You can follow foundry courses in our school before your vocational o'level in foundry and also carry on for two more years in a specific foundry « BTS » which is a superior title that leads to the work market.

AN INTRODUCTORY PHOTOGRAPH...

coulée au brancard

→ Caption :
In this picture we can see two founders in a foundry. They are both equipped with PPE (such as boots or aprons) to protect themselves from the heat.
The molten metal is cast by pocket into the mold in sand with no frame.
After casting the molten metal , you have to let it cool for a long time to then collect the piece back after breaking the mold. You can therefore take the piece to a machining factory to finish the rough piece you got.

OUR ATTEMPT FOR A CLEAR DEFINITION OF « FOUNDRY » FOR ABSOLUTE BEGINNERS :

FOUNDRY, Emmmmm…

It consists in making a metal melt in a furnace. We put this metal in a crucible to take some of it and cast it in a mold. The mold is made out of sand. To make a piece, we use a wooden model to make a print out of it.

Does it make more sense to you know ?

To help you understand, you will be presented some videos of the different steps a founder goes through while working to get his final metal piece achieved. We are working on it this year !

WHAT ARE THESE OBJECTS ? WHAT DOES A FOUNDER USE THEM FOR ?

PHOTO 1 : ALUMINIUM ALLOY WITH INGOTS
We use these to cast them as a raw material in foundry.

Lingots d'alliage d'aluminium

PHOTO 2 : FRAME / SHAFTS
We use this / and accessorily these (the shafts)
to create our mold.

Chà¢ssis et broches

P.P.E. (Personal protective equipment) FOR FOUNDERS

The P.P.E. for a founder is composed of a hard hat (or a security helmet), thick gloves (security ones) and special glasses to protect the user's eyes. You also should wear a mask since there can be dangerous particles coming out while moulding. You finally have to wear safety boots to protect yourself from falling materials.
Wearing al these clothes and accessories is compulsory in our school foundry workshop !

A FEW PHOTOS OF PPE ITEMS :

ppe 1

ppe_2.jpg

Students of foundry and their professors : V Lemaire and P Chunleau