Finecast “Reaches For The Sky!”

At Finecast, we are committed to continued investment in talented people, cutting-edge plant equipment and the unique processes we use to innovate and pioneer the sand casting industry.

This summer has been an exciting time at Finecast! We have now invested £2.1m in our new purpose-built foundry bay and thermal sand reclamation plant from Omega Sinto, the worlds leading foundry plant and equipment supplier. 

These crucial investments will allow us to take sand casting manufacturing to a new level, meet customer demand, expand our capacity for future growth and reclaim up to 95% of the sand we use in our foundry!

The new developments will provide a wide range of advantages and benefits for us and our customers, help us lower our carbon footprint and become more environmentally friendly.

The installation of the new foundry bay and thermal sand reclamation plant is now in full flow, and is being installed in three main phases.

> Phase 1 – Phase one of the installation has now been completed, which involved the design and construction of the new foundry building, the delivery and installation of the new foundry overhead crane and constructing the hard standings for the sand reclamation plant and external hoppers.

> Phase 2 – During phase two, we took delivery and began the installation of the new foundry equipment and thermal sand reclamation plant, including the crane furnace ladle, 15tph articulated sand mixer, mixer hopper, mould manipulators, inset iron flatbeds and 4 x moulding stations as well as the thermal support steelwork, the thermal, high-temperature extraction system, water cooling system, sand distribution, electrical and pneumatic system and 3 x 90-tonne hoppers. Phase two was completed on September 9th 2022.

> Phase 3 – The third and final phase involves the design and construction of the building that will house the thermal sand reclamation plant, gas supply and operational testing, with the new foundry and thermal sand reclamation plant fully operating in October 2022.

New Purpose-built Foundry

New Foundry Bay

The new foundry bay is an extension of the existing foundry production facility, doubling our manufacturing space, purpose-built to accommodate larger mould assemblies and larger castings including large BiW (body in white), MLP (make-like production) and offering a world-class centre for prototype development.

The foundry bay is fully equipped with the latest foundry technology, allowing us to create the ultimate automated moulding lines to improve production and mould consistency. It includes a high output 15 tonnes per hour sand mixer for automated pouring, crane furnace ladle for controlled metal pouring and stripping stations which enable low-level shakeout to rapidly de-mould after the pouring without compromising surface quality or distortion of casting.

Our investment into the new foundry bay is a complete game changer! It not only provides the ability to manipulate and produce larger moulds, large body castings and rapid prototypes, but it also enables us to improve efficiency, increase production capacity to meet customer demand and lower casting costs for our customers.

We are now providing low volume production through to full production batch manufacture supporting our customers on each stage of their manufacturing journey.

New Thermal Sand Reclamation Plant

90 tonne sand hopper

The new thermal sand reclamation plant is conveniently situated next to the foundry production facility with the 3 x 90-tonne sand hoppers. One hopper for new sand and topping up and two buffer hoppers for post-knockout primary attrition reclaimed sand ready to be thermally processed and pneumatically delivered to the sand mixers.

The thermal sand reclamation plant delivers premium quality sand 24 hours a day, 7-days a week to our foundry, allowing us to consistently produce the best quality sand castings for our customers.

So how does thermal sand reclamation work? The thermal reclamation process involves the cleaning of the waste sand by heat treatment, removing contaminants such as residual binder, metal, ceramics as well as grading, and cooling so it can be reused. Thermal reclamation removes 100% of the residual binder, producing sand with lower gas content than new sand. The process also makes the sand more thermally stable, reduces casting defects associated with silica expansion and provides a wide range of other benefits.

The thermal sand reclamation system not only allows us to reclaim the vast majority of the sand we use in our foundry to manufacture our castings, but it also improves efficiency and productivity, reduces casting costs and optimises sand quality, allowing us to produce quality-assured castings with superior surface finishes.

In addition, we have further reduced our carbon footprint and become more environmentally friendly by eliminating the need for regular sand deliveries to and from the foundry and sending used sand to landfill.

What are the Main Advantages and Benefits for Finecast?

The new foundry and thermal sand reclamation system provides a plethora of advantages and benefits for us at Finecast, enabling us to produce the very best quality castings.

Finecast is committed to providing the best quality sand castings for our customers by investing in highly skilled people, the latest cutting-edge plant equipment and continued innovation in our advanced technical processes.