GK News

Another day, another call from a foundry that “saved money” buying low-value vibratory equipment from our competition.   This time the call was in reference to a group of machines engineered and manufactured by a company that used erroneous engineering calculations. As a result, from day one of operation, the equipment cracked and broke. This […]

Generally used to guide the movement of the conveying surface in the desired direction, rocker leg (or ductile stabilizer) condition should be inspected as per the pm schedule for each machine.   Once the rocker leg has been identified as needing to be replaced the rocker leg should be replaced immediately to avoid damaging the […]

Material grinding (also called attrition milling) is the process by which materials are mechanically broken into fine granules, and it is an essential step in many industrial processes. Grinding machinery can be used to reduce the particulate size of various materials, but is most commonly recognized for its uses in the mining industry to extract […]

In an effort to promote proper maintenance procedures, below is a step-by-step guide to safely replacing pigtail coil springs.   Should a spring that needs to be replaced be found during inspection or while the unit is in operation, it must be replaced immediately to avoid overstressing remaining coil springs as well as causing structural […]

Sand reclamation is the process by which foundry sand is reconditioned without significantly affecting its physical properties. During the sand reclamation process, binders and coatings that adhere to sand grains during casting production are removed to recycle sand for subsequent use. Thus, the sand must be cleaned to remove the binders that adhere to it […]

What happens when the largest buyer of recycled consumer waste decides that it no longer wants to be the recipient of the world’s trash? That is the question facing municipalities and recycling companies in the U.S., Europe, Japan, and Australia. In a dramatic move last April, the city of Ipswich in Queensland, Australia decided to […]

Construction and demolition, or C&D materials, are the various waste streams (e.g., wood, metals, concrete, asphalt, gypsum) generated from the  construction, renovation, and demolition of roads, buildings, and bridges. In the United States alone more than 500 million tons of C&D materials are generated annually. Because so much C&D waste is produced, it is imperative […]

In the June Issue of Modern Casting, Waupaca Foundry was named 2018 Metalcaster of the year for their efforts towards efficient and sustainable practices. Waupaca Foundry, Inc. has reduced energy usage by 18.9%, landfill byproducts by an impressive 71.3%, and water usage by 22%. In addition to these benchmarks, Waupaca Foundry increased their product yield […]

Streamlining is the process by which efficiency is improved through resource, time, or cost reduction, and productivity improvement. In general, streamlining may involve automating manual processes, increasing uptime, and reducing process redundancies and inefficiencies. Thus, streamlining may require capital purchases, changes to staffing levels or process flow, and complex statistical analyses. For mining operations in […]

  To celebrate the fourth of July and what it means to be an American manufacturer, here are just a few reasons General Kinematics is Made in America.   4 Reasons GK Equipment is Made in America:   Quality Guarantee: In the U.S., consumer laws have been put in place to assure that the products […]