Barron-Clark Castings Ltd.


Barron-Clark Castings Ltd has been trading in Peterborough, Cambridgeshire, for over 68 years and continues to thrive and improve it’s position within the constantly changing market of the metal industry.

The Company’s reputation has been built on the ability to provide a quality product at a competitive price, delivered on time.

In November 1992, Barron-Clark Castings Ltd gained the prestigious Award of BS EN ISO 9001-2008. This was followed by achieving “Quality Assured Supplier” status for Perkins Engines Ltd.

Our aluminium sand castings and Gravity Die Castings are produced in most of the popular grades of Aluminium to BS 1490 : 1988 for a wide and varied customer base from the Channel Islands to Ireland to the North of Scotland.
The scope of sand castings produced ranges from small intricate water pump bodies weighing 0.50kg, up to large bottom tables for textiles machines weighing 190kg, whereas gravity die castings range from 0.07kg for a breather pipe up to 5kg for a diesel engine oil Pan.

Gravity Die Casting

Where larger quantities of castings are required with tighter tolerances, smoother surfaces and sharper defined sections, we use the gravity die casting process. Our sub-contract gravity die maker produces a cast iron permanent mould split in two halves operated by rack and pinion or hydraulics from our customer’s drawings. All our dies are mounted permanently on steel plates with a box section tube table.

The gravity die casting process starts with the gravity die being heated up to a temperature of 150 ºc – 200 ºc. Once this has been achieved the cores, if any are required, are placed into the die, the two die sides are closed and secured together with clamps. Now the die caster can pour molten metal into the cavity where it quickly solidifies.Gravity Die Casting in the Barron Clark foundry

After a matter of a few seconds the die sides can be parted, the casting ejected and the process repeated. Because the gravity dies can be used tens of thousands of times in their lives, un-like sand moulds which are used once, we are able to produce hundreds of castings a day from a single die. Although on the whole die castings are cheaper than sand castings, the cost of tooling is considerably more expensive so this process should only be used where a long run of thousands of parts are required.

Our sand foundry in Peterborough uses the latest airset sand moulding processes available, which enable us to meet each and every customer’s individual requirements. The process produces sand moulds of considerable strength varying in sizes from 6″ square up to 6 metres in length, without the need of steel moulding boxes. Kiln dried Congleton 80 grade sand mixed mechanically with a resin binder and one of numerous hardeners is poured into a single/multiple impression pattern. Once the sand has been hand rammed into every corner and the remainder strickled off, the mould is left to set.

The setting time is dependent on the hardener used, a one minute hardener for a small mould, such as an elbow and a thirty minute hardener for a large mould, such as a 20ft ring beam. Once set the pattern is lifted from the mould, if any cores are required they are carefully placed into the prints and the mould is closed ready for casting. Six years ago our foundry had a brand new reclamation plant installed which allows us to reclaim 90% of the sand used.

The moulds are broken down into fine grains and 60% virgin sand is added to maintain strength and quality. This process helps us to make savings for our customers by reducing the amount of waste sand we have to have collected. It is also a considerable benefit to environmental issues by reducing waste.

Automotive

For over 60 years Barron-Clark Castings has specialized in producing prototype and production aluminium castings for the automotive industry.

More recently we have invested a lot of time and money into reverse engineering many parts for the historical motor sport industry with excellent results. Working closely with our clients we have been able to reproduce many obsolete parts such as cylinder heads, cylinder blocks, manifolds, covers, uprights etc all without conventional 2D drawings.

By obtaining all the relevant dimensions from the original casting we are able to produce new foundry pattern equipment including shrinkage and machining allowances.

With the ever increasing demand for high accuracy and shorter lead times we are also able to produce prototype and production castings from many cad cam data formats using local CNC time served patternmakers.

Architectural and Street Furniture

At Barron-Clark Castings we have been producing architectural aluminium castings for over 50 years, both for restoration and new build. Finished parts can be supplied ‘as cast’ wet painted or powder coated to customer specifications.

We have the ability and facilities to cast complex and decorative items up to 6.00 metres in length or 3.00 metre wide, with weights up 200kgs.

The castings we produce on a regular basis are columns, bollards, balustrades and panels, stair treads, spandrels, roof trusses, ringbeams, gates, finials, friezes, windows.

 

Address:
16 Royce Road Peterborough PE1 5YB United Kingdom

Tel:
01733551141

Website:
http://www.barronclark-castings.co.uk