Where does Iron come from?

There’s no doubt that iron is crucial to the process of metal casting. Iron is known for it’s strength and flexibility, making it one of the most common materials used when creating castings. Iron can almost be taken for granted by foundry folks, but have you ever thought about where iron comes from and where…

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How does having multiple facilities help us cast more ductile iron?

At The C.A. Lawton Co., we recognize that the need for ductile iron is growing. In a recent interview, president Barry Adamski, explains how having multiple facilities helps Lawton Standard cast more ductile iron than before. Barry explains how the foundries learn from each other, experiment, and benefit from the flexibility remote engineers afford.

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Ductile iron process improvement as a long-term business strategy

The C.A. Lawton Co. is working to improve our ductile iron casting offerings. Why is ductile a good long-term business strategy? We asked Barry Adamski, President of The C.A. Lawton Co. If you missed our first blog in this series, check out What is ductile iron? Ductile is growing “The Ductile Iron Pipe and Valve…

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Nothing can stop Piper!

It has been eight years since Piper broke her C1 and C2 vertebrae and five years since her surgery. We shared her story on our blog four years ago here. Piper is doing better than ever expected. Piper has restrictions in some areas, but she never lets any of this stop her! Although she sometimes…

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What is ductile iron?

Ductile iron is more impact and fatigue resistant than gray iron due to the spheres of graphite that form with added magnesium. The science and strength of ductile iron From a microstructure standpoint, the primary difference between gray and ductile iron is the shape of the graphite. Gray irons have flake graphite, whereas ductile iron…

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How Lawton is responding to labor shortages

Job openings unexpectedly crept higher in December 2021, as the recovery from the omicron variant sent a wave of COVID-19 infections nationwide. We at The C.A. Lawton Co. have been directly affected by this mass wave of unemployment and wanted to do some deeper digging on how it impacted us and our sister locations. The…

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Giving Back: Lawton employee volunteers to help disabled cats

One of the reasons our employees love being a part of Lawton is that we encourage them to find balance in their lives and to give back. One of our interns, Jordan, is especially passionate about ensuring all animals are treated humanely. She has volunteered with the shelter in the past and still continues to…

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EXPERT’S OPINION: Advice from a long career

The C.A. Lawton Co. periodically publishes input from professionals within the foundry industry and outside the casting world. These Expert Opinions may be casting-related, Continuous Improvement (CI / LEAN), Operational Excellence (Op-Ex), or just working through the challenges of today’s business environment. The goal is to present you with differing viewpoints on how our guests…

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The Lawton Standard Co. announces the (re)launch of QESC (Quality Electric Steel Castings)

The Lawton Standard Co. announces the (re)launch of QESC (Quality Electric Steel Castings) as its latest growth initiative in response to constrained capacity in the domestic metal casting industry.  The Lawton Standard Co. has recently added the facilities and team members of QESC (Houston, TX) to its growing casting business to respond to constrained industry…

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Building a better metalcasting platform: A work in progress

Alex Lawton, CEO, Lawton Standard Last September, I told you about our vision for Lawton Standard – to transform a group of foundry-based companies with complementary capabilities and skillsets into an integrated platform. Here’s a progress report on our journey toward that goal. To use a restaurant analogy, our goal has always been to assemble…

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Challenges of large casting design

Large casting design is a high-stakes game: If you win, you’re a hero to your company and the OEM whose products they’re used on. If you lose, you tend to lose big. Here are some ways to increase your odds of success when designing large castings. Because of their size and cost, castings over 2,000…

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