, NY… First low-frequencyinduction furnace is installed at Henry Diston & Sons, Tacony, PA.

1908-Stockham Homogenous Sand Mixer Co., Piqua and Newark, OH, releases the sand cutter.

1910-Matchplates are developed, fostering the viability of jolt-squeeze machines.

1911-Metallurgical microscope is obtainable…First electric arc furnace for metalcasting is installed at Treadwell Engineering, Co., Easton, PA.

1912-The first muller with individually mounted revolving mullers of varying weights is marketed by Peter L. Simpson…Sand slinger is invented by E.O. Beardsley & W.F. Piper, Oregon Works.

1915-Experimentation begins with bentonite, a colloidal clay of unusually high green and dry strength… Ajax Metal Co.,Philadelphia, installs first low-frequency induction furnace for nonferrous melting.

1916-Doctor Edwin Northrup, Princeton Univ., invents the coreless induction furnace.

1918-The first fully automated foundry in Rockford, IL, casts hand grenade hulks for the United States Army.

1921-Modification of the silicon structure in aluminum begins as Pacz discovers that adding metallic sodium to molten aluminum just prior to pouring greatly improves ductility… Copper- silicon alloys are prepared in Germany as a substitute for tin bronzes.

1924-Henry Ford sets “production record” of 1 million autos in 132 working days.

1925-X-ray radiography is established as a tool for checking casting quality.

1928-Alcoa develops the first aluminum vehicle wheel, a sand-cast 355 alloy designed for truck trailers.

Chicago White Metal Products, Ornamental and Mechanical was founded on October 17, 1937 by Walter G. Treiber, (President) and Samuel Gullo, (Secy/Treas). The company’s first location was near the south side of Chicago, on the third floor of a loft building with no elevator.

By 1940, all military aircraft castings require x-ray inspection prior to acceptance…American Brass, Waterbury, CT, installs first medium-frequency induction furnace in the United States

President Truman thanked AFS for foundries’ integral support of the war effort in 1946.

1948-First non-laboratory ductile iron casting is produced at Jamestown Malleable Iron Co., Jamestown, NY, as a 66-in. test bar is poured…Industry’s first ductile iron pipe is cast at Lynchburg Foundry, Lynchburg, VA.

In 1949, he, Albert Gagnebin and Norman Pilling would receive a United States patent on ductile iron production via magnesium treatment.

1951-Ford Motor Co. converts 100% of its crankshaft production to ductile iron.

1952-D Process is developed for making shell molds with fine sand and fast dry oil by Harry Dietert…Sodium-silicate/CO2 system is introduced.

Southern Casting Company has been producing quality aluminum sand castings since 1953.

1954-The CO2 process, a novel mold and coremaking process, is introduced from Germany…Working closely withGeneral Motors, B&P develops a method for coating individual sand particles with resin binder.

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 mid 1956 CWM moved into this new 12,000 sq. ft. facility.

1958-Harold F. Shroyer obtains a patent for the full mold process, a process developed by artists in which simple patterns and gating systems are carved from expanded polystyrene and placed into a green sand mold.

Walter Treiber Jr., current Chairman of the Board joined the company in mid 1959.

1960-Furan hotbox binders are developed for core production…Deep bed filters are used commercially for aluminum casting at Alcoa and British Aluminum in the U.K…Compactibility and methylene blue clay tests are developed for green sand control.

1961-Alcohol-borne shell coating process is introduced (warm-coated).

1962-New CO2 sand testing method is introduced for sands bonded with sodium silicate and cured with CO2…Beardsley & Piper’s Al Hunter, Bob Lund and Angello Bisinello develop the first automated green sand molding machine.

1963-Shell flake resin is introduced, eliminating the need for solvents.

1964-Dell & Christ’s paper on mold inoculation spurs the development of many of today’s forms of mold and late stream inoculation… The first vertically parted green sand machine (max.

1965-Oil urethane nobake binder systems are used for cores/molds…General Electric’s Jim Henzel and Jack Keverian predict freezing patterns in large steel castings via computer…Cast metal matrix composites are first poured at International NickelCo., Sterling Forest, NY.

1968-The coldbox process is introduced by Larry Toriello and Janis Robins and introduced to the foundry industry by Ashland Chemical Co. for high production coremaking.

