knight foundry
knight foundry (no. 1007 california historical landmark) - sierra nevada geotourism mapguide
sam knight and thomas edison have long since departed, but knight’s water wheels still keep the foundry running and they’re not subject to blackouts .
if knight foundry is lost, along with it go technologies that may never be replicated .
thank you! together we can preserve this industrial crown jewel, the historic knight foundry .
amador ledger dispatch: plaques dedicated at historic knight foundry. (03 - 25 - 18
comment received jan. 2001, andy fahrenwald: the situation at knight foundry is now much improved .
public knight foundry guided tours knight foundry in sutter creek is america’s last water - powered foundry and machine shop and a premier relic of mother lode gold mining history. join us for one of our guided tours on the second saturday of every month .
knight foundry, also known as knight’s foundry and shops, is a cast iron foundry and machine shop in sutter creek. it was established in 1873 to supply heavy equipment and repair facilities to the gold mines and timber industry of the mother lode .
industrial heating: back to your roots: knight foundry. by: reed miller (12 - 2017 )
the knight foundry remains an american tradition of invention and craftsmanship – - a money making tradition since 1873 .
the native son: historic knight foundry, the last water - powered machine foundry in the united states. by kimberly wooten. (09 - 30 - 17 )
knight foundry was able to stay in business after the gold rush was over by producing specialty parts that were more easily produced at the foundry than through mass production .
companies and people from as far away as arizona, oregon and hawaii come to the knight foundry because no one else will take on the small orders that knight foundry does. “we do a hundred different things a month, ” said borgh .
one such enclave of craftsmanship is the knight foundry at sutter creek. the foundry has been operating continuously in the same buildings, with basically the same equipment and methods since 1873 .
knight also invented several other types of mining equipment. the foundry had a total of eight patents for machines designed in his shop, one of them being after knight’s death. knight dredger pumps were used in san francisco bay, puget sound, and the willamette and columbia rivers .
abc10. com: the last of its kind: restoring knight foundry. by: john bartell (03 - 19 - 18 )
the following is a dec. 14, 1977, account by the author about the knight foundry when it was in commercial operation .
sacramento valley: knight foundry: a window into the industrial technology of the 1800s. by: carl gwyn (9 - 19 - 17 )
the knight foundry' s open house will be sunday, april 2 from 10: 00 a. m. to 4 p. m .
your donations will help preserve and protect this industrial crown jewel, the historic knight foundry. the knight foundry alliance is a 501 (c) 3 nonprofit organization under the umbrella of the amador community foundation, tax id # 68 - 0447992. donations will be eligible for all applicable tax deductions .
a national mechanical engineering monument the knight foundry is the last water - powered foundry and machine shop in america, and one of the nation’s best preserved 19th - century industrial complexes. the preservation and restoration of the knight foundry provides an unparalleled opportunity to protect the history of industrial technologies as they were traditionally implemented, and to pass them on to future generations .
the land and buildings were recently donated to the city, which peters says was a crucial step in making knight foundry a place to teach fading skills .
the site was secured for posterity early in 2000 through the generosity of richard and melissa lyman, who purchased the foundry from the borgh family trust. the foundry is now being put back in operation by the knight foundry corporation, a 501 (c) (3) non - profit educational public benefit corporation which will ultimately acquire the site from the lyman' s. the planning and fundraising work leading to the foundry acquisition and resumption of programs was carried out by the save knight foundry task force of the samuel knight chapter of the society for industrial archeology directed by then chapter president andy fahrenwald .
knight foundry was established in 1873 to repair facilities and supply equipment to the gold mines and timber industries of the mother lode. the knight foundry is thought to be the last remaining water - powered foundry and machine shop in the nation. samuel n. knight developed a high speed, cast iron water wheel about the same time as the pelton wheel that used the same concept. historic records indicate that his water wheels were used in some of the first hydroelectric plants in california, utah and oregon .
ps: we invite you to contact us to discuss the plans for knight foundry and other support opportunities such as evergreen donations, endowments, estate planning, and sponsorship .
knight wheels were used in some of the first hydroelectric plants in california, utah, and oregon .
to protect, preserve, and restore the knight foundry’s historic structures, features and operations in order to convey its local and regional importance as a unique 19th century industrial facility .
carl borgh first came to this small town in the foothills of the sierra nevada about 100 miles east of san francisco to have some parts cast by the historic knight foundry .
a center of innovation in california’s mother lode country, the historic knight foundry actively served the needs of the mining and lumber industries for over 120 years and is believed to be the only remaining water - powered foundry and machine shop in the united states .
