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SCRAP
METAL IS GETTING SCARCER
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also more expensive. The other materi-als and supplies are also
getting more expen-sive. In fact, everything ? fuel, coke, gaso-line,
electric power, and labor ? are all get-ting expensive. (See
the attachment.) Yet, the market for metal castings is reluctant
to ac-cept price increases. Such irony!
What is
to be done? There must be a way. It seems that everyone outside
the foundry industry thinks we are not ONE ? that we are not
working together ? so they pit us against each other. Are
they right?
For everyone's
information, the foundry industry is a vital and strong industry
in the other countries of the world ? most espe-cially in
Europe, in America, and in Asia. Proof is set forth below:
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| FOUNDRYMEN
SAVED ENGLAND |
When the famous Spanish Armada at-tempted to invade England
in the sixteenth century, the cast iron cannons, shot, and
anchors of the Spanish fleet were inferior to those used
by the English. This is an impor-tant reason why the English
were able to defeat the Spanish and thus prevented the conquest
of England.
Even
though the Spaniards possessed a good quality of hematite
ore, they produced poor quality cast iron for guns, shot,
and anchors due to their lack of knowledge of the behavior
of cast iron. The historical evi-dence indicates that in
smelting and fluxing of the ore, in the refining after smelting,
and in the molding and casting techniques, the Spaniards
were years behind the English. Practically all of the Spanish
iron castings contained slag, so many of their cast iron
cannons exploded during firing, indicating poor strength
and poor ability to absorb shock and vibration.
What
were the reasons for the superiority of the English cast
iron that was the envy of their Continental competitors?
There was really no magic formula. The practice of weathering
the ore for several months washed out many impurities. The
ore was then crushed and washed again. Fossilized gray shells
in the ore resulted in a high degree of fluxing during the
smelting process allowing the removal of surface slag and
other impurities. The advanced knowl-edge of the English
founders is referred to, today, as "under-cooling"
that established close to "equilibrium conditions of
solidifica-tion." After pouring, the castings were
al-lowed to cool gradually in the molds to room temperature.
This procedure minimized stresses in the finished castings.
The
Spanish, on the other hand, cooled the castings as quickly
as possible in order to expedite production (most probably
to meet the deadline for the planned invasion of Eng-land).
Their practice often involved water-quenching the castings,
which contributed to stresses and cracking.
In 1619,
a Dutchman, Jan Andries Moer-beck, comparing the English
ore having built-in fluxes with the Dutch flux-free, but
otherwise good quality, hematite ore, devel-oped the use
of limestone for fluxing. This new technique spread rapidly
across the continent to Germany, France, and eventu-ally,
Spain, and should be credited as a major contribution in
the development of engi-neered cast irons. (Colin Martin,
Full Fathom Five.)
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| IRON
AND THE REVOLUTION |
[As scrap metal was a major reason for the Pacific War of
1941, iron production and casting was a major reason for
the Ameri-can Revolution of 1776.]
A final commentary on 18th century foundry operations in
the United States concerns the connection between the foundry
and the American Revolution. It is generally ac-cepted by
every schoolboy that the stamp tax on tea and "taxation
without representa-tion" were the primary causes of
the Ameri-can Revolution; actually, however, history reveals
even more fundamental reasons, in-volving the casting of
metals. In 1750, the English Parliament, jealous of the
growth of iron-casting in the Colonies, passed an Act prohibiting
the refining of pig iron or the casting of iron in the Colonies.
In addition, this Act restricted the building of any addi-tional
furnaces or forges. Pig iron could be made only if it was
shipped to England, where a shortage of charcoal had seriously
curtailed iron production.
This
Act, of course, would have been a fatal blow to American
frontier expansion, since it meant virtual strangulation
of a country badly in need of metal for its own use. As
much as any other single grievance, and long before the
issue of the tea tax arose, England's restrictions on the
refining and casting of iron brought forth the kind of resistance
that usually precedes every up-rising. The Act was openly
flouted, and the agents of the British Crown attempting
its enforcement soon lost their prestige.
For
the most part, the Colonial foundrymen joined the Revolutionary
cause and sup-ported it with money, guns, and shot. Other
foundrymen supported it politically, and six men who were
prominent in Colonial iron founding signed the Declaration
of Inde-pendence in 1776. (Bruce L. Simpson, Devel-opment
of the Metal Castings Industry, American Foundrymen's Association,
1948, Chicago, Illinois, U.S.A.)
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| PAUL
REVERE |
During the American Revolution, a stalwart figure appeared whom
the average person does not ordinarily associate with the cast-ing
of metals ? Paul Revere. Made legen-dary by Longfellow's poem,
"The Midnight Ride of Paul Revere," that Revolutionary
patriot who rode from Boston to Lexington on the night of April
18, 1775, to warn of the approach of the British, was a foundryman
by trade.
One of Revere's most famous castings of bells was a recast of
a bell that hung in the Old North Church in Boston and from
which he had received his fateful signal "on the eighteenth
of April in Seventy-five." This bell also is noteworthy
for a different reason ? from the point of view of tone, it
was a poor casting. In an effort to improve tonal quality, Revere
began to experiment with various types of copper and copper
alloys. His metallurgical success is well known to-day, and
a great American company ? the Revere Copper & Brass Company
? is the direct descendant of Revere's original enter-prise.
