Frequently Asked Questions
Just Click on the question you want answered!
We are very proud of our modern, clean foundry. We will be happy to host your visit. If visiting our facility is difficult to arrange, we have produced two short videos about our foundry. We would be happy to send you copies.
We will be happy to send a technical/sales engineer to your facility to assess your needs and requirements.
Yes, the Bowmanville Foundry will supply you with a completed part. We will arrange for all post processing and take full quality responsibility. This service can significantly reduce complexity for the customer. The Foundry arranges all transportation between post-processing suppliers and coordinates all quality and engineering issues. This “one-stop-shopping” approach always proves more cost effective by eliminating unnecessary overhead and duplication of effort.
We can receive parts designs in a number of ways. Production tooling can be made from wood, epoxy or metal models, paper drawings, or electronic CAD files sent on disk or email. Increasingly, CAD files are being used as they can reduce the cost of tooling by reducing CNC programming time.
Yes. The Bowmanville Foundry makes all shipping, brokerage, customs and duty, and related arrangements. You only have to deal with us.
Click Here to view and download our (Terms and Conditions)
Once the customer has approved samples from their tooling castings can be delivered as quickly as one week later to accommodate customer emergencies. Typical lead times are four to eight weeks depending on current business conditions.
Depending on complexity, and whether or not cores are required, tooling cost ranges from $5,000 and up.
The Bowmanville Foundry will make all arrangements for the production of your tooling. Your part quote will include a quote for tooling.
The Bowmanville Foundry will design your tooling. However you are responsible for your part design and dimensions and its suitability for its intended purpose
Depending on complexity, tooling can be produced in two to four weeks.
All production tooling belongs to the customer. However, your tooling is typically stored at the foundry so it can be put into production as required. Further, storage at the foundry reduces the risk of damage, the costs associated with shipping the tooling, and the extended lead times caused by shipping the tooling to and from the foundry every time an order is placed.
The Bowmanville Foundry employs the green sand casting process. Green sand is by far the most diversified molding method used in present casting practices. The process utilizes a mold made of compressed or compacted moist sand. The term “green” denotes the presence of moisture in the molding sand, and indicates that the mold is not baked or dried. The mold material consists of silica sand mixed with a suitable bonding agent (clay) and moisture. To produce the mold a flask, a metal frame, is placed over production tooling in the form of a pattern or matchplate of the desired part shape. Molding sand is compacted in the flask and takes on the shape of the pattern to produce a cavity representing one half of the casting. Compaction is achieved by squeezing the mold. The other half of the mold is produced in like manner, the pattern and flask is removed and the two mold halves are positioned together to form the complete mold. Molten iron is poured into the cavity in the sand mold through an opening called the sprue. If the casting has hollow sections, a core consisting of hardened sand (baked or chemically hardened) is used.