the knight foundry, set in the heart of sutter creek, is america’s last water - powered foundry and machine shop. established in 1873 by samuel knight, this extraordinary facility includes the unique historic equipment and machinery, still in place in its original context, just as it was during its gold rush - era heyday. knight foundry is nationally recognized as a national historic mechanical engineering landmark and a california registered historical landmark. the foundry is listed on the national register of historic places and has been named by the national trust for historic preservation as one of america’s eleven most endangered historic places. please visit: urltoken
sutter creek’s historic, industrial crown jewel. the knight foundry, set in the heart of sutter creek, is america’s last water - powered foundry and machine shop. established in 1873 by samuel knight, this extraordinary facility includes the unique historic equipment and machinery, still in place in its original context, just as it was during its gold rush - era heyday .
knight foundry is nationally recognized as a national historic mechanical engineering landmark and a california registered historical landmark. the foundry is listed on the national register of historic places and was named by the national trust for historic preservation as one of america’s eleven most endangered historic places .
sutter creek’s historic, industrial crown jewel. the knight foundry, set in the heart of sutter creek, california, is america’s last water - powered foundry and machine shop. established in 1873 by samuel knight, this extraordinary facility includes the unique historic equipment and machinery, still in place in its original context, just as it was during its gold rush - era heyday .
private tours if your family, group, or organization would like to arrange a private tour of knight foundry, please contact ron edgar at theknightfoundry @ urltoken or 209 - 560 - 6160 .
currently at 143 years old, the knight foundry is open as a museum. the foundry / machine shop was powered by a knight water motor, predecessor of the pelton wheel. this motor drove multiple shafts and various equipment found in a machine shop. two more open houses are currently scheduled for april 22, 2017 and may 27, 2017. for more information see: urltoken
the knight foundry is a complex of buildings just on the edge of downtown sutter creek littered with historical artifacts everywhere. machinery belts hum as they did back when california was still a new state .
the grey iron, so called because of its color, is brought to the knight foundry in the form of junked automobile parts and rusted bathtubs. old volkswagen cylinder heads and buick brake drums are melted down and reincarnated as gears, wheels, propellers, et cetera for the foundry’s customers .
the knight foundry alliance is a 501 (c) 3 nonprofit organization under the umbrella of the amador community foundation, tax id # 68 - 0447992. donations will be eligible for all applicable tax deductions .
the knight foundry still depends on that. “our business requires a great amount of hand skill, ” said borgh. “that’s how we find a niche for the products we make and the customers we serve .
the machine shop is a monument to the knight water wheel. water in a reservoir atop a 500 - foot hill a mile and a half away is fed by gravity through pipes leading to the foundry .
the foundry mr. borgh moved his wife and three young sons to was built using techniques knight learned working as a carpenter in neighboring gold fields. one of his innovations was the knight water wheel, a high - powered water turbine. mr. borgh says it'' fairly revolutionized the mining industry around here.''
today the foundry continues to operate, producing gray iron castings for industry and tourism. the machine shop is still powered by water falling more than 400 feet from the ridge above sutter creek. knight foundry is also listed on the national register of historic places and has been designated a california historical landmark .
samuel n. knight developed a high speed, cast iron impulse water turbine which was a forerunner of the pelton wheel design .
historic knight foundry, in sutter creek, california, is believed to be the only remaining water - powered foundry and machine shop in the united states. the foundry was established in 1873 by samuel n. knight (1838 - 1913), a former ship' s carpenter, was one of several inventors experimenting with impulse turbines to exploit the area' s abundant high - head water power for driving hoists, ore stamps, and other mining machinery. he patented an efficient water wheel that came to dominate the field prior to the introduction of the pelton turbine in the mid - 1880s. knight turbines drive some of the machinery of the works .
following decades of effort and negotiations, the city of sutter creek has entered into an agreement to acquire the historic knight foundry complex. the knight foundry, for those not familiar, is one of the most significant and remarkably well - preserved historic industrial properties in the country. established in 1873 and operating continuously into the 1990s, knight foundry was instrumental in the design and manufacture of equipment for the mining, power, timber and agriculture industries, not only in the mother lode, but throughout california and beyond. the foundry is a california registered historical landmark, listed on the national register of historic places, a national historic mechanical engineering landmark, and has been named by the national trust for historic preservation as one of america’s 11 most endangered historic places .
knight developed a 42 - inch wheel to drive the main line shaft, and smaller water motors power other machines. knight invented other types of mining equipment. he held 8 patents on machines used in his shop. by the 1890s more than 300 knight water wheels had been produced and in use across the western united states. water wheels produced a cheap and effective energy source for miners .
on behalf of the city i extend appreciation to all who have helped and provided encouragement through the long process of knight foundry acquisition. we now look forward to working with volunteers and donors alike to preserve this unique historic resource .
