Fundiciones Barreiro is a family firm founded in 1988 that specialises in casting with grey iron and aluminium. It makes new models and replicas of artistic metal fittings, street furniture and machine parts, as well as working in restoration projects.

The techniques used include the moulding… of objects in green sand or resin, or making original models for subsequent moulding and casting.

In making models the workshop uses both mechanical and manual carpentry tools (saws, lathes, sanders, chisels, etc.). Models are made of wood and resin by an artisanal process. Moulds are formed with a sand mix that is compressed with a pneumatic tamper over the model, previously placed in a supporting box. When the mould is ready, molten metal is conveyed in ladