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Starting the Process
It all starts with you, the customer. L A Aluminum Engineering can take your idea, drawing, print or sample and present it to our department heads: Quality, Manufacturing, Machine Shop, and Tool Making. They will develop a strategy to manufacture a permanent mold for your specific casting situation, ensuring that the job will be successful. In some cases we are able to recommend design modifications that will increase productivity, enhance the functionality of a part, or reduce mass and other changes that will reduce the cost to the customer.
Once the strategy is decided upon regarding how we can provide the component to meet customer specifications, we go to our design and mold making process. This is where our Tool Maker creates the 3D drawing using SolidWorks modeling software on the computer.
 Mold Making
Our Tool Maker writes a program in SURFCAM (3D CNC program) and sends it to one of the FADAL CNC machining centers at LA Aluminum. From there, the actual cutting of the cast iron mold takes place. Cast iron is used because of the stability of the alloy and excellent tool life, which saves the customer time and money. This is also the phase of the process where any shell cores or steel cores are made. Shell cores are made from fine sand and are only used once, then destroyed.
After many hours during the making of the tool we are ready to actually construct the first casting for a first article customer evaluation. This is where any final changes are made to the design and all dimensional and cosmetic items are corrected. After approval is given, we move on to the casting process. Our fully automated machine shop is equipped with CNC mills and lathes. We can do simple drilling and tapping to complex 4th & 5th axis work.
Once the mold has been prepared with the mold coat (used to help release the casting and reduce wear to the mold), a casting is made. There may be inserts in the casting, a shell core or solid steel core.
Only the Best Aluminum
Now we are ready to melt some aluminum alloy. Each ingot is certified as to its purity. Only primary aluminum is used at L A Aluminum. The ingot is brought in from storage and preheated to remove any potential moisture.
 The ingot is placed in the gas fired crucible (the silicon carbide crucibles are where the aluminum alloy is melted) which is heated to approximately 1300 degrees F. L A Aluminum has five crucible melting / holding furnaces with a total melting capacity of 5,600 pounds per hour. Temperature control is important in all aspects of the pouring process. The use of thermocouples and laser temperature sensors are utilized to insure optimum temperature control.
The aluminum is ladled into the mold and allowed to freeze or solidify over a predetermined time period. Once this is completed we remove the casting from the mold and place it on a pallet for its journey through the rest of the process.
Removal of risers, gates and inlets are performed on the saw. Then the part travels to the heat treating and aging process. Parts are carefully loaded into wire baskets and placed on a table to be heat treated. The amount of time in the heat treat and the temperature are critical factors since the temper of the alloy is determined in this process.
 Machine Shop
CNC MACHINING - MAZAK lathes and FADAL machining centers are used to provide additional services to the customer. Once the parts come from the finishing department and heat treating, it goes to the machine shop. Our machine shop is run by capable machinists and operators who program the CNC machines to operate the required customer specifications to the part.
We specialize in aluminum, brass or free machining steel up to 8” round by 14” long for our Mazak CNC Lathes. Tolerances possible: (under 1”=+/- .0005), (1” to 2.5”=+/-.001), (over 2.5”=+/-.002). Our Computer Numeric Control turning centers can perform a wide variety of operations: turning, facing, grooving, drilling, boring, tapping chamfering, countersinking, profiling, knurling, reaming, tapering, threading, counter bores and radius.
 L A Aluminum’s Fadal Vertical Machining CNC centers (Made in the USA) have a 30 Tool Automatic Tool Changer. These centers offer spindles with the torque for milling steel and high speeds for cutting aluminum. We mill aluminum or brass up to 18” by 36” with tolerances of boring = +/- .001 and millwork = +/- .003.
From simple turning operations on the lathes to complex machining tasks on the 4th and 5th axis FADAL machining centers and horizontal machine, L A Aluminum provides its customers a turnkey project solution to fit most modern requirements. These combined capabilities allow us to take responsibility on projects from start to finish.
Final Detailing, Plating & Powdercoating
Finish work which includes deburring, sanding, grinding, plating and powder coating provide additional job cost savings. Reducing the amount of work required in the customer's shop means that cost is reduced by lessening or eliminating the need for extra handling of the part. Light assembly such as stamping part numbers, attaching labels, bagging and packaging to customer specifications are all available at L A Aluminum Casting Company. Complete assembly is offered as an additional service to improve the customer's profit margin. One stop, one shop, and your product will be shipped to the location of your choice.
Go or No Go
 During many of the procedures and upon completion of all the machining operations L A Aluminum performs quality checks to ensure the manufactured part meets the exact customer specifications. These tasks vary from performing S.P.C. (Statistical Process Control) on machined castings, to using "go/no-go gauges" (to determine if threads are correct) to pressure testing using a testing apparatus. Additionally, we verify our heat treat process by testing the hardness using the mil spec MIL-H-6088F.
Our quality program is always improving as we change to meet our customer's requirements. Seminars, in-house training, along with the certification of all testing apparatus(s) guarantees we are on the leading edge of the latest technology.
The Quality Assurance Program at L A Aluminum is designed to meet a wide variety of industries, including commercial, military, automotive, industrial, and farming. Our primary goal is to meet or exceed customer requirements. Specific casting control measures include: Heat Treat Certification, Hardness Testing, First Article Inspection and Pressure Testing. All equipment and tools are certified at regular intervals to MIL-STD 45662.
Finished and Ready to Ship!
 After all quality and order requirements are met, the final inspection is performed in the shipping department. Every piece is inspected by our shipping team. They are the final approval station in the process. Once the shipping team is satisfied, the parts are carefully packed and shipped according to the order instructions.
This concludes your tour of L A Aluminum Casting Company. Thank you for joining us.
Please take a moment to fill out our "Send me more information" form and let us know your comments and/or questions.
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