knight foundry open house march 4th, 2017 in sutter creek, california. the first time the foundry has been open for public view in decades. the land and buildings were donated at the end of 2016 and fundraising is underway to purchase the equipment inside so that long sought plans of a living museum can move ahead. urltoken
comments from visitors / members: may, 2005: knight foundry featured on history channel! in what should be a great boost for the planned major fundraising to come, the history channel' s “gold rush ghost towns, ” part of the channel’s save our history series, gave a substantial share of its air time to knight foundry. the film crew worked an intensive twelve hour day with iron master russ johnson, joe harralson, of the california state university at sacramento engineering faculty; and foundry ownerrichard lyman, to recreate historic activities at the foundry, tracking the production of a cast iron bevel gear. project manager andy fahrenwald was interviewed by program host steve thomas (of this old house fame) about knight foundry’s historic background and plans for the future. for more info: contact: andy fahrenwald, project director, andylora @ sbcglobal. net, 209 - 267 - 5967 .
today the foundry continues to operate, producing gray iron castings for industry and tourism. the machine shop is still powered by water falling more than 400 feet from the ridge above sutter creek. knight foundry is also listed on the national register of historic places and has been designated a california historical landmark. see asme website for more information
the foundry makes sand casts, a trade that has changed little since 1873, when samuel knight, its builder, poured the first test ingot. it is the oldest cast - iron foundry in california and itsadjoining machine shop is said to be the oldest water - powered shop west of the mississippi, perhaps in the united states .
all machinery in the shop and foundry is driven by water wheels. a dozen water wheels in the foundry run drill presses, lathes, milling machines and air compressors. it’s a functioning rube goldberg setup that dates back to the original owner. sam knight designed, built and patented water wheels before the invention of the electric light bulb .
family run foundry, based in wadeville, gauteng invests r4. 5 million in new greenfield facility .
there the water blasts at a pressure of 200 pounds a square inch through 10 ancient knight wheels, which spin and hum like electric motors .
at the heart of the new foundry is a one and half ton an hour furnace which was supplied by local furnace manufacturer solid state induction furnaces. the furnace is equipped with a new generation cooling tower that allows knight foundry to run on a closed circuit cooling system, and it has a gauge incorporated to monitor the water temperature and keep it at a constant temperature
the name knights sales, which was the brokerage side of the business, does not readily associate itself with the foundry business. it was derived from its location in knights industrial area in germiston, gauteng. however because of the long association with the foundry industry the family has kept the name but now trades as knights foundry .
i' ve been wanting to go inside and have a look around the foundry for years. it was incredible
organizers hope to eventually pour molten metal at the foundry several times a year, truly keeping the past alive .
tours begin at 10 a. m. , 12 noon, and 2 p. m. admission is $ 10 for adults 18 and older, $ 5 for students age 5 - 17, free for children under 5. discover the compelling history that is historic knight foundry !
knight died in 1913 and left the ownership of the foundry to his employees, and it stayed in employee hands until 1970 when the last employee - owner died. at that point, it was purchased by carl borgh, an aerospace engineer from southern california who was originally a customer .
this is one of the earliest us foundry - machine shops remaining in operation and one of the few water powered. it was founded by samuel n. knight (1838 - 1913) to manufacture machinery for the gold mines of the mother lode region. knight was one of several inventors experimenting with impulse turbines to exploit the area' s abundant high - head water power for driving hoists, ore stamps, and other mining machinery. he patented an efficient water wheel that came to dominate the field prior to the introduction of the pelton turbine in the mid - 1880s. knight turbines drive some of the machinery of the works .
when knight died in 1913, he left the shop to his employees who continued to own the building until 1970 when the last employee died. the foundry changed owners and stayed opened until 1996. the city of sutter creek intended to purchase the foundry from its current owners in 2009 for clean up, historic preservation and re - opening as a museum with public displays, workshops and limited local historic foundry work. the transfer of ownership was not completed, and the building remains in private ownership with no immediate plans for public access .
the knight foundry was named by the national trust for historic preservation as one of america’s eleven most endangered historic places. please take this all - important opportunity to give this unique treasure a new life. whether you can donate directly or help us find other funding, your support is greatly appreciated .
fifty to 75 percent of the products poured at the foundry are new designs. the rest are replacement parts for obsolete equipment .
please help us preserve and restore the historic knight foundry. after an unprecedented fundraising effort the city of sutter creek can proudly say that it owns the property, the buildings, and the contents of this historic jewel. now the real work is under way to reach our long - term goal: to turn knight foundry into a world - class interactive museum and educational center. the irreplaceable, invaluable, and unique historic equipment and machinery that is still in place in its original context is being cleaned, catalogued, and restored. your donation of any amount will make a positive difference to current and future generations. please help .
waupaca foundry and others donated funds for the new waupaca middle school performance enhancement center to support students' health and well - being .
quantic foundry is a market research company focused on gamer motivation. we combine social science with data science to understand what drives gamers .
amador’s heritage as a part of amador county’s industrial heritage corridor, the knight foundry will join the kennedy mine, kennedy tailing wheels, central eureka mine, and miners’ bend park to tell the story of how local industry created, and then contributed to, the viability of the mother lode communities of sutter creek, amador city, jackson, and others. the foundry will serve as an educational resource that provides a unique window into amador’s history and heritage .
knight foundry has volunteer opportunities for individuals and groups, including hands - on historic restoration, research, and preservation of historic industrial skills. adults, students, scout troops, service groups, and others are welcome. for more information contact ron edgar, volunteer coordinator, at theknightfoundry @ urltoken or 209 - 560 - 6160 .
knight foundry was designated an official project of the federal save america' s treasures program in 1999, and through that program subsequently received a $ 35, 000 matching planning grant funded by the j. paul getty fund and a $ 250, 000 matching preservation grant funded by the national park service. these two grants will enable the non - profit develop curricula, collection management, a full historic structures report and stabilize the buildings and machinery. matching funds are being sought to enable this work to go forward. contributions are tax deductible and should be made to the knight foundry corporation, p. o. box 1776, sutter creek, ca, 95685 .
i had the pleasure of visiting knight foundry in the early nineties. i was amazed by the intricate pulley system which ran all the equipment. this was truly a feat of engineering for its time. the foundry was operating and all machines were powered by water flow. the people who worked there were very friendly. i watched a blacksmith make an alligator shaped bottle opener. i bought it and a cast iron bumper sticker. how cool! ! i still have the bumper sticker. great place to visit .
sutter creek was a foundry town, and its products can still be found adorning the state capitol building in sacramento as well as structures throughout old town .
although the van der walt family has been associated with the foundry industry since the 1960s it was only 11 years ago that the company poured its first casting .
“most foundries are big operations. automated. the workers are machine operators, ” said borgh. “the foundry business started with people working with their hands. ”
the people of the knight foundry are also a link with the past.'' it' s the men who work here that make this place,'' mr. borgh said. almost every week, wendell boitano, 69 years old, stops by to watch the pouring. his father put in 58 years at the foundry, and mr. boitano, who is known as casty, worked there 45 years. now he watches his successor, jay raper, 34, mr. borgh and david demarest, 54, at work .
nick is the co - founder and analytics lead of quantic foundry. he combines social science and data science to understand gamer behavior in large - scale game data .
a unique educational facility the knight foundry is a premier relic of mother lode gold mining history. from precision equipment for our hard - rock gold mines, to the lights of san francisco, to the impulse turbine systems that powered many of the state’s hydroelectric plants, the foundry literally helped to build california. when restoration is completed, this unique facility will allow partnership opportunities for high schools, colleges, and universities to provide hands - on training to engineering, museum studies, and history students, and will be a center for teaching crafts and skills that are in danger of dying out .
sutter creek vice mayor robin peters says if local gold mines needed a large iron tool or piece of equipment, odds were it came from the foundry in the late 1800s .
[ 16 ] major - gabryś, k. (2015). biodegradable materials as foundry moulding sands binders, metalurgija, vol. 54 (3). 591 - 593 .
foundries and machine shops, such as the knight foundry in sutter creek, provided the foundation for california’s booming gold rush. miners depended on foundries and machine shops to produce sophisticated tools and equipment as mining operations continued to grow and became increasingly more complex. foundries cast the tools and machine shops formed equipment. mining operations needed a continuous supply of stamp mills, pumps, ore cars, dredger buckets, rock crushers and assorted other mining equipment .
“in the ’90s, knight had the recognition that the core of biology is digital code, and he realized our ability to read it was just starting to get cheap, and our ability to write [ with computer programming ] it was getting cheap, ” says kelly .
[ 9 ] głowacki, c. r. , crandell, g. r. , cannon, f. s. , clobes, j. k. , yoight, r. c. furness, j. c. , mccomb, b. a. & knight, s. m. (2003). emission studies at a test foundry using an advanced oxidation - clear water system. afs transactions. vol. 111. 579 - 598 .
that way of thinking was pretty controversial back when kelly was at mit. “back when we were starting to say this in the early 2000s, biologists hated us—they thought it was never going to work, ” says kelly. “but we did think that you could create a design discipline where people can say, ‘hey, this is a set of code we should put together to accomplish something. & apos; ” one of kelly’s cofounders is tom knight, an mit professor who is known as one of the grandfathers of synthetic biology. kelly, along with the other bioworks founders—reshma shetty, barry canton, and austin che—were knight’s biological engineering doctoral students. knight was a pioneering computer engineer at mit in the ’80s before switching his focus to the field of bioengineering, where his groundbreaking research connected computer code and genetic code .
“this section has been equipped with a 10 ton an hour continuous mixer manufactured by endeco and a gassing unit manufactured by lauds foundry equipment that can accommodate boxes up to 1. 8 metres. ”
foundry work remains essentially the same as it was at the beginning of the iron age. “this business is basically simple, ” said borgh. “it only gets complex as things take shape. ”
“don’t write your story about me, ” said carl borgh, proprietor of the foundry for the last seven years. “the foundation and success of this business is the employees. they’re the key. ”
in that way, the foundry operates similarly to a factory—one that’s growing. in september, bioworks opened up bioworks 2, an extension of its foundry right next door. the automated machines are set up to work in a more streamlined fashion, with the ability to generate nitrogen and hydrogen on - site, rather than getting it delivered, which cuts down on production costs. kelly makes another silicon valley analogy to explain where they are going with their foundry designs, comparing the space to the data centers run by google or facebook, where they have their own power plant, their own cooling system .
the significance of acquiring and eventually preserving this 19th century wonder will begin to show as soon as the doors are re - opened to visitors. in the mid - 1990s, while still operating as a working foundry and machine shop, multi - day industrial living history workshops were developed together with tours and educational programs for adults and children. the level of interest those programs generated was remarkable, bringing visitors from all over the world to witness in real time, operation of the last water - powered foundry and machine shop in the world. once preserved and re - opened, the knight foundry complex will join with the kennedy tailing wheels, kennedy mine, central eureka mine and miner’s bend parks to form a world - class industrial heritage corridor that tells the story of how local industry created and then contributed to the viability of mother lode communities such as sutter creek, jackson and others .
“we have been on a quality drive at the company for some time. that started approximately four years ago when we introduced a new one and half ton furnace in our heavy bay area of the foundry. ”
tours have been resumed as of july 1, 2000, on weekends, with tours available by appointment during the week. the foundry number is 209 267 0201. cast iron production will resume early this year, to be followed by workshops, an array of hands on education programs for young people and extended historic apprenticeship programs in traditional pattern making, machineshop, and foundry work in iron, brass and bronze and blacksmithing .
knights sales has recently commissioned a second foundry. equipment installed includes a 2 x 2 metre, 10 ton an hour shakeout as well as a 10 ton an hour reclamation plant and cooler classifier, manufactured and supplied by endeco
“at the same time that these installations were taking place we re - arranged the foundry to isolate the stainless steel melting and casting, added a 10 ton an hour continuous mixer that was manufactured by endeco omega, as well as a gassing unit manufactured by lauds foundry equipment that can accommodate boxes up to 1. 8 metres, and installed a 2. 4 x 2. 4 metre, two pallet top - hat heat treatment unit. ”
for many years, the foundry made its money from 1, 000 - pound weights for scales like those used for trucks. then came a big contract to pour all the ironwork and cast - iron filigree work for the restoration of the state capitol in sacramento, 50 miles to the east. this led to a similar project, the restoration of the historic placer county courthouse in nearby auburn. the foundry is at work on this project now .
“plus we have re - arranged the existing foundry to isolate the stainless steel melting and casting. so in essence we have two foundries operating in one, in this section. the common element between them is the fettling bay. ”
“we’re probably the smallest grey iron foundry in california, ” said borgh with the fast paced pride and concern he devotes to his business. “we pour 20 tons a month. most foundries pour more than that before their morning coffee breaks. ”
“the only downside was that we had to invest in a new 1 200 amp substation but the new foundry is housed under 1 600m² of roof and alongside we have 600m² under roof which has now become our dedicated fettling bay, ” continued vincent .
it’s clear talking to kelly that for ginkgo, the automation and the expanding infrastructure is really just a means to an end. the exciting aspect of the business is the design side; the foundry is just the support system that allows the designers to iterate .
then, in the mid - 1990s, the foundry' s melting furnace poured its last cast. since then, there have been failed attempts to restore it. the national trust for historic preservation even listed it as one of america' s eleven most endangered historic places .
