This week was filled with depressing news. It started with news the Ed McMahon died. The longtime sidekick of Johnny Carson “King of Late Night” for several years. He was funny and the perfect straight man for Johnny the comedian.

Then, news of Farah Fawcett dieing filled the news. She was one of the original “Charlies Angels” known for her beauty, hair and smile.

Finally, Michael Jackson was found not breathing in his home. A lot of controversy of was he really dead or not. Now the news continues with questions of whether or not he died of a prescription drug overdose.

All of these things were very depressing in the news.

Typically, I get a Die Casting “RFQ” Request for Quote, from a potential customer everyday. This week I only received one RFQ. So the economy seems to be slowing down instead picking up. Our customers seem to be waiting for things to improve in the economy before they order more parts. I am using this lull in production for training and company wide improvements.

Tuesday, I visited a competitor, who was without electricity, gas, and phones. Wanted to sell his die casting business for 5x more than it is worth. He waited too long to call me to buy him out. I gave him an offer that expires next week.

Yesterday, I received a call from an old friend out of work. Yes, this was a very depressing week from my perspective. I am looking forward to next week, it should be a lot better.

Received a call today from someone I once worked with. He was the engineering manager for a company at the same time I was VP Sales. He was a dedicated co-worker and a good die casting tooling design engineer.

He left the company 7 years ago to work in the sand casting industry. He became the engineering manager there as well. He left there to work for a magnesium foundry where he was laid off.

He has been out of work for a while and so he called me to see if I knew of a company that was looking for someone with his talents. I hope he finds work soon. I suggested he join my Linkedin Network because there are several diecasting professionals he can network with.

I suspect for some diecasting people, it will get worse before it gets better. I wish all of us diecassting people luck in this new changing economy.

Making Aluminum Lighting Fixtures Fast. Die casting is known as a cheap process of turning metal into the needed product of the manufacturer. In other words, it turns the raw material into a part which the manufacturer needs in order to complete its product. The metal commonly used with this process is aluminum, however other metal alloys such as zinc and copper can also be used. This is the preferred process of house builders when it comes to making Aluminum Lighting Fixtures.

Lighting fixtures are integral in houses, buildings and other man made structures. Its purpose is to illuminate or provide artificial lighting inside these structures when natural lighting cannot do so. At the same time, lighting fixtures can also be used outdoors. In making these products, aluminum is a common material used because it is very strong and sturdy. At the same time, it is light and cheap. Most Aluminum Lighting Fixtures are used in street traffic casings, outdoor coach lights, parking garage lighting and medical offices which use hanging lights among others. Die casting is the preferred process because it is fast and cheap as well.

The first step in die casting is to liquefy the aluminum. This is accomplished by heating it and once it turns into liquid, it can be placed inside molds known as castings. These castings will then shape the liquid into the needed part. The mold is then cooled down slowly. Once the molds cool and are opened, the Die Casting Aluminum Lighting Fixtures are done. High quality lighting fixtures are made through this process.

We visited a die casting company today, a competitor who called for help. They called yesterday to see if there would be any interest in buying them. We scheduled a time of 10:30 today for a visit.

We arrived at 10:20, the owner was not there yet. We saw the employees wandering around “trying to look busy”. They were wiping down die casting dies and checking threads on parts. There was not a die casting machine running or a furnace heated. We asked an employee if there was any production today? He indicated that one of the 400 ton die casting machines ran yesterday. We checked the furnace and it was cold… It has not been on for days. Then another employee told us that the Electricity was turned off and the gas was turned off and the phones were turned off.

Just then, the owner arrived. He was looking haggard. Our conversation was brief. He handed us a sales report for the first half of the year and a listing of his customers. His sales indicate less than half that of last year. He said he was interested in selling the assets of the company and to make him an offer. I made him an offer of the value I would place, based on other transactions I have been involved with. I gave it to him in writing with an expiration date. I also gave him a non-disclosure agreement.

The sad fact is he should have contacted me sooner. He is certainly beyond saving the company. He is “Past the Point of No Return”

The Alloys of Cold Chamber Die Casting. Metals in various sizes and shapes are produced through many casting procedures and one of them is die casting. Die casting produces durable alloy in different shapes and can be produced in many identical pieces. The procedure requires machines with molds or dies where the molten alloy is placed and solidified. The alloys usually used in die casting are aluminum, zinc, copper, magnesium, tin, and lead. They have different metallurgical properties and they can be used depending on their properties.

There are two methods in die casting: hot-chamber and cold-chamber die casting. Metals with low melting point can be placed in hot chamber machines while those with high melting point can be placed in cold-chamber machines. Also, the difference between the two is the main process in which the alloys are produced.

In cold chamber die casting, the alloys are melted in a furnace separated from the machine. When the alloys are already melted, they are transferred to the dies through the use of hydraulic or mechanical piston. In the cold die chamber, the alloys are quickly hardened. One of the disadvantages of using the cold chamber die casting is the longer time needed for the alloys to be formed because of the additional time for transferring the alloys to the chamber. A ladle is used to transport the molten metal from the furnace to the cold chamber. The ladle can be manual or automatic in terms of operation.

Examples of alloys that can be used in cold chamber are aluminum, magnesium, and copper.