Valve Casting Foundry in Lancaster, PA

Valve castings are critical components of pipeline delivery systems. In industrial systems, valves alter the passage section and direction of a given medium's flow into another area.

J. Walter Miller is an industry leading castings manufacturer that produces raw valve castings in Pennsylvania. We can pour valve castings in a wide range of copper-based alloys. We are also experts in casting lead-free valves. Our capabilities allow us to cast valves in any form. Sizes of valves produced can range anywhere from one cubic inch up to 18” long by 16” wide by 8” high. Weights can vary anywhere from 1 ounce to 60 lbs.

Importance of Valves to an Industrial System

Valves are important to industrial systems for multiple reasons. First, valves control the passage of a medium from one section of a system to another. They also control the direction of that medium's flow between sections. A valve's primary functions include cutoff, throttling, regulation, diversion, and overflow relief. All variations are produced at our foundry.

J. Walter Miller Company’s production process, equipment, experience, and expertise are optimal for casting valves and valve-related components.

Valve Casting Process

A green sand-molding method is used for our valve casting processes, and it typically includes these steps:

Production of a core used to create internal passages of the valve casting. This core is made of heat-activated resin-coated sand.
Mounting a pattern designed for the customer's specific applications onto an automatic molding machine.
Using the pattern, the machine makes the mold automatically, filling chambers above and below the pattern with sand, and squeezing the sand against the pattern to form the inner geometry of the mold.
Setting the core into the mold and closing the mold to be prepared for pouring.
Pouring the molten metal into the mold and forming the valves.
Giving the mold time to cool down and removing the castings from the sand.
Cutting the valves off of the gating system and finishing them to customer specifications.

Types of Valve Castings

At our foundry in Pennsylvania, we focus on the following types of valve body castings and casting components:

Check valves: Consist of two openings in the valve body; one for fluid to enter and the other for fluid to exit. These are used in a wide variety of applications.
Foot valves: A form of check valve, installed at the bottom of a pump suction line inside of a wet well.
Pressure relief valves: Safety valves used to control or limit the pressure in a fluid system.
Valve components – Such as poppets, strainers, and washers used to regulate and control fluid flow.
Ball valves: This valve controls the flow of liquids using a rotary ball.

Difference Between Valve Casting and Valve Forging

Valve forging and valve casting are the two primary casting methods of creating metal valves. The main difference between casting and forging is in the way the metals are shaped. While valve forging involves shaping the metal into the desired form while the metal is still solid, valve casting involves pouring liquid metal into a mold of the valve.

Valve Casting Materials

We use brass and bronze to cast valves.

Choose J. Walter Miller as Your Valve Casting Manufacturer in Lancaster

J. Walter Miller is Pennsylvania's number one source for valve casting and manufacturing. Bringing traditional work ethic together with modern casting technology, we meet our customers' needs with precision and timeliness. We are also an ISO 9000 certified foundry in Lancaster, so you can trust our attention to detail.

For over 130 years, our business has been providing companies like yours with valve casting solutions you can count on. Submit your contact information through our short online form, or give us a call at 717-392-7428.