“the 1 x 1 metre gassing station that has been supplied was manufactured by rc systems. the unit has been fitted with a pre heater to maximize the productivity. in fact throughout the new foundry and the existing one we have made sweeping changes to automate and maximize our productivity. ”
the box is then flipped over. the pattern that was at the bottom is now flush with the sand surface. the sand doesn’t spill away when overturned as it does at the beach. foundry sand is mixed with sea coal and betanite, a clay, which makes the grains stick together .
one kilometre of roller track “we have not had the roller tracks in the foundry manufactured new. these were purchased from an auction held for a foundry that closed recently. each roller has half - a - ton loading capacity and each unit, of which there are plenty, has a five ton load capacity. in total there is over one kilometre of these roller tracks and even after all our requirements in the new facility have been taken care of, we still have enough remaining to possibly start another two foundries. the track did not come with corner units but we are busy manufacturing those ourselves. ”
mr. borgh, who lived near los angeles, drove the 400 miles north to the foundry one weekend in 1970 and planned to return the next weekend to pick up the finished work. but when he returned he found only the owner' s widow and a'' for sale'' sign .
waupaca county sheriff brad hardel running for re - election to complete key initiatives such as providing the equipment and training officers need to do their work safely and efficiently. among these, the swat team now has a military surplus mrap that will soon have a battering ram designed, built and donated by waupaca foundry .
[ 17 ] major - gabryś, k. , dobosz, st. m. , drożyński, d. & jakubski j. (2015). the compositions: biodegradable material - typical resin, as moulding sands’ binders, archives of foundry engineering, vol. 15 (1). 35 - 40 .
founded in 2008 by kelly and four of his mit colleagues, ginkgo bioworks custom - designs living organisms for companies in the fragrance, flavor, and food industries. the foundry creates products like perfume, sweeteners, and cosmetic ingredients—all things that are typically extracted from plants—by genetically engineering common baker’s yeast to take on those properties .
in fact, if you draw a comparison between biodesign and web design—which kelly frequently does—his organism designers are like programmers, tweaking and manipulating code until it makes something beautiful. ginkgo’s foundries, meanwhile, are becoming more and more like factories, where automated tools give the bioengineering foundry the ability to scale like a software company .
twenty minutes to two hours later, depending on the size of the items to be cast, the molds are knocked apart with wooden mallets to disclose what has been created within. these days it is likely to be a specialized part for a barge dredging the yuba river for gold about 75 miles northwest of the foundry .
the article shows the influence of environment requirements on changes in different foundry moulding sands technologies such as cold box, self - hardening moulding sands and green sands. the aim of the article is to show the possibility of using the biodegradable materials as binders (or parts of binders’ compositions) for foundry moulding and core sands. the authors concentrated on the possibility of preparing new binders consisting of typical synthetic resins - commonly used in foundry practice - and biodegradable materials. according to own research it is presumed that using biodegradable materials as a part of new binders’ compositions may cause not only lower toxicity and better ability to reclaim, but may also accelerate the biodegradation rate of used binders. what’s more, using some kinds of biodegradable materials may improve flexibility of moulding sands with polymeric binder. the conducted research was introductory and took into account bending strength and thermal properties of furan moulding sands with biodegradable material (pcl). the research proved that new biodegradable additive did not decrease the tested properties .
the city recognized knight foundry for its historic significance many years ago in its general plan historic element. preservation of the site has long been a goal of the city, though despite the efforts of many, acquisition remained elusive and until recently the facility seemed destined for demise. in a recent breakthrough however, the owner of the complex agreed to a generous two - step plan calling for donation of the land followed by purchase of the historic contents. recognizing this as a “last, best” opportunity to preserve the complex in its original condition, for posterity, the city council voted unanimously for acquisition. when acquisition of the facility and purchase of the contents is complete, the city will begin the process of raising funds for stabilization and preservation, probably in cooperation with a non - profit custodian .
capacity the new foundry, which was only commissioned in july, is currently casting mainly high chrome but will cast other metals in future. it has increased the capacity by 60% , which will put the company in the 300 ton a month category. of this they are casting between 25 to 30 ton a month in stainless steel .
“at the heart of the new foundry is a one and half ton furnace which was supplied by local furnace manufacturer solid state induction furnaces. the furnace is equipped with a new generation cooling tower that allows us to run on a closed circuit cooling system, and it has a gauge incorporated to monitor the water temperature and give early warning for pipes overheating. ”
the foundry stayed in business until 1996 when borgh retired, after which it survived for a while as a museum, but there was not enough business to offset the high insurance costs of the equipment. borgh died in 1998 and his estate sold the company to richard and melissa lyman in 2000, a couple who was in the business of preserving old buildings .