(Bruce L. Simpson, Development of the Metal Castings Industry,
American Foundrymen's Association, 1948, Chicago, Illinois,
U.S.A.)
You see,
fellow Metalcasters . . .
The foundry industry has a noble and ster-ling past. And it
has been responsible for starting, and even winning, wars;
although a poor foundry industry has also been re-sponsible
for losing wars. This only means that the foundry industry
is not only a vital industry, but a critical industry as well.
Be-sides, it combines both art and science, it is creative,
imaginative, ingenious, and inven-tive; but not destructive
and wasteful, as it is the original recycler of metal scraps.
Let us not underestimate its import and impact in nation-building.
It can play a decisive role in molding and casting the future
of a nation. That's why I am proud to be a foundryman, a confirmed
metalcaster. Are you? Aren't we all?
However,
despite the importance of the foundry industry in the economy
of any country, most people outside of the industry know what
it is all about. In fact, perhaps no less than 95% of all
graduating engineers in Philippine schools hardly know what
a foun-dry is. Incredible? Amazing!
And today
the foundry industry is facing disaster because metal scraps
are being ex-ported making this vital raw material very scarce
and expensive. Natural law says: "No raw material, no
industry!" Thus making the foundry industry an endangered
indus-try. We told this to Mr. Mar Roxas, who very fittingly
now calls himself "Mr. Palengke" ? isn't this the
same as "Mr. Buy and Sell?" ? and, true to this
name, he looked the other way. Now, please tell it to the
new DTI Secretary. Ah, c'est la vie, c'est la vie! When will
it ever end?
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| JICA
EXPERTS IN TOWN |
Messrs.
Nobuki Yamamura, Eizo Maeda, and Yuichi Fukushima, JICA
Experts met with the PMAI Board of Directors on February
11, 2004 at the Metalcasting Center. The trio, accompanied
by Messrs. Eduardo Lacbay and Alan Adanza of MIRDC, was
delving into the problems confronting the Metalcast-ing
Industry.
PMAI
gave them an insight on the State of the Industry and presented
to them its 5-Year Program including the following:
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Setting up a Metalcasting Industry In-formation Center with
a data-base.
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Establishing a Metalcasting Industry Training Center for
basic and advance training in foundry Technology and Pat-tern-making
Technology, including Gradu-ate Courses in Master of Engineering
with specializations in Metal Engineering, Metalcasting,
and Metalworking.
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Organizing a PMAI Cooperative Com-pany for procurement ?
bulk buying of materials and supplies, ? for the explora-tion
and development of foreign markets, and for financing purposes;
to ensure a continuous supply of materiel, especially metal
scraps and, perhaps, eliminate the middlemen in the process.
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Establishing a Metal Engineering Indus-trial Park that would
be a conglomerate of complementary factories producing engi-neered
products and taking advantage of common service facilities,
like the Coop-erative, to compete more effectively in the
world market. Jobbers cannot be accom-modated there as they
need to be close to their markets.
Later,
on February 20, 2004, Messrs. Nobuki Yamamura and Eizo Maeda
conferred with Messrs. Nap Tanganco and Hermes Bautista
with Miss Niña Canlas, of the PMAI Secre-tariat.
JICA is trying to dig deeper into the problems of our foundry
industry. They also wanted to know the reasons for the PMAI
initiatives in framing its 5-Year Program. The answer is
simple: to meet competition in the global market. JICA is
purportedly prepar-ing proposals for some courses of action
for MIRDC to help the industry by setting it into the right
direction. (The attachment shows and analyzes what ails
the Philippine econ-omy.)
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| ACETECH'S
INT'L. EXPOSURE |
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An article on Waste Minimization was con-tributed by Mr. Hermes
Bautista for publica-tion in the Metal Casting Technologies
Magazine published in Australia. In support of the article,
pictures of Acetech's contribu-tion to waste minimization
showing its cu-pola emission-control equipment were in-cluded.
This will see publication in the March 2004 issue of the magazine.
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| METAL
CASTING TECHNOLOGIES |
| This
is a magazine that is published quarterly in Australia for the
Metalcasting Industry in the Pacific Region. The current overseas
subscription rate is A$125.40 per annum of four issues.
The publisher
is offering reduced rates to PMAI in either of two alternatives:
1. An
"individual subscription" at 30% off the normal
rate, meaning each member pays A$87.80 per annum and the maga-zine
will be mailed directly to the indi-vidual member.
2. A "bulk
subscription" such that the magazines will be sent in
bulk to PMAI and PMAI will be invoiced quarterly. The distribution
of the magazines will be PMAI's responsibility.
In connection
with the "bulk subscription" the publisher could
make PMAI an "Official Association" of the publication
and dedi-cated space in the magazine will be provided with
PMAI's own logo or banner. The magazine could be PMAI's "Official
Voice" in the international industry forum.
The second
alternative seems to be the more advantageous for the purposes
of PMAI, however, we should be prepared to "service and
maintain" the space dedicated to us.
Whichever
alternative is taken, we wish to get feedback on who are interested
in sub-scribing to this international magazine. A sample of
the magazine could be found at the PMAI Secretariat. It is
a good magazine that is very relevant to our times and in
our part of the world. Believe you me!
Please
phone in or fax your reservations to the PMAI Secretariat,
Tel. 419-4278 and Fax 939-9320. Deadline is March 22, 2004.
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