Lodge Visit
Posted: Mon Apr 29, 2013 1:43 pm
Visited the Lodge Foundry last weekend during the National Cornbread Festival in South Pittsburg, TN. It was about 5 miles from our house. I put it in this thread instead of opening a new one. South Pittsburg began as an Iron Smelting town back near the end of the Civil War. When better Iron deposits were found in Alabama, the furnace closed here and moved to Birmingham. One of the workers here decided to stay and start a foundry, he was Mr. Lodge and began casting skillets and cooking utensils. Now they make some of the best cast iron cookware you can find. They are expanding, now I believe they have 2, 4 ton induction furnaces and are able to put out over 400 pieces a day. When the expansion is done they may be able to double their production.
Correction, they do not use resin bonded sand, just very hard packed greensand.
They use all resin bonded sand and standard Grey Iron, about 3.5% carbon, 1.3% Silicon. The sand molds are stacked vertically, like books, with each section having the cope on one side and the drag in the other, if that makes sense to anyone. Hopefully the pictures will show it better. The filled molds are dumped into a tumbler tube that separates the sand from the finished skillet. The sand goes back and is recycled while the skillet is sent down the line where it's sandblasted cleaned and pre-seasoned, so it's ready to cook when you get it out of the box. The lab is very similar to the one I worked in at the mill in Ohio. I really miss it and really, REALLY wanted to work here. My health just isn't cooperating.
Here is the sand mold, each section has both the top and bottom of the pattern, then stacked together in long sections.
This is a custom skillet, they make a lot like these for all sorts of schools and companies.
Finished skillet, heading for the seasoning ovens. It's sprayed with vegetable oil and heated to cook it to the surface. Keeps them from rusting and all you have to do is give it a quick cleaning with a little soap, rinse and it's ready to cook. Just a little cleaning and re-oil after use so it's ready for next time. Don't scour it, the blacker it gets the better. Good old fashioned non-stick surface. We already have a good set started. Sales pitch is done.
Correction, they do not use resin bonded sand, just very hard packed greensand.
They use all resin bonded sand and standard Grey Iron, about 3.5% carbon, 1.3% Silicon. The sand molds are stacked vertically, like books, with each section having the cope on one side and the drag in the other, if that makes sense to anyone. Hopefully the pictures will show it better. The filled molds are dumped into a tumbler tube that separates the sand from the finished skillet. The sand goes back and is recycled while the skillet is sent down the line where it's sandblasted cleaned and pre-seasoned, so it's ready to cook when you get it out of the box. The lab is very similar to the one I worked in at the mill in Ohio. I really miss it and really, REALLY wanted to work here. My health just isn't cooperating.
Here is the sand mold, each section has both the top and bottom of the pattern, then stacked together in long sections.
This is a custom skillet, they make a lot like these for all sorts of schools and companies.
Finished skillet, heading for the seasoning ovens. It's sprayed with vegetable oil and heated to cook it to the surface. Keeps them from rusting and all you have to do is give it a quick cleaning with a little soap, rinse and it's ready to cook. Just a little cleaning and re-oil after use so it's ready for next time. Don't scour it, the blacker it gets the better. Good old fashioned non-stick surface. We already have a good set started. Sales pitch is done.