(847) 934-4500

Contact us today:

Tag Archives: matchplate molding

New Managing Director for Hunter Asia/Pacific Operations

peter_liMr. Peter Li will assume the new position of Managing Director for all Hunter Asia Pacific Operations, effective February 1, 2013.  Hunter is the world leader in automated matchplate molding machinery and mold handling lines for the foundry industry.

Peter Li’s 16-year career with Hunter has been dedicated to sales and manufacturing management in the Asia Pacific (A/P) territory. He was instrumental in the successful development of the company’s China operation, “Hunter Automated Machinery (Shanghai) Ltd.”  Today, Hunter builds machinery and other equipment in China to serve the A/P market.

Peter will be responsible for A/P marketing and manufacturing programs, including the Shanghai plant, the expansion of our agent network and the integration with new partners where necessary for Hunter to compete effectively in the local markets.

For further information on this announcement, interested parties may contact:

HUNTER AUTOMATED MACHINERY CORPORATION
2222 Hammond Drive Schaumburg, IL 60196
Phone: (847) 397-5110
Fax: (847) 397-8254
Email: info@hunterfoundry.com
Attention:  Bill Hunter, CEO
Web: www.hunterfoundry.com
Connect with Hunter Foundry online:  yt gplus thomasnet

Continue reading

Hunter Automated Makes Donation to Foundry Scholarship Fund

Bill Hunter raises company-supported endowment to Foundry Educational Foundation; $25,000 in memory of Al Hunter will provide scholarships to students involved in metalcasting

Bill Hunter, left, president of Hunter Automated Machinery, presented a check to Bill Sorensen, executive director of the Foundry Educational Foundation, on August 9, 2012 at Hunter headquarters in Schaumburg, Illinois, near Chicago. The check raised the amount of money in the FEF Scholarship Fund to $25,000, in honor of Al Hunter, founder of the company.

Schaumburg, Illinois (USA)-Hunter Automated Machinery today announced a donation to the Foundry Educational Foundation (FEF), raising the current endowment to $25,000, in memory of Al Hunter, founder of the company and father of current owner Bill Hunter.  Bill made this donation on August 9, presenting a check to the FEF Executive Director, Bill Sorensen.

Hunter Automated has been a contributor to the FEF for many years.  Upon the death of Al Hunter in 2011, the family asked that donations be made to the foundation in honor of him.  Once the contributions were collected, the Hunter family asked that FEF establish an endowment to honor Al’s memory, with scholarships provided at selected schools.  The first school chosen was the University of Alabama.  It provides a deserving student a scholarship in Al Hunter’s name.

FEF is a non-profit organization and the foundry industry’s first link to the college campus.  The foundation uses funds contributed from the foundry industry to encourage the pursuit of metalcasting as an academic endeavor at schools across the country.  Hunter has pledged to donate $500 every year to FEF, going forward.

As Sorensen explained, “Students will benefit not only from the scholarship monies, but also from getting to know the contributions Al Hunter made to the industry and the substantial legacy he left behind.”  Al Hunter held over 80 patents in his lifetime and was chiefly responsible for the development and implementation of automatic matchplate molding machine technology in the North American and ultimately the global foundry market.

Bill Hunter presented the check to Bill Sorensen at Hunter headquarters in Schaumburg, Illinois (Chicago) on August 9, 2012.  “It is our privilege to help fund this scholarship program that both encourages young people to enter the foundry industry and continues to honor the technological contributions made by Al Hunter,” Bill remarked.

Sorensen further noted that approximately 90% of the students who have received FEF scholarships continue to pursue their careers in metalcasting.

For further information on this announcement, interested parties may contact:

HUNTER AUTOMATED MACHINERY CORPORATION
2222 Hammond Drive Schaumburg, IL 60196
Phone: (847) 397-5110
Fax: (847) 397-8254
Email: info@hunterfoundry.com
Attention:  Bill Hunter, CEO
Web: www.hunterfoundry.com
Connect with Hunter Foundry online:  yt gplus thomasnet

Continue reading

Hunter Automated Completes Buyout Agreement

Bill Hunter assumes 100% ownership of pioneering company in automatic matchplate molding machinery for sand casting

Bill Hunter signs agreement to obtain 100% ownership of the company

Schaumburg, Illinois (USA)-Hunter Automated Machinery today announced the completion of an asset buyout of the company and all its foreign subsidiaries by current President Bill Hunter.  In his words, “We have successfully crossed the bridge of generational transition with this arrangement.”  Mr. Hunter bought the assets of the company held by his three sisters, Dianne, Linda and Heather.  All were the children of Al Hunter, the late founder of the company that began building the automatic matchplate molding machine Al invented, in 1964.  Today, Hunter machines and mold handling lines are operating in foundries worldwide.  Hunter operates plants in the USA, Brazil and China.  The company has European headquarters in Italy and regional offices in India.