at the heart of the new foundry is a one and half ton an hour furnace which was supplied by local furnace manufacturer solid state induction furnaces. the furnace is equipped with a new generation cooling tower that allows knights sales to run on a closed circuit cooling system, and it has a gauge incorporated to monitor the water temperature and keep it at a constant temperature
their purchase was simply to hold it until a non - profit organization founded by andy fahrenwald, a filmmaker who had come to create a documentary film about the foundry, had enough funds to purchase it. however, fahrenwald’s organization could never raise enough money. in 2007 the city of sutter creek agreed to buy it from the lymans, but could not come to an agreement on terms suitable to both parties, and negotiations ended in august 2010. now it sits abandoned. the foundry is registered as a california historical landmark. and is listed on the national register of historic places. it is also designated a mechanical engineering historic site by the american society of mechanical engineers (asme), and has been declared one of america’s most endangered places by the smithsonian institution .
in colonial new england, many youngsters less than 10 years old whose parents could not support them were indentured to masters who agreed to teach them a trade. this practice was legalized by the
poor laws .
the indenture mentioned below, for example, required a youthful apprentice in 1676 to serve more than 12 years to learn masonry. as apprentices then were usually bound to masters until they were 21 years old, apprentice nathan knight apparently began his service when he was about 8 1 / 2 years. these were the conditions of his servitude :
“like most foundries in south africa, we cannot deny it, the beginning of the year was one of the toughest starts to a year that we have ever experienced. fortunately business has subsequently turned around for us and, even with the increased staff compliment, we are currently still operating overtime shifts, ” said louis miller, one of six family members that run the 10 year old foundry that was established in 2006 .
waupaca foundry and farmers state bank each gave $ 3, 000 to the new waupaca middle school performance enhancement center (pec). the pec is a new space next to the middle school gym with improved workout equipment to help students be healthier. the waupaca school district is working with the waupaca middle school pec fundraising committee to upgrade the room with proper ventilation, lighting, ceiling fans, rubberized flooring, and mirrors to aid with exercise .
late one fall morning, i’m standing in the brightly lit foundry of the organism design company ginkgo bioworks, watching as a machine systematically injects dna sequences into baker’s yeast. with a uniformity that reminds me of a rockettes routine, eight slender black pipettes jet across the top of the machine, then fall into a single file line before they’re lowered into little black and gray boxes. when they emerge emptied, a robotic arm zips them away to refuel .
at a time when the foothills of california bustled with the men drawn by the lure of gold, copper, and other treasures, tools and machinery were needed to make the mining possible. stamp mills, hoist works, pumps, ore cars, dredger buckets, rock crushers, and many other types of equipment had to be manufactured. if the mines were to operate, a foundry was needed to cast the metal parts and a shop was needed to machine them to final form .
it starts when the men set a pair of wooden frames on the sooty, sand floor of the foundry, place the object to be poured inside one of them and then pack it with fine, damp sand. then they place the upper half of the frame on the lower half and continue packing the sand. when they separate the two frames and remove the object they are left with two boxes of firmly packed sand, each of which contains an impression of half of the object .
the task of creating a designer microbe that meets the needs of the foundry’s partner companies—a grape flavor, for example, or a peachy fragrance—fall to ginkgo’s “organism designers, ” synthetic biologists who tweak dna sequences to come up with new creations. the automated machines in ginkgo’s foundries do most of the physical work—like the dna - mixing process i was witnessing—which frees up the designers to do creative work and higher - level thinking. ginkgo also has proprietary software that makes genetic coding almost analogous to computer coding .
at the ginkgo headquarters, kelly leads me across the elevator bank to a space that had been gutted, the paint peeling, no lights yet, but it’s enormous—about the size of the two foundries on the other side of the floor combined. this was ginkgo’s space for bioworks 3, lying in wait for the next development phase. once ginkgo has grown its production to the point that it needs the space of the third foundry - –likely by 2018—the entire operation will total 80, 000 square feet .
kelly points to other companies that do similar work to ginkgo, such as transcriptic, a life science research lab that offers a web platform for users to enter in an experiment, or a reaction they want run. transcriptic’s biologists will run the reaction in its facility and send customers the results, offering a service to biotech startups similar to what amazon’s aws offers web developers. there’s also a foundry called zymergen, a company that biologists and biotech companies will hire to improve upon a strain they have already designed .
to be sure, acquisition of the foundry is a large commitment for a city the size of sutter creek. like any municipality, sutter creek must balance different interests – each representing a competing demand for energy and resources. streets need pavement, sewage must be treated, infrastructure needs maintenance, economic development must occur, historic resources require preservation; all are necessary, and all at the same time. each such obligation is a single thread in the overall fabric of balanced municipal governance, and without each thread in its proper place the fabric becomes weak and fails. in sutter creek for example, we’re actively working to develop a capital improvement program that prioritizes and advances our pavement management plan. but we do so in parallel with, and not to the exclusion of, other things including historic preservation. acquisition of the foundry will not change the way the city works toward other important goals such as the capital improvement program, but instead will strengthen the historic preservation thread that is so important to the fabric of our mother lode communities .
the foundry has partnered with the french perfume company robertet, for example, to customize a rose fragrance by extracting the genes of real roses, injecting them into yeast, and rebuilding the biosynthetic pathways to produce the exact fragrance that a rose produces—a more authentic alternative to other synthetic rose - scented fragrances. and ginkgo is carving out a sizable niche for itself in the consumer biotech space: to date, it has raised $ 154 million in venture capital and is working with 20 companies on over 40 products still forthcoming .
