T&L Foundry, Inc. Glenpool, OK. Finds answer to their crucible quandary During the last couple years T&L Foundry, Inc. has struggled through a rash of crucible problems from in-house procedures as well as changes in the crucible industry. Bill Covington, Owner and President of T&L has been more than frustrated by these problems during which he has seen a reduction in crucible life by 35 to 40 percent. This frustration drove Bill to try to find a different solution. He states: "We were looking for a different approach when we found Brian Chalmers from Advanced Ceramics & Crucible and began talking with him about our crucible concerns. Brian suggested that we try a Nippon crucible and promised better crucible life and hopefully, lower melt rates as well." T&L first test was a Nippon 900 Bowl that showed crucible results mirroring life standards that T&L saw prior to the crucible industry changes. Bill was impressed by the Nippon performance but was also impressed with the additional support received from Advanced Ceramics & Crucible. "Not only did we see better crucible life, but Advanced Ceramics & Crucible evaluated our furnaces, made suggestions to regulate our gas usage, and helped T&L to achieve 20 to 25 percent faster melt rate." T&L felt the initial Nippon test was good enough to systematically replace older, non-Nippon crucibles with 600, 900 and 1000 Nippon bowls. During follow up visits, Brian made other recommendations that T&L feels will help achieve a much needed reduction in natural gas usage as well. Consolidated Foundries Here at consolidated Foundries Cudahy we have been using about 50-50 ********* and ********* 900 Crucibles with satisfactory results. Last January we installed a Nippon Crucible in one of our Green sand Pots. Approx .2 Months after that I inquired how this crucible was doing. The biggest thing they liked about this Crucible is how much better it cleans up. The other Crucibles we've used in the past have always flaked off some crucible material, but they tell me your Nippon does not do that. It's now approaching 6 months of service and I am told it is still cleaning up like when it ws 2 months old. After about 6 months it is still going strong. I am looking forward to purchasing another one and hopefully get the same results. Thank You Paul Lambrecht Maintenance Surpervisor Consolidated Foundries, Inc. Cudahy, Ca. Prime Pomona Dear Brian, I am writing to you today to let you know how much we appreciate your service and also your product. We couldn't be happier with personal service and dedication. It's nice to know that we have a vendor that we can rely upon in most any situation. We are also thrilled with your new product. As you are aware, we purchased both your gas fired 480 HP brass crucible, and your electric resistance 480 HP for aluminum crucibles. Although the final testing results are not in yet on the aluminum pots, we are approaching our normal expected life any day now, with no signs of degradation. We have amazing results on the gas fired brass crucibles. We have been experiencing active life of about twice as long as what we have had using our normal pots. This has resulted in an improvement in our up time, as well as the associated savings in crucible costs. We also have experienced a decrease in our melt time, although I don't have specific data to share with you. Overall we are extremely happy with our switch to your company and products and look forward to utilizing both in the future. Please feel free to share this letter with anyone that might be considering trying your product, and I also would offer to speak to any of your customers that might have specific questions. Keep up the good work!!! Sincerely, Rick Jones Executive V.P. Prime Pomona Management Group