Karen Hunter, corporate secretary, Bill Hunter, president and John Purtill, corporate attorney at signing

Bill Hunter noted, “I am very thankful to my sisters, who worked closely with me on this agreement, allowing us to keep the company in the family.  Likewise, I will always honor the memory of my father, who taught me much about this business and left a legacy of innovation and achievement in the global foundry market.  We fully intend to continue and build on the company’s long-standing traditions of technology, quality and service to the industry.”

The agreement was finalized on June 27, 2012.

For further information on this announcement, interested parties may contact:

HUNTER AUTOMATED MACHINERY CORPORATION
2222 Hammond Drive Schaumburg, IL 60196
Phone: (847) 397-5110
Fax: (847) 397-8254
Email: info@hunterfoundry.com
Attention:  Bill Hunter, CEO
Web: www.hunterfoundry.com
Connect with Hunter Foundry online:  yt gplus thomasnet

Continue reading

Frazier & Frazier Adapts to Changing Metalcast Market

Texas foundry buys new equipment, including Hunter XL matchplate molding machine, to respond to customer needs with fast pattern changes, shorter runs and on-the-fly flexibility in job scheduling, deliveries 

Frazier & Frazier is a gray and ductile iron foundry in Coolidge, Texas and maintains over 8000 pattern to serve its large customer base in the oil & gas, agricultural, wind energy, waterworks and other markets

Schaumburg, Illinois (USA)-In the heart of Limestone County sits Coolidge, Texas, halfway between Dallas and Houston.  This classic American small town is home to another classic, Frazier & Frazier Industries, a ductile and gray iron foundry, established in 1972 by C.W. Frazier as a traditional cope-and-drag sandcasting operation with two squeezers and run today as a formidable shop by Plant Manager Will Frazier.  An ISO 9002 Certified process operation, F&F combines the best of the old ways with the newest casting technologies and equipment in the market.  As Will Frazier points out, “This is one of the biggest reasons we’ve continued to prosper, while so many other foundries have disappeared.  We recognize what works and what doesn’t, to best suit our current business and market conditions.”

Once a heavy production shop, F&F today continues to support their large batch customers, but has reshaped the business model in many ways, according to Frazier.  “We have traditionally worked in pieces from a few ounces up to 150 pounds or more.  The large runs were more typical in days past, while we saw a new business environment emerging, several years ago, when the market began to decline overall.”  He continued to explain how many of the company’s traditional customers began to reduce their inventories and thus placed shorter run orders with much tighter lead times.  In something of a “perfect storm” scenario, this combination of increased job numbers and more urgent shipping requirements literally changed the pace of business at F&F.  Frazier notes, “It’s not unusual for us to come in on a Sunday to finish a job for a customer who really needs it…and we rarely charge a premium, because we know how tough things are, for most of our accounts.”

Sample parts produced by Frazier & Frazier

While the oil & gas market applications are prominent here, as they are with most foundries in the region, F&F currently sells to end product manufacturers for the automotive, agricultural, wind energy, municipal water works and other market segments, a strategy that has helped to maintain a better balance in this shop’s workload.  With its own sales force plus several manufacturers’ rep organizations in the field, Frazier & Frazier boasts customers in a wide variety of markets and as far away as Indiana, a relatively rare achievement in the foundry business, especially when larger, heavier workpieces are involved.

Hunter XL2024 matchplate molding system

With over 8000 patterns in-house, F&F today experiences as many as 15 pattern changes per day per machine on the floor.   This further complicated the job scheduling and work flow.  Will Frazier and his team of Bob Pranger, general manager and Harlon Easton, vice president of sales, quickly saw the need for more automation in the machinery lineup.

F&F still does hand-rammed oil and air set cores, but over the years they’ve acquired automatic coresetting equipment, as well as automated molding machines, including the most recent purchase, a Hunter XL2024 automatic matchplate molding machine, which is used with the already in-place Hunter mold handling turntable system at F&F, as are other molding machines here.  Three melting units feed the certified chemically correct iron to the molding stations.  Currently, this shop does approximately 70% of its work in ASTM Class 60-100 ductile and 30% in Class 15-50 gray iron.

