Castings For Many Purposes

Press, Volume CVI, Issue 31131, 6 August 1966, Page 12

Castings For Many Purposes

(Specially written for "The Prese" by

A. J. PETRE)

DUMPS of all types and castings for A many purposes are the specialties of the long-established Christchurch firm of W. H. Price and Son, Ltd. Not only are the firm’s products well-known throughout New Zealand, but they are also being exported to Australia, Fiji, Malaysia, Thailand, Hong Kong and the Philippines. One of the firm’s pumps is in use in the Andes; another is pumping fuel in the Antarctic.

William H. Price landed in New Zealand with his 15-year-old son in 1879, and started a pump-making, brass-founding and machining business in Carlyle street, Sydenham, at the rear of his housed In England, Mr Price had been associated with the manufacture of marine pumps and with brass founding.

In 1906 the firm moved to its present premises in Manchester street, and in 1915 was Incorporated as a private limited company. Early products included hand Are pumps, windmill pumps, and barrow and bucket hand spray pumps. At the same time the firm also specialised in non-ferrous founding. This and pump manufacturing have always been the activities for which the firm has been well-known, but other activities include gear cutting and the making of machined components for various applications. A typical example of this, until recently, was the manufacture of milking machine parts, and a current example is the manufacture of sausage4illlng machines for a butchers’ supply firm. Exports Pumps were, for many years, about 25 per cent of the firm’s business, but today they comprise more than 60 per cent, and are sold through distributors in all parts

of New Zealand. They have also comprised the main item exported to other countries. The business is full of challenge and change, for developments in such fields as agricultural chemicals can cause changes in what is expected of pumps in such aspects as corrosion and abrasion resistance, and pressure and volume of output Rotary Pumps W. H. Price and Son Ltd., produces castings in aluminium and copper-base alloys to British Standard Specifications, both for the firm’s own pump production and for other purposes and customers. The latter includes the manufacture of aluminium castings for industrial fans, and hydraulic pumps for pressures up to 20001 b a sq. in. Bronze castings have also been produced for the Ministry of

Works for Electricity Department use.

The non-ferrous foundry fits in well with the machine shop in making pumps in which non-ferrous castings predominate, for instance geared rotary pumps and centrifugal pumps in which iron is unsuitable. Where iron castings are used, Gillies Foundry and Engineering Company, Ltd., of Oamaru, is the main source of supply. The firm has made geared rotary pumps since the early 1920’5, mainly as engine water circulating pumps in marine work and similar applications. However, since 1945 these pumps have been widely used in the pumping of hormones in the agricultural chemical industry, and the range has been greatly extended to meet the needs of this industry. The Ann employs about 60 persons, and the factory and foundry are situated behind the offices in Manchester street The factory is filled with many large lathes and similar machines, and a test-

room contains test rigs for all types of pumps: all are tested before leaving the factory. Founding still constitutes a large part of the firm’s work, and at present, for instance, the company is producing about seven tons of bronze castings for the Ministry of Works. About 9001 b of metal is cast at a time, each finished casting weighing about 5001 b after machining. Tyre Moulds In the factory the visitor can see many different castings and pump parts being machined, from pump crankshafts to pump bodies, both of which must be made to extremely close tolerances. Considerable other machining is also done: for instance moulds for a tyre-manufactur-ing company were recently being machined, having already been cast from aluminium in the foundry.

Metal supplies, in Ingot form, come from an Auckland metal refinery, which uses a percentage of scrap. All the

metals are to certified British standards. Not all castings are machined, for the firm sends many unfinished castings away from Christchurch to other firms. This includes castings for high-pressure spray equipment which must be free of porosity, and these and other castings are checked for quality by X-ray testing. Development Aluminium castings are sent to an Invercargill firm for the manufacture of inboard-out-board drives for boats, and recently the company made two large pump impellers for the Manapouri scheme. In the foundry can be seen the huge oil-fired furnaces, and it is here also that the sand moulds for the different castings are made. A pump housing, for instance, may require both a sand mould (to shape the exterior surfaces) and a sand “core,” which forms the interior surfaces.

Where pumps are concerned the company designs, tests and develops its own products, and development Is continually going on.

The picture shows the sand "cores” for a pumpbody casting placed in the sand mould which will shape the exterior of the casting. The metal mould-maker around which the sand mould has been formed under pressure can be seen above the machine nameplate. Some of the sand used comes from Dunedin, some from Mount Somers.

Canterbury Industry