Atlas Bronze Invites You to Celebrate National Manufacturing Day!

On October 2, New Jersey Manufacturing Extension Program, Inc. (NJMEP), a not-for-profit organization that works with New Jersey’s small to mid-sized businesses to help them improve their bottom-line while meeting and exceeding customer expectations, will host their own event for National Manufacturing Day. Manufacturing Day℠ is a celebration of modern manufacturing meant to inspire the next generation of manufacturers.

Manufacturing Day’s mission is to address common misperceptions about manufacturing by giving manufacturers an opportunity to open their doors and show, in a coordinated effort, what manufacturing is and what it isn’t. The event is designed to amplify the voice of individual manufacturers and coordinate a collective chorus of manufacturers with common concerns and challenges. Learn more about Manufacturing Day on their official website!

In an effort to collaborate with NJMEP to address the skilled labor shortage in the industry, Atlas Bronze has decided to sponsor the event at The Palace at Somerset Park! Being a manufacturing business in New Jersey, we’re so excited to participate in the event to connect with future generations, take charge of the public image of manufacturing and ensure the ongoing prosperity of the whole industry.

There will be plenty of inspiring and education segments throughout the day, including keynote addresses from Lt. Governor Kim Guadagno and Dennis Bone, Director of the Feliciano Center for Entrepreneurship at Montclair State.

An insightful panel on “Attracting the Next Generation to a Career in Manufacturing” will feature industry pros such as Jonathan Moore, Director of Talent Acquisition at L’Oréal; Stacy Saunders, Member of Talent Acquisition Team at Triangle Manufacturing Co; and Tarakshaya Bhati, Student of Rutgers University and Experience Manufacturing Participant. The President of the Summit Group, Gary Pezzuti, will moderate it. Check out the full agenda for the event has been listed here!


We’d love to see the community of manufacturers support the event. If you want to attend, here’s the link.

The Differences in Bronze: Statuary vs. Architectural vs. Commercial

Although usually composed of copper and tin, bronze encompasses many different copper alloys. Other elements, such as phosphorus, manganese, aluminum, or silicon, can be used as additives or replacements to the metal, creating various proportion and elemental compositions.

What’s known as "true" bronze is a combination of approximately 90% copper and 10% tin. However, the implementation of the other additives has created other types of the metal for different uses and purposes.

There are three major classes or types of "bronzes" used in sculpture and construction. They are: “statuary bronze,” “architectural bronze” and “commercial bronze.”

Statuary Bronze

Statuary Bronze, which is used predominantly in outdoor sculpture, is approximately 97 percent copper, two percent tin and one percent zinc. This composition is the closest to "true" bronze, as it only deviates from the composition by 1 percent.

Statuary bronze has limitless forms because it has incredible weldability and can be cast in any shape necessary. Most commonly, you can find statuary bronze in the forms of human figures, landscapes, battle scenes, animals, weapons and decorative elements such as plaques. The great civilizations of the old world worked in bronze for art, from the time of the introduction of the alloy for edged weapons. The Greeks were the first to scale the figures up to life size. Few examples exist in good condition; one is the seawater-preserved bronze now called "The Victorious Youth," The sculpture was found in the summer of 1964 in the sea off the coast of Italy, snagged in the nets of an Italian fishing trawler. It is believed to have been made between 300 and 100 BCE,

Which required painstaking efforts to bring the sculpture it to its present state for museum display. Far more Roman bronze statues have survived.

A more recent example is “The Little Mermaid” in Copenhagen, Denmark commissioned in 1909. Although it has been damaged and defaced over the years, the bronze has held up due to Bronzes’ strength and ductility.

Architectural Bronze

Architectural bronze, which is actually more of a "leaded brass," is generally composed of approximately 57 percent copper, 40 percent zinc and three percent lead. You can find architectural bronze in the frames and hardware of doors and windows, as well as standard household items like mailboxes, railings, chutes and furniture. A wide variety of copper alloys are available for use in construction. The variations in color stem primarily from differences in chemical composition.  In general, most copper alloys eventually weather to the gray-green patina. There are, however, significant variations in their natural colors and in the rate at which they form a patina.

