Progressive Foundry Inc., a grey and ductile iron metalcaster in Perry, Iowa, recently installed a Hunter Foundry Machinery Corp., Schaumburg, Ill., HLM Series molding machine.
“It was the easiest to install of all the new machines we put in,” said Pete Van Kirk, president, Progressive Foundry. “The operation was as smooth as it was before, and we were making molds—good molds—the second day out.” He said the HLM-10 produced 800 molds on the second day it was running.
The HLM-10 is the fourth Hunter machine-based mold center in operation at Progressive’s vertically integrated foundry. It features Hunter’s linear motion technology, providing smooth, quiet, energy-efficient operation, as well as reduced maintenance.
Progressive Foundry produces short and long runs of iron castings at weights ranging from a few ounces to more than 100 lbs. for a wide variety of industries across the U.S. The full service, ISO 9001 certified company replaced a Hunter HMP-10 C series automatic molding machine that had been in operation for more than 30 years, with this new machine.
“There are no board-feed hydraulics; they’re all magnetic. I like that aspect. I like the slow mold close, and we like the fact that we’ve eliminated the slippers,” said Steve Wilkening, production superintendent, Progressive Foundry. He noted a significant improvement in mold quality between the C series and the HLM. “We have seen no shift and crush since we’ve had the machine. Also, mold hardness is up around 90 to 92, which we couldn’t get previously.”
Founded in 1923, Progressive Foundry Inc. is owned by the Van Kirk family and is a high-production jobbing foundry for small and large orders in grey iron castings. Since 1998, it has grown from 35,000 to 100,000 sq.ft., and its markets have expanded across the U.S.