Three Types of Aluminum Castings. Aluminum die castings are used to by a lot of metalworking companies to form the perfect aluminum material, without having to spend a lot of money and wasting a lot of time. Due to the versatility of these processes, a lot of companies have turned to this unique way in forming one of the most dependable alloys that is used for several components in the same industry. There are a lot of items that were produced out of aluminum castings from the Washington Monument’s cap to the ancient tea kettles used by people who lived hundreds and hundreds of years ago. Although there have been a lot of improvements in the process of aluminum castings, most of the companies still resort to the traditional means of using molten metal to form some of the most intricate dies in history.

Aluminum castings can come in three diverse methods. Out of the three (permanent mold casting, sand casting and die casting), die casting is considered as the most popular among all companies in the metalworking industry. Although sand casting is known to be more versatile due to its delicate patterns, die castings prove to produce the most durable components used by a lot of automobile franchises and even the smallest of modern electronic gadgets. Other would say, however, that permanent mold castings also produce durable materials, but may need more expensive equipments and methodologies compared to the two other methods. Although these three processes may have a lot of differences, it can be agreed that aluminum castings are highly effective in whichever method they are performed under.

Former employees of Quad-City Die Casting have filed an involuntary bankruptcy petition in hopes of recovering $200,000 they say is owed them in medical bill reimbursements and vacation pay they never received.

The petition was filed last week in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Peoria, Ill.

About 100 Quad-City Die workers — including 70 members of Local 1174, United Electrical, Radio and Machine Workers of America, or UE, — lost their jobs when the Moline plant closed in September.

Carl Rosen, regional president for UE, said instead of filing bankruptcy, Quad-City Die chose in the spring to turn over assets to a liquidation company, High Ridge Partners of Chicago. By going that route, there is no court oversight of transactions.

He said using an assignee like High Ridge “works in some cases.”

“And in some cases, if one of the creditors — or more than one — feels it (the liquidation) is not working effectively, they can ask that a bankruptcy judge intervene. The workers are requesting it become a regular bankruptcy to make sure everybody is being treated fairly.”

This week, an auction of some Quad-City Die equipment took place — but only after a bankruptcy judge granted High Ridge’s request for emergency joint motion to allow it to continue as planned.

Wells Fargo is the lead creditor for Quad-City Die. When contacted Thursday, Wells Fargo declined comment on the involuntary bankruptcy petition. Representatives of High Ridge and attorneys for Quad-City Die did not return phone calls Thursday seeking comment.

According to the emergency joint motion, High Ridge reported that this spring it had “successfully completed collection of Quad-City Die’s accounts receivable, which totaled $830,000 … and production of inventory banks for 10 major customers, resulting in additional sales of $3.1 million” over the summer. From those proceeds, $1.8 million was applied to debt owed to Wells Fargo.

The motion also reported that by continuing production and sales for about 16 weeks, High Ridge was able to rehire 23 former employees. The liquidator paid $299,000 in medical benefits stipends from employees in lieu of the self-insured medical coverage previously provided by Quad-City Die.

But Rosen said employees had to take on the additional work and were not allowed to take vacations.

“We don’t think it’s fair that the fruits of our employees’ labors, which allowed the bank to be paid down $1.8 million … (that the employees) should not be paid the full amount they are owed,” said Chicago attorney Scott Clar, who is representing the former workers in the case.

Rosen said the judge ultimately will make two decisions: Whether the court accepts full jurisdiction for the case and whether the money will be distributed immediately.

Magnesium Compared to Aluminum – Which is a Better Alloy for Die Casting? Die casting is being hailed as one of the better innovations to come along in the manufacturing industry. Its contributions are very important – cheaper production costs and shorter production times. As such, continuous development regarding this process is being pushed for the benefit of the industry and its customers.

There, however, have been debates on which alloy to use for die casting. Two of these alloys which can be used are magnesium and aluminum. Each one has its own characteristics which make it one of the choices for manufacturers. Magnesium compared to aluminum – which one is a better alloy to use for die casting?

Aluminum has good resistance to corrosion and has high stability, which makes it ideal for complex shapes and thin walls. It also retains its strength at high temperatures, ideal for products which experience intense heat regularly – for example, automobile engines. Magnesium, on the other hand, has excellent strength or its weight, which is specifically ideal for products which need to be lightweight – for example, laptops and cellular phones.

More manufacturers are resorting to magnesium over aluminum due to these characteristics, though some still choose aluminum for certain cases. However, magnesium compared to aluminum has many more beneficial characteristics to the die casting process.

Emerson CEO Says US Is Hurting Manufacturers. Bloomberg News (11/12, Daley) reports, “Emerson Electric Co. Chief Executive Officer David Farr said the U.S. government is hurting manufacturers with regulation and taxes and his company will continue to focus on growth overseas.” Emerson “will keep expanding in emerging markets, which represented 32 percent of revenue in 2009.” Companies will “create jobs in India and China, ‘places where people want the products and where the governments welcome you to actually do something,’ Farr said.” Emerson, which Farr said “employs about 125,000 people worldwide, has eliminated more than 20,000 jobs since the end of 2008 to lower expenses.” Farr added, “What do you think I am going to do? I’m not going to hire anybody in the United States. I’m moving. They are doing everything possible to destroy jobs.” Emerson’s growth strategy “includes some acquisitions and continued investment in technology.”

Die Casted Aluminum Hardware Handles. Hardware handles are made specifically to open doors among other things. This means that these handles are designed to be pushed, pulled and bluntly, take a lot of punishment throughout their existence. Because of that, hardware handles need to be very strong and very durable so that it can last a long time. With that in mind, what better way to make these handles than with aluminum? Aluminum Hardware Handles are essentially stronger and much more durable than any other handle of different material including steel. At the same time, Aluminum Hardware Handles are very light, and of course, cheap.

Aluminum can be mined in the earth and are extracted from ore. Even if people consider this to be a very valuable material because of its unique characteristics, it is cheap because it can be found in abundance. In molding this material into the proper shape, the best method is die casting.

Die casting is the process of turning metal into a finished product. Aluminum is commonly used in this process but zinc and copper can also be used. The first step is to turn the metal alloy into liquid by heating it. When the metal is already liquefied, it will be injected to molds that will shape the metal into Aluminum Hardware Handles.

Die Casting Aluminum Hardware Handles would result in consistent products with high quality. At the same time, it is a fast and efficient process in producing aluminum based parts. When it comes right down to it, companies and manufacturers truly benefits with die casting.