A beautiful example of Bronze used in architectural design is depicted in the image to the right: 

Commercial Bronze

Commercial Bronze is composed of approximately 90 percent copper and 10 percent zinc. Commercial bronze is stronger than regular copper and has equivalent ductility. Not to mistake the title Commercial Bronze with C22000 “Commercial Bronze” – this group of Bronzes is commercially used in just about every industry.  These bronzes make up the Wearplates, Scews, castings, valves, and whole host of other applications.  The most common application for this group is “Bearings & Bushings”.  While it is easily machined, the bronze alloy is hard, strong and resistant to wear.

Below is an image of a Bronze Valve that is used for Commercial applications. Typical services include; hot and cold water, HVAC, steam, compressed air, gas and other general utility services.

How the Steel Industry is Directly Related to the Bronze Industry

I am relatively new to the metals industry.  Now 10 years in an industry might not seem “new”…until you factor some folks have been in the industry for 30+ years…I’m new!  That being said, since joining the metals industry, I have heard repeatedly – If you want to see where copper prices are going, follow the oil prices.  Which I of course have been doing! But over the past few years, I have found that following after global steel consumption and loss has been equally valuable! 

Steel is an alloy of iron and carbon containing less than 2% carbon and 1% manganese and small amounts of silicon, phosphorus, sulfur and oxygen. Steel is the world's most important engineering and construction material, according to the World Steel Association, a trade group that includes steelmakers from 65 nations.

Steel has played a monumental role in the daily function of society, contributing to the cars that we drive the houses in which we live, the buildings that we work in and the infrastructure of the cities and towns around us. Its ability to be easily welded, resistance to heat and corrosion, and suitable machinability have made steel incredibly valuable – until recently. 

Although the nation’s economy is gradually improving across many industries, the steel industry is still waiting to feel any sort of economic lift as imports push steel prices down and the oil and gas industry cut orders in response to low energy prices. For the first half of 2015 ending in June, steel production in the United States has declined 6.5%, compared with the same period last year.

This decline is not specific to the United States; rather, it is a global concern. According to a report by Industry Week at the end of July 2015, China’s raw steel production was 68.9 million metric tons, down 1.4% from the previous month and down 0.8% compared to June 2014. Japan, the world’s second-largest steelmaking nation, produced 8.6 million metric tons of raw steel during June 2015, 3.9% less than during May and 6.2% less than during June 2014. Germany, the largest steelmaker in the European Union, produced 3.8 million metric tons of raw steel during June, increasing its output by 1.6% from May and 5.8% compared to June 2014. Despite the improvements, Germany’s year-to-date steel output is down 1.49% compared to the same period of last year.

The decline in bronze consumption in the US, and possibly across the globe, is directly related to a decline in steel consumption. Copper production fell more than 1% and, even worse, tin fell as much as 4.9%. Bronze, an alloy that is most commonly made with these two metals, has thus felt the impact in this slowed production. 

In a Bloomberg article titled, “Gold Rout Spreads to Copper, Tin and Zinc,” Daniel Brieseman, an analyst at a bank in Germany, stated, “Commodities are not in vogue. The weakness of the precious metals is spilling over to the base metals.” So as each of us watch oil & gas prices to gauge future Bronze usage…truly we should be watching oil & gas and steel. 

Ring the Bronze Bell: Why Using Bronze Will Provide Longer Product Lifetimes

While visiting Philadelphia the other week, I was walking along Independence Mall, where the Liberty Bell is located. I was astonished by the long, winding line of pedestrians eagerly awaiting their chance to view the historic monument with its famous cracked structure.

