The foundry in the fifties

In 1953, the Americans started to apply a new procedure for casting model plates. Under this new method, model plates in aluminum were cast into plaster under pressure. The system proved to be highly valuable and soon Picañol was the first foundry on the European continent to apply the process at an industrial level. In early 1954 the foundry successfully tested ‘Shell molding’, a new treatment of molding in sand, enveloped by Bakelite. As the accuracy attained with synthetic sand proved insufficient for the requirements of the weaving machine parts and in view of the higher costs involved in the Bakelite method, the company decided to abandon the treatment after a while. During the course of 1954, the company introduced a silent molding machine. Jaimé Picañol had purchased a new molding line for the foundry in the United States although getting it to Belgium proved to be a huge challenge. Ivan Lambeets, Jaimé Picañol’s personal secretary, who was in charge of the transport, had to spend a total of four whole months in the United States to eventually get the machine shipped to Europe. The ‘Taccone’ was the first of its kind to be applied on the continent. Four years later, a cooling system was added to the outside of the melting furnaces, enabling casting in excess of 50 tons per working day of 18 hours, at an average of 3 tons per hour. Meanwhile, modernization of the foundry continued. A transport conveyor with changeable speed allowed for better cooling of the castings, bringing huge added value in the constant search for increased production. In late 1959, the Board of Directors decided to move the foundry – which already had a very ‘modern’ image – to the new industrial terrain between the Menensteenweg and the railroad Ieper-Roeselare. After all: the location was meant to be converted into an industrial complex of metal-processing companies.