“in addition, we added a 1 x 1 metre gassing station that was manufactured and supplied by rc systems, a hanger type shotblasting machine that has a height of 6. 5 metres and can accommodate castings up to two metres in diameter that was installed in our fettling department, and one kilometer of roller track has been setup in the foundry to easily transport boxes and castings. each roller has half - a - ton loading capacity and each unit, of which there are plenty, has a five - ton load capacity. ”
saturday was a very hot day but our volunteers were hotter. they came prepared and they got of lot of much needed work done. the foundry back wall was way over due for some much needed maintenance. many timbers have been broken and pulled out of plum, the bases on some of them are rotten. our job this week was to remove the siding so the experienced timber framers could go in and do the repairs. we also tacked the pipe shop ramp and removed overgrown ivy off the back of the old blacksmith shop. great volunteers, wonderful to work with. thanks guys .
a modern equivalent of the early masterpiece, however, exists in the chicago areawide apprenticeship program in which apprentices are trained in patternmaking for the production of foundry castings. as part of the final examination, each apprentice is required to produce, without supervisions, a contract job ordered by a customer or a pattern - making shop. this job is judged by the area joint labor - management apprenticeship committee in charge of the program before the completion certificate is awarded. products made today by apprentices competing in national and area contests may also be likened to the final masterpiece of apprentices in early days. in several trades, such as bricklaying, electrical or sheetmetal work, painting, carpentry, plumbing, and pipefitting, cash prizes are awarded to apprentices who produce the best example of their craft. public demonstrations of apprentices' abilities are also made in convention exhibits and at county fairs .
this indenture witnesseth that i, nathan knight... have put myself apprentice to samuel whidden, of portsmouth, in the county of portsmouth, mason, and bound after the manner of an apprentice with him, to serve and abide the full space and term of twelve years and five months... during which time the said apprentice his said master faithfully shall serve... he shall not... contract matrimony within the said time. the goods of his said master, he shall not spend or lend. he shall not play cards, or dice, or any other unlawful game, whereby his said master may have damage in his own goods, or others, taverns, he shall not haunt, nor from his master' s business absent himself by day or by night, but in all things shall behave himself as a faithful apprentice ought to do. and the said master his said apprentice shall teach and instruct, or cause to be taught and instructed in the art and mystery as mason; finding unto his said apprentice during the said time meat, drink, washing, lodging, and apparel, fitting an apprentice, teaching him to read, and allowing him three months towards the latter end of his time to go to school to write, and also double apparel at end of said time...
knight foundry , also known as knight 's foundry and shops , is a cast iron foundry and machine shop in sutter creek , california . it was established in 1873 to supply heavy equipment and repair facilities to the gold mines and timber industry of the mother lode . samuel n. knight developed a high speed , cast iron impulse water turbine which was a forerunner of the pelton wheel design . knight wheels were used in some of the first hydroelectric plants in california , utah , and oregon . this site is the last water-powered foundry and machine shop in the united states . a 42-inch ( 107 cm ) knight wheel drives the main line shaft , with smaller water motors powering other machines . 
knight foundry, also known as knight's foundry and shops, is a cast iron foundry and machine shop in sutter creek, california. it was established in 1873 to supply heavy equipment and repair facilities to the gold mines and timber industry of the mother lode. samuel n. knight developed a high speed, cast iron impulse water turbine which was a forerunner of the pelton wheel design. knight wheels were used in some of the first hydroelectric plants in california, utah, and oregon. this site is the last water-powered foundry and machine shop in the united states. a 42-inch (107 cm) knight wheel drives the main line shaft, with smaller water motors powering other machines.
knight foundry, also known as knight's foundry and shops, is a cast iron foundry and machine shop in sutter creek, california. it was established in 1873 to supply heavy equipment and repair facilities to the gold mines and timber industry of the mother lode. samuel n. knight developed a high speed, cast iron impulse water turbine which was a forerunner of the pelton wheel design. knight wheels were used in some of the first hydroelectric plants in california, utah, and oregon. this site is the last water-powered foundry and machine shop in the united states. a 42-inch (107 cm) knight wheel drives the main line shaft, with smaller water motors powering other machines.