As CEO of Applied Process, most of my work centers around the Austempering process and its application to steel and iron castings, stampings and forgings. But in my other roles as Proprietor of Joyworks Studio and Adjunct Professor with University of Michigan’s Materials Science and Engineering Department, I enjoy the annual migration of MSE365 students out to Joyworks Studio for a little taste of metal casting “March madness”. This year a bumper crop of 51 students, Professor Brian Love and various graduate assistants made the journey and left with keeper castings made of either 319 Aluminum or Manganese Bronze. We use the full-mold or “lost foam” process where the kids sculpt Styrofoams that are hot glued to foam gates fed by fibrous silica downsprues from Rex Materials Group (www.rexmaterials.com ). The assembled trees are then invested in loose, zircon sand and poured. Thanks to the assistance of Chris Bixler, Dr. Kathy Hayrynen, Demetri Golematis and Ryan Breneman, most of the castings came out…..some better than others.
Engineers are often perceived as a staid lot, but the designs of these foams and the amount of care taken in their preparation belies that perception. Precise or downright ugly, these castings will find an honored spot with each of these engineers-to-be and will be displayed as cherished trinkets for many years to come, because metal casting is science, but it's also cool. I hope I have, once again, achieved my goal of infecting a few of these students with that incurable infliction; the metal casting bug.
Watch for pictures in the Joyworks Studio Gallery.
Chip Keough