Goldens' Foundry
| Company type | Private |
|---|---|
| Industry | Foundry, Manufacturing |
| Founded | 1882 |
| Founder | Theodore Earnest "Theo" Golden, John Poitevent "Porter" Golden |
| Headquarters | Columbus, Georgia , United States |
Area served | United States |
Key people | George Golden Boyd, Sr. (CEO), George Golden Boyd, Jr. (Vice President of Sales) |
| Products | Ductile and gray iron castings, machining services |
Number of employees | 300+ |
| Parent | None |
Goldens' Foundry and Machine Co. is a privately owned foundry specializing in ductile and gray iron, based in Columbus, Georgia, with an additional location in Cordele, Georgia. Established in 1882, the company has continuously operated to serve sectors such as agriculture, construction, power transmission, defense, and heavy vehicle manufacturing.
Operations
The company was originally established as Goldens' Brothers in 1882 by Theodore Earnest "Theo" Golden and John Poitevent "Porter" Golden. It formally incorporated in 1889 with financial support from Abraham Illges, adopting the name Goldens' Foundry and Machine Company.
Remaining under family ownership, the enterprise is currently managed by CEO George Golden Boyd, Sr., alongside Vice President of Sales George Golden Boyd, Jr.
The foundry has grown into a 150,000-square-foot operation that combines core making, molding, cleaning, machining, and finishing processes within a single facility—providing customers with a comprehensive casting solution.
Goldens' employs more than 200 personnel at its Columbus site and approximately 100 employees at the Cordele location.
Quality Assurance
The company ensures high standards through ISO 9001-2015 certification accredited by Lloyd’s Register. It also incorporates lean manufacturing methodologies and applies 5S workplace organization principles throughout its departments.
Columbus casting facilities
At the Columbus location, operations include four Brown-Boveri coreless induction furnaces equipped with preheating capabilities up to 1200°F (650°C). The core shop utilizes isocure, shell molding, and no-bake (air set) techniques. Steel and premium scrap materials are procured from various suppliers.
Large casting facility
The Large Casting Facility at Goldens’ features a Heinrich Wagner Sinto automated molding machine (48x48 18/18), designed for efficient production of sizable ductile and gray iron castings. This high-pressure molding equipment employs the Seiatsu blow squeeze method to accommodate both low-volume runs and large-scale manufacturing.
Its tight-flask system is engineered to produce castings close to final shape, thereby reducing machining requirements and subsequent processing steps.
Centrifugal castings
Goldens' utilizes a specialized centrifugal casting technique to manufacture iron liners for steel drums. In this process, molten iron is poured into a hollow cylindrical mold rotating at high speed, generating centrifugal forces between 40 to 70 Gs. This force evenly distributes the metal, promotes directional solidification, and enhances casting integrity by concentrating impurities toward the interior.
Introduced in the late 1990s, this centrifugal casting capability complements Goldens’ traditional green sand mold methods and serves particular product needs distinct from foundries dedicated solely to centrifugal casting such as those producing steel pipes.
No bake molding
In 2000, Goldens' incorporated a no-bake sand molding line to accommodate larger castings beyond the capacity of the Sinto cope and drag machine. This manual process primarily supports the company’s power transmission product line by producing components such as sheaves, pulleys, and sprockets.
Cordele casting facilities
The Cordele plant, inaugurated in 2007, marks the company’s most significant expansion in over a century. This facility houses a Savelli cope and drag molding line (28x36’ 12/12) equipped with an automatic core setter tailored for small to medium-sized ductile and gray iron castings.
Although not as rapid as certain vertical molding systems, the Savelli line produces roughly 120 molds per hour—more than doubling Goldens’ overall casting output. The site also contains cleaning, finishing, and machining departments.
Formerly occupied by Georgia Ductile and Wescast - Cordele—both automotive parts foundries—the plant benefits from an established industrial infrastructure.
Machining operations
Goldens' machining centers deliver a broad array of services such as turning, milling, drilling, along with limited threading, painting, tapping, and sub-assembly tasks.
The Columbus plant, operational since the late 19th century, is more expansive and features a greater variety of machines compared to Cordele’s horizontal milling and drilling equipment.
At the Columbus location, horizontal milling and drilling machines are equipped with table sizes ranging from 400mm² to 630mm²; vertical machines offer capacities between 20" x 39.5" and 22" x 44".
Industries served
Goldens caters to a wide range of industries including construction machinery, pumps and compressors, petroleum, mechanical power transmission, highway and off-highway trucks, agricultural machinery, and medical/surgical devices. The company utilizes both gray iron and ductile iron manufacturing processes.