SHELL ROCK, IOWA - Hobson Bros. Aluminum Foundry and Mold Works Inc. is fully rebuilt and operational after a fire in February destroyed a section of its Shell Rock plant. Shop size - expanded to 55,000 square feet - has a separate area for blow mold sampling in new 40-pound Sterling, 8-pound Cincinnati Milacron and Placo XY machines.
A new aluminum foundry has the capability to pour a 4,000-pound aluminum casting.
New equipment includes a Thermtronix 2,000-pound furnace and Palmer No-Bake system. This, along with the rotary degasser, allows Hobson Bros. to produce molds low in porosity, inclusions and contamination.
The rebuilt plant comes in time for the company's annual seminar, scheduled Oct. 26. Topics include blow molding processing, by Sam Belcher of Sabel Plastechs Inc.; processing high molecular weight high density polyethylene in accumulator blow molding, by Bob Fitch of Paxon Polymer Co.; and blow mold designs, by Andy Hobson of Hobson Bros.
Clare Goldsberry, columnist and correspondent for Plastics News, will be the keynote speaker with the theme, ``Blow Molding: It's More Than Just a Lot of Hot Air.''
The seminar will be at Wartburg College in Waverly, Iowa. Cost for the seminar is $25. For details, call Susan Marsh at 319-885-6521.