Middle Ages to Industrialization

After the great performances in the field of metal casting during antiquity, it took a long time to match the former level in the occidental Middle Ages. However, whereas there is hardly any continuous documentation about casting technology during the antiquity, the German monk Thophilus already examined the forming and casting very intensively around 1140. The "fireworks books" - especially the book by Italian Biringuccio - were written after 1500 AD should also be mentioned in this context. Loam, plaster and wax were the most important working materials.

 

Crucible and later flame ovens were available for the melting of copper, tin and lead alloys. Casting by means of forming sand was common for small parts; permanent moulds were of great importance for the serial casting of lead and tin materials. In the beginning, the casting of bells and other clerical equipment was the main focus. Relief casting matched the artistic quality of the antique metal casting at the beginning of modern times.

 

1455
Dillenburg Castle in Germany is the first to use cast iron pipe to transport water.

 

1480
Birth of Vannoccio Biringuccio (1480-1539), the "father of the foundry industry," in Italy. He is the first man to document the foundry process in writing.

 

1642
Saugus Iron Works, America's first iron foundry (and second industrial plant), is established near Lynn, Massachusetts. The first American iron casting, the Saugus pot, is poured there.

 

1709
Englishman Abraham Darby creates the first true foundry flask for sand and loam molding.

 

1720
Rene Antoine de Reaumur develops the first malleable iron, known today as "European Whiteheart."

 

1730
Abraham Darby is the first to use coke as fuel in his melting furnace in Coalbrookdale, England.

 

1750
Benjamin Huntsman reinvents the process of cast crucible steel in England. This process is the first in which the steel is completely melted, producing a uniform composition within the melt. Since the metal is completely molten, it also allows for alloy steel production, as the additional elements in the alloy can be added to the crucible during melting. Prior steel production was accomplished by a combination of forging and tempering, and the metal never reached a molten state.

 

1776
Foundrymen Charles Carroll, James Smith, George Taylor, James Wilson, George Ross, Philip Livingston and Stephen Hopkins sign the American Declaration of Independence.

 

1794
First use of the cupola in iron founding. Invented by John Wilkinson of England, the original had metal-cladding and utilized a steam engine to provide the air blast.