For centuries, bell makers relied on two main ingredients to ensure longevity and reliability: tin and copper. Both are relatively soft metals that will deform on striking. By alloying the two elements a harder and more rigid metal is created but also one with more elasticity than the use of one of the metals alone.  This allows for a better bell resonance and causes the bell to "vibrate like a spring when struck," (a necessary quality as the clapper may strike the bell at speeds of up to 600 miles per hour). The forces holding the tin and copper together cause vibrations rather than cracks when the bell is struck which creates a resonant tone. This metal combination also results in a tough, longwearing material that is resistant to oxidation and subject only to an initial surface weathering. Verdigris forms a protective patina on the surface of the bell, which coats it against further oxidation

The Liberty Bell weighed 2,080 lbs. at order. Over 200 years since its first ring from the tower of Independence Hall, the Liberty Bell not only symbolizes our country’s freedom, but it also shows how strong of a casting alloy that bronze is and how other products can have a similar lifespan. Now, I know you’re thinking, “Well what about the crack?” 

For me, if it had been made with a better combination of copper and tin, it would have remained in tact. You see even the hardest and strongest bronze contains large amounts of tin and little lead though an alloy with more than 25 per cent tin you will have a low melting point and the material will become brittle and susceptible to cracking. 

To put things in perspective, bronze highlighted much of the Ancient Egyptian lifestyle, from which artifacts still exist today. The Egyptians used it for weapons, armor, tools and, most famously, sculptures – all of which can be found in museums today, still in impeccable condition. So it truly boils down to how it’s cast and the chemistry and cooling!

Bronze can provide products a longer lifetime because it is harder than pure iron and copper. As well, it is also more resistant to corrosion and more malleable than other alloys.

Cast and sintered bronzes perform an important anti-friction function as bearings in millions of home products, automobiles and trucks, and in virtually all heavy industrial equipment, allowing for protection and thus, longer lifespans.

This topic trails back to a previous blog post I wrote, titled “A Sacrificial Metal: Why Bronze is So Selfless.” Although it discusses how bronze can be used to protect other metals, it also detail how strong and durable it is as an alloy.

“Bronze’s (Possible) Role in Saving the World in Armageddon”

In July 1998, the world as we know it almost came to an end. Well, in the summer blockbuster Armageddon that is. The science-fiction disaster film, starring Bruce Willis, Billy Bob Thornton, Ben Affleck and Liv Tyler, was an international box-office success as well as the highest-grossing movie of 1998.

The film, tells the story of renowned deep-core oil driller Harry Stamper (Willis), whom NASA recruits to take on a dangerous space mission to stop an asteroid from colliding with Earth and wiping out humanity. Stamper, along with his crew, take off into space in the military shuttles, aptly named Freedom and Independence, to enact NASA’s plan, which includes drilling into the surface of the asteroid and detonating a nuclear bomb to split the asteroid in two.

If you’re familiar with the film, you’ll remember that the world was going to be saved by special drill designed by the lead character.  The drill would be affixed to the space vehicles, referred to as “Armadillos”. Featured below is the Armadillo, a mobile vehicle with the Special World Saving attached to the top.

So here is the question….would Bronze have played a part in saving the world? Would Harry Stamper have needed to call Atlas Bronze for Bronze parts to help run this drill? Theoretically, YES! 

Below, you can see the probable real-life equivalent of a Mobile Drill.  Sure it’s not futuristic shiny metallic or doesn’t have really cool looking drill heads but here on earth it gets the job done!

(Photo courtesy of Atlas Copco, www.atlascopco.com)

This Mobile Drill would indeed have required several bronze parts to operate the machine effectively.  As you can see in the below picture there are bronze parts that Atlas Bronze could have worked day & night to provide the brave crews of Freedom & Independence. Atlas Bronze could have provided bronze Finished Machine Bushings to fit a variety of anticipated material needs for the World saving mission; such as:

1. Superior Wear Resistance - This would have been very helpful up on the asteroid as Harry’s rogue team member eventually blows out the transmission on the first go around in drilling on asteroid
2. Resilience to Low Temperatures - In fact, copper alloys become stronger and more ductile as the temperature goes down, retaining excellent impact resistance to 20 K (-253 C or -424 F).  According to Google the average temperature of an asteroid is -100 degrees Fahrenheit
3. Magnetic Resistance - This should cover the Magnetic field issue that the crew encountered when landing on the asteroid. 

So at the end of the day…Atlas Bronze surely could have helped save the day, even as the world is potentially ending. #BronzeIsEverywhere