Hodge Foundry regularly works with customers to convert high-cost and long lead-time fabrications and forgings to castings. Not only can we provide one of the lowest per-unit costs for an engineering material, but our ductile iron’s flexibility allows us to pour in a variety of shapes and sizes to meet our customers’ needs.

In working with customers to convert fabrications and forgings to castings, Hodge is acutely aware of the hurdle that upfront tooling and pattern costs can be in the decision-making process, especially in low-volume production applications. To address these concerns, Hodge makes extensive use of polystyrene foam patterns (single-use and multi-use) which can save up to 40% of the cost of tradtional pattern equipment.

In addition to cost advantages, Hodge Foundry's ductile iron provides excellent rigidity and sound/vibration dampening properties that give the design engineer a distinct advantage over steel weldments in the production of machine tools, industrial equipment and an assortment of other applications where cyclic vibrations and stresses are key factors in component design.

Case Study

When the cycling of one customer’s machine was so intense that it broke the welds on its fabricated base, Hodge Foundry came to the rescue. Hodge converted their steel weldment to a 120,000-pound ductile machine bed casting. Critical areas of the bed were now cast with fillets instead of relying on welds, and the cast iron itself served to dampen the vibration of the machine.

In situations where potential customers may be unsure as to whether a ductile iron casting could serve as a replacement for a problematic forging, weldment or fabrication, Hodge Foundry will provide the know-how and expertise necessary to make an informed decision.