| Castings Fabricast's Castings Division offers daily production in a wide range of metals, including:- |
| Gunmetal - BS1400 (BSEN1982) - LG2 (CC491K), LG4 (CC492K) Copper-tin-zinc-lead alloys where all are alloying elements. Gunmetals are most widely used for combining good corrosion resistance with moderate strength and good castability. Applications include pumps, valves and fittings where pressure tightness is the main criteria. LG4 alloys are recommended for optimum properties in thicker section castings. These alloys are a favourite for making sand castings, which have a good combination of strength and machinability. Their resistance to most forms of corrosion is excellent and in this respect, they are superior to the brass range. Fabricast is able to produce Gunmetals and indeed all copper-based alloys from existing pattern equipment or in-house manufactured bespoke patterns. |
| Phosphor Bronze - BS1400 (BSEN1982) - PB1 (CC481K), PB2 (CC483K), CT1 (CC480K) Alloys with up to 1% addition of phosphorous. The properties depend largely on the actual phosphorous content, but usually they are harder than tin bronzes, but with lower ductility. Essentially they are for bearings, where both load and running speeds are high and for other wear resist parts, such as gears and wormwheels. They are frequently chill cast, centrifugally cast or continuous cast: processes which enhance the properties to suit the application. |
| Leaded Bronze - BS1400 (BSEN1982) - LPB1, LB2 (CC495K) Lead bronze-copper-tin-lead alloys where lead is the substantial part of the alloy. These are used almost exclusively for bearings, generally where loads and speeds are more moderate than would be suitable for phosphor bronzes. The greater the lead content, the greater is the tolerance for indifferent lubrication. The high lead alloys also have tolerance for safely embedding any abrassive particles which may have contaminated the lubricant and may also be used with water lubrication. Increasing lead content also increases the plasticity, where the mating material is soft. A harder material would score steels. |
| Aluminium Bronze - BS1400 (BSEN1982) - AB1 (CC331G), AB2 (CC333G) Copper-aluminium alloys where aluminium is the major alloying element. This range of bronzes combines high strength and high resistance to corrosion, the latter depending largely on a thin surface film of alumni. This also confers resistance to tarnish and high temperature oxidisation. The applications range from decorative architectural features for the simpler alloys, to highly stressed engineering components and those requiring a high degree of corrosion resistance. They have many marine uses, including propellers and valves, where water speeds are high. Most have good wear resistance and some are used for the manufacture of non-sparking tools. |
| Spun Cast Spun Cast and proof machined available to customer specification. |
| Brass - BS1400 (BSEN1982) - SCB3 (CC750S), HTB3 (CC762S), HTB1 (CC765S) Copper-zinc alloys where zinc is the major alloying element. Sand and die-cast brasses - such as SCB3 and DCB3 are low cost, easy to cast, have excellent machinability, with moderate strength and corrosion resistance in air and freshwater. Applications for the brasses range include small decorative castings to medium sized engineering components. An important use is for plumbers fittings due to such castings polishing well and being readily electroplated. High tensile brasses - such as HTB1 and HTB3 are more highly alloyed and have considerably higher mechanical properties. HTB1 has good corrosion resistance and finds many uses in the marine and general engineering sectors. HTB3 is amongst the hardest of the copper alloys; its main use being for wear resistance at slow rubbing speeds. This material is not recommended for marine use or where conditions are likely to be corrosive |
| Aluminium - BS1490 - LM4, LM6, LM25 Aluminium casting alloys are generally standardised into two groups; general engineering and aerospace alloys. BS1490 General Engineering - This general purpose range usually consists of grades LM4, LM6 and LM25. Heat treatment or anodising can enhance the properties of each of these types. The LM4 alloys are generally used where a standard grade of aluminium is required, whilst LM6 is especially suitable for marine and other corrosive-prone applications. This alloy is also ideal for thin walled intricate castings. LM25 is a general-purpose high strength alloy with good corrosion resistance, favoured for use on vehicle castings such as wheels or cylinder heads, where heat treatment generally enhances the properties. Aerospace alloys - This range of alloys and castings is manufactured by specialists approved foundries, subject to strict inspection and production procedures. |
| Zinc - Marine Applications Zinc alloys mainly manufacture as anodes for the shipping and marine industry. Fabricast manufactures a range of Zinc anodes to order and from stock. Contact our Sales Team for stock availability. |
| White Metal - Bearing applications, Tin Based, Lead based White metal alloys fall into two basic types;- lead based or tin based, each deriving from a high base material proportion. White metal is generally used as a lining material and cast onto a backing material of steel or bronze, enabling the primary material to be used consistently, with wear and tear managed by renewing the white metal lining. Lead Based - Materials usually associated with slow revolution, heavy load work within the rail and steel sectors. Tin Based - Materials used in more exacting higher-revolution applications such as machined parts for the auto and shipping industries, pistons and engine parts. |
| Additional services and facilities:- |
| Machine Shop - Precision Turning and Finishing Fully-comprehensive in-house ISO 9001 accredited machining expertise on conventional machine centres consisting of centre lathes, milling machines, both radial arm and pin drills. Vertical boring on 36" table. Band saws for both standard and fully-automatic cutting service. Providing seamless quality-assured machining and finishing of castings. |
| Pattern Shop - Wood and resin patterns to design specifications Manufacture and storage of general wood pattern equipment. All to customer drawing specifications, free issue patterns or sample castings, relevant to co2 and greens and moulding techniques. |