The XL2024 is a fully automated matchplate molding system, using gravity-fill technology pioneered by Hunter.  It produces sand molds up to 20” x 24” with shallow 6-1/2” cope and 5-1/2” drag (165mm/140mm) at 180 cycles per hour, using 400 lbs. (181kg) of sand.  Variable squeeze surface pressures to 142 psi (10kg/cm2) can be achieved in production.

This latest Hunter machine continued the tradition of leading-edge sandcasting technology used at Frazier & Frazier.  Although several generations of Hunter and other brands of machines have been used here, when a new machine was planned, Will Frazier notes there were some key criteria to be met.  “We’d been having critical problems with another machine builder, getting parts and service.  We always knew the Hunter folks were excellent in those areas based on past experience, plus they were willing to provide considerable application engineering assistance and set-up help with the new machine.  Coupling that with their stability as a company and great reputation in the world foundry market, we looked at all our options and settled on the XL2024.”  Frazier further cites his long relationship with Hunter’s Mike Hughes as a factor.  “Mike came down here several times to help us and, since the machine has been up and running, he’s stayed in close touch with us, even though we’ve had no performance issues with the machine.”

Will Frazier also points out that, currently, over 20% of the orders at F&F are rush and the quick changeover time of the Hunter machine makes it a highly productive piece of equipment and a definable competitive advantage in the market for his shop.

Frazier & Frazier provides its customers with metal castings as well as CNC machining, heat treating and galvanizing services, when needed.  The shop has a fully equipped quality inspection department, highlighted by CMM and other state-of-the-art lab apparatus.



For further information on this story, interested parties may contact:

FRAZIER & FRAZIER INDUSTRIES, INC.
817 South First Street P.O. Box 279
Coolidge, Texas 76635 USA
Phone:  254-786-2293
Fax:  254-786-2284
Web:  www.ffcastings.com
Email:  willfrazier@ffcastings.com
Attention:  Will Frazier, Plant Manager

Or

HUNTER AUTOMATED MACHINERY CORPORATION
2222 Hammond Drive Schaumburg, IL 60196
Phone: (847) 397-5110
Fax: (847) 397-8254
Email: info@hunterfoundry.com
Attention:  Bill Hunter, CEO
Web: www.hunterfoundry.com
Connect with Hunter Foundry online:  yt gplus thomasnet

Continue reading

Hunter Automated Mourns The Loss Of Its Founder

William Allen “Al” Hunter, originator of the matchplate molding machine and mold handling system for sand casting, dies at 89; pioneered many of the techniques and machine concepts used worldwide in the foundry industry

Al Hunter passed peacefully on October 29, 2011 in Naples, Florida.  A true giant in the world foundry market, Mr. Hunter changed the way sandcasting was done, by his invention of the matchplate molding and mold handling system in 1964, when he built his first machine, helped by his son and current president of the company, Bill, for sale to Moline Corporation of St. Charles, IL, a malleable iron foundry.  He will be missed by all who knew him and appreciated his zest for life and especially his love of invention.

Born on the family farm in Wilkie, Saskatchewan on July 13, 1922, Al left home at 17, took a bus to Edmonton, Alberta and worked in a meat packing plant.  In the Spring of 1940, he took a training course in airplane mechanics and then joined the Royal Canadian Air Force at 18.

Married to the late Margaret in Montreal in 1943 and released from military service in 1945, Al moved to Toronto to enter the university there, working as a floor molder at John T. Hepburn Foundry to pay for his part-time schooling.

Three children followed, Bill (current president of Hunter Automated) in 1946, Dianne in 1947 and Linda in 1949.  In 1951, Al received his BSME from the University of Toronto and moved back to Montreal to accept a position with Dominion Engineering.

A daughter Heather (wife of current Hunter VP Kevin Purdy) was born in 1956.  The following year, Al brought the family to America and accepted a position as chief engineer at Beardsley & Piper in Chicago, a leading builder of machinery for metalcasting and inventors of the SandSlinger technique.

At the end of 1963, Al left B&P to develop his concept for an automatic matchplate molding system.  In March of 1964, he founded Hunter Automated Machinery Corporation.

Having run the company day-to-day through 1988, Al turned over the operations to his son Bill, wishing to devote more time to his design and invention activities.

During his tenure at the head of the company, Al formed partnerships and reciprocal agreements with companies worldwide, a tradition that continues today, as Hunter Automated continuously seeks to serve its myriad customer needs for sand handling, testing, molding and finishing operations.   Hunter Automated is known worldwide in the foundry industry and its machines are found on every continent.