John Deere Silvas Foundry, Moline, IL, is the first to use the process for mass-production in North America.1969-The Chevrolet Vega is introduced by General Motors, featuring the first all-aluminum block with no cast iron cylinder liners.

In 1971, CWM purchased seven acres for future growth in Bensenville, IL. (Western boundary of O’Hare Airport) and started very preliminary plans for long term growth.

1972-A 1-lb crankshaft for a refrigerator compressor produced at Wagner Castings (designed and engineered by Tecumseh) becomes the first production-volume austempered ductile iron (ADI) component.

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.

1974-Fiat introduces the in-mold process for ductile iron treatment…The phenolic urethane nobake binder system is introduced for mold production.

1976-Foote Mineral Co. and BCIRA (U.K.) develop compacted graphite iron…Acid-slag cupola practices plus external desulfurization with CaC2 begin to replace basic slag cupolas.

In 1979, the company made another breakthrough when it introduced computerassisted design, or CAD, a technology that permitted dies to be made with electronic information and eliminated the need to make blueprints.

In 1980, Doehler-Jarvis introduced the "doehlercore system," a patented and proprietary process using expendable cores in high-pressure castings.

1981-High-production lost foam casting begins at General Motors’ Massena, NY, plant for aluminum cylinder heads.

1984-Charles Hull applies for a patent on stereolithography process.

In 1985, once again anticipating the future needs of our customers, Walter Treiber commissioned our architect to design and build an R&D facility.

1988-Rapid prototyping and CAD/CAM technologies combine in a breakthrough to shorten tooling development time…Ford adapts Cosworth process precision sand casting process for high production… Metaullics Systems combines flux injection/rotary degassing technologies for aluminum processing.

In 1990, Eric Treiber joined CWM, following in the footsteps of his father and grandfather.

In what was considered an extremely bold move, in 1992 CWM built a 25,000 sq. ft. addition to house conventional machining, contract assembly, and CNC machining services.

1993-First foundry application of a plasma ladle refiner (melting and refining in one vessel) occurs atMaynard Steel Casting Co., Milwaukee.

Located at the foot of the Great Smoky Mountains, our 45,000 square foot manufacturing plant was built in 1994 allowing Southern Casting to modernize equipment and expand casting capabilities.

1995 Los Angeles Die Casting Company (LADC) Aug 1995, Kinetic Die Casting purchased a 400 ton B&T die casting machine from LA Die Casting Company.

Doehler-Jarvis decided to automate its production in 1997, with a full line of robots on the production line.

Leading this industry in overall sales was ACX Technologies Inc. of Golden, Colorado with 1998 sales of over $988 million on the strength of 5,600 workers.

2000 B.C. – Iron is discovered due to advancements in mining 700 B.C. – The very first Chinese production of cast iron occured, along with the earliest known sand molding, which was also administered by the Chinese.

Overall shipments for the industry were valued at almost $3.9 billion in 2001.

2003 Coast Die Casting Company (CDC) Jan 2003, KDC offered to purchase Coast Die Casting Company.

2004 Royal Die Casting Company (RDC) 2004, KDC contacted Joe Cruz, the principal owner of RDC to see if he had a small die casting machine for sell.

2005, KDC produced all their die castings until they sold their auto aftermarket product line in 2005.

Tom was frustrated with how the declining California Die Casting industry was effecting SDC. 2006, Spencer sold their assets to Kinetic.

2007 First Over All Automotive (FOA) May 2007, the owner of FOA, Mike Tieman, contacted KDC to sell a small, fully automated, 150 ton aluminum die casting machine in exchange for aluminum die casting parts.

In December of 2009, Eric Treiber was appointed President and Chief Executive Officer.

2010 Delmar Die Casting Company was sold to an out of state competitor.

2011 Alcastco Die Casting Company April 2011, KDC made an offer to purchase Alcastco Die Casting Company.

2016 ArtMold Die Casting Company July 13, 2016, Artmold Die Casting Company auction all their die casting equipment and cease operations as a die casting company.

Mar 2017, Cox Die Casting Company closed.

July 20, 2018 Prototype Casting Inc

Construction began in early 2019.