Red Mold Casting Process History

Foshan is one of China's four famous towns in history, and the five major industries of foundry, ceramics, textiles, pharmaceuticals, arts and crafts have flourished in the South. In history, the foundry industry has been the pillar of Foshan. In the Ming and Qing Dynasties, "Foshan's smelting all over the world" and "one industry is successful and one industry is flourishing. “Foshan was known as the "iron capital of southern China". Red mold casting is a traditional casting process in Foshan. For centuries, Foshan's iron pot has been famous at home and abroad for this traditional skill. In the 19th century, the British industrial circles regarded the red mold casting iron pot as an industrial miracle, and the red mold casting process map collected by the British Museum was used as an important historical research material.

 Foshan Nimogang Foundry Site, Foshan's Historical Origins

 Red mold casting is also called thin-shell mud mold casting, commonly known as "red mold", because its mold system is mainly red mountain mud, the color is orange, and it is formed after burning in the furnace. Strictly speaking, red mold casting is only a type of mud mold casting. It is a precision casting method with one mold and one casting.  The smallest casting is only 7 grams and the surface gloss is high. According to the "Guangdong Xinyu" recorded in the early Qing Dynasty, "Therefore, the woks of Foshan are expensive and firm. The Shiwan is cheap and brittle. They can be distinguished by the river and Chu. With its thinness and smoothness, it is refined and Refined, mature and mature in workmanship. "Red mold casting process has more than 500 years of history, which is unique and extremely precious in Foshan.

Mix mud

Until the 1960s, red mold casting was still popular among the people in Guangdong . In the early nineties of last century, the domestic foundry enterprises began to introduce modern foreign casting production lines, with higher production efficiency and sand recycling and other features, which gradually replaced the traditional process of red mold casting, and red mold casting stopped.

Pang Yaoyong's father, Pang Fu, studied casting with his master in the late 1960s, and red mold casting is still the main learning casting technique. Changing times, technological progress, and factory transformation, red mold casting has gradually become the memory of the old generation of craftsmen. In recent years, Pang Yaoyong has exchanged and studied abroad many times. He has conducted in-depth research on casting technology in developed countries such as Europe, America, and Japan, and found many exquisite and classic casting products. The prototype of the process is red mold casting in Foshan, Guangdong. Forge this traditional skill. Four generations of inheritance, 52 years of intensive persistence, with the efforts of the inheritor Pang Yaoyong and his father, in October 2017, the red mold casting process was finally identified as an intangible cultural heritage.

Making Upper and lower mold by Pang Fu and Pang Yaoyong

 Inheritance

Lineage Pedigree: Master Liang Taihe → Pang Fu → Pang Yaoyong

In the early 1960s, Pang Fu entered the foundry industry in Foshan. And took Liang Taihe as his teacher

In 1965 Master Liang Taihe imparted red mold casting technology to Pang Fu

Pang Yaoyong entered the foundry in 1988 and his father Pang Fu began to learn casting

 In 1994, Pang Fu officially passed the red mold casting process to his son Pang Yaoyong.

 In 2017 Pang Yaoyong began to restore the traditional red mold casting process

（第一炉成功红模铸造工艺的铸铁锅）The first cast iron pot with successful red mold casting process

Red Mold Casting Process

1) Select iron materials: select high-quality gray iron.

2) Mold mud processing: Selecting mud, drying mud, mashing mud, sieve mud, mixing mud, stepping on mud.

Stir the sieved mud and bran in a certain proportion. When the clay mold burns red, the bran will be carbonized, which increases the permeability of the clay mold and improves the yield.

3) Manufacture of upper and lower mold blanks: Mud molds are divided into upper molds and lower molds. Special molds are used to make mold blanks. The mold blank manufacturing process is mud mold modeling, drying molds, scraping molds, baking molds, mold repairs, and drying. Put the dried mud mold into the oven and dry it at a low temperature of 50-70 degrees for about 6-8 hours.

4) Mold blank coloring: The upper and lower molds that have been dried are cooled and then refurbished. At the same time, a layer of dark mud containing specific minerals should be brushed to make the surface of the cast iron pan smooth.

5) Probe mold and closing mold: According to the positioning line of the edge of the mold blank, with the upper and lower molds are joined together and the space is uniform. At the same time, the joint is smeared to ensure that the mold meets the requirements of casting.

6) Falling mold and burning red mold: Put the clay mold into the furnace, cover the furnace lid, and then heat the clay mold. The clay mold will turn red after being burned by charcoal.

7) Out of red mold: Burn the mold blank until it turns red, and removes the mold with the fire off.

8) Dropping molten iron: Inject molten iron into the mold through the injection port.

9) Mold removal: crush the cooled red mold and remove the iron pan.

10) Burner ears and sanded. The traditional technique of burning pot ears and polishing the cast iron pot makes the pot body more perfect.