Al developed various concepts used every day in foundry operations, including multi-level mold handling systems and automatic coresetters.  His pioneering, can-do spirit will be missed by all who knew him and admired his total commitment to improving the world foundry market.

He was a member of AFS since 1960, was presented with the society’s Management Service Citation in 1990 and received the foundry industry’s prestigious Grede Award in 2001.  He held over 80 patents.

Al will be mourned by his children, their spouses, his 13 grandchildren, 19 great-grandchildren and 1 great-great-grandchild, as well as his family of employees at Hunter Automated, who will carry on his legacy.

The Hunter family asks that interested parties please contribute in Al’s memory to the Foundry Educational Foundation, c/o AFS, 1695 N. Penny Lane, Schaumburg, IL 60173 or at www.fefinc.com.

For more information, please contact:

HUNTER AUTOMATED MACHINERY CORPORATION

2222 Hammond Drive Schaumburg, IL 60196
Phone: (847) 397-5110
Fax: (847) 397-8254
Email: info@hunterfoundry.com
Attention:  Bill Hunter, CEO
Web: www.hunterfoundry.com
Connect with Hunter Foundry online:  yt gplus thomasnet

Continue reading

Travis Pattern Buys Its Fourth Hunter Molding System

Hunter XL2024 matchplate molding system, just purchased by Travis Pattern & Foundry to boost their production. This is the fourth Hunter machine now in operation at Travis.

Spokane foundry, largest privately-owned aluminum caster west of the Mississippi, adds to its already impressive capacity with new matchplate molding system

Schaumburg, Illinois (USA)-Travis Pattern & Foundry Inc., a major producer of aluminum castings for the irrigation, power transmission substation and general-purpose fittings markets, as well as the originators of Li’l Mac sinker molds for the fishing industry, announces its purchase of a fourth Hunter matchplate molding system, the XL2024.  According to Gene Johnson, project manager at Travis, “This new line will expand our already substantial casting capabilities for aluminum, as well as brass and cast iron work.  We’re seeing an upturn in our business and purchased the machine in anticipation of increasing demand.”  The machine is scheduled to be operational by the end of March, 2011. 

The XL2024 is a fully automated matchplate molding system, using gravity-fill technology pioneered by Hunter.  It produces sand molds up to 20” x 24” with shallow 6-1/2” cope and 5-1/2” drag (165mm/140mm) at 180 cycles per hour, using 400 lbs. (181kg) of sand.  Variable squeeze surface pressure to 142 psi (10kg/cm2) can be achieved in production.

Travis Pattern, founded in 1922 and now a fourth-generation company, is the largest privately-owned aluminum caster (over 7,000,000 lbs./3,181,818kg annually) west of the Mississippi and boasts a network of affiliated companies through which their castings are marketed.  The company also produces a variety of brass and cast iron products.  Travis products are sold throughout North America.

Gene Johnson further described his company’s use of their Hunter molding systems.  “We typically run jobs in the hundreds up to 1000 pieces.  The fast pattern changeover and the flexibility of the Hunter system really speeds our production.”  He estimated approximately 90% of the jobs run on the new Hunter machine will be aluminum, with the balance being brass.

For further information on this announcement, interested parties may contact: TRAVIS PATTERN & FOUNDRY INC. 1413 E. Hawthorne Road Spokane, WA 99218-3100 Phone:  509-466-3545 Fax:  509-467-6465 Web:  www.travispattern.com  Email:  tpfgj@travispattern.com

Attention:  Gene Johnson, Project Manager

Or

HUNTER AUTOMATED MACHINERY CORPORATION 2222 Hammond Drive Schaumburg, Illinois 60196-1094 USA Phone:  +1 847 397 5136 Email:  kpurdy@hunterauto.com  Web: www.hunterauto.com Attention:  Kevin Purdy, Vice President

Editor Note:  Please direct all publication-generated inquiries to Kevin Purdy at Hunter.  Thanks!

Agency contact for Hunter: Tim Daro Bernard & Company Palatine, Illinois (Chicago) USA +1 847 934 4500 tdaro@bernardandcompany.com  www.bernardandcompany.com

Travis Pattern produces a variety of aluminum, bronze and cast iron products at its 220,000 sq. ft. complex in the Spokane, Washington area.  Sand casting, permanent mold and no bake operations are conducted here, as well as machining, heat treating and galvanizing.

Continue reading