Tag Archives: Ship 5750

MAGMA, Sea Scouts, Castings and Sea Shells…Foundry Market Leader Teaches Next Generation

Steve Sikorski from Magma (far left) led the teaching experience for the Racine, Wisconsin Sea Scouts, as they learned about metalcasting.

In March 2013, representatives from MAGMA Foundry Technologies used the Foundry in a Box, donated by AFS, to teach the Racine, Wisconsin Sea Scouts, Ship 5750, about metalcasting.  Sea Scouting is a division of the Boy Scouts of America for young men and women between 14 and 21 years old.  The group focuses on developing future leaders through developing maritime skills, both on and off the water.  The Scout group devotes their summer activities to sailing and their winter activities to learning manufacturing skills to produce useful items.  Previous projects included land sailing vessels, a pig roaster and rebuilding engines for use in boats.

During this past winter, the scouts focused on developing their metalworking skills by making wind vanes using welding, grinding, machining and plasma cutting technologies.  This project had all the Scouts excited about metalworking and it created a great opportunity to expose them to metalcasting technology, where Magma is the market leader in casting simulation and process optimization for foundries worldwide.

The meeting was kicked off with a short presentation about metalcasting and how this 6,000-year-old process relates to products the Scouts use every day.  The Scouts were then allowed to get started with a hands-on project, with each Scout creating a mold, melting the metal, pouring the casting and cleaning the castings.  Some Scouts used the standard patterns that came with the Foundry in a Box, while others were more adventurous and tried making their own patterns, one being sea shells. A final presentation was made, tying in this age-old process with advanced casting process simulation technology to show what occurred inside the mold during the making of the Liberty Bell casting.

For more information on this story, please contact:
Christof Heisser
President
MAGMA Foundry Technologies, Inc.
10 N. Martingale Road, Suite 425
Schaumburg, IL 60173
Phone 847-969-1001, ext. 225
Email  cheisser@magmasoft.com
Web    www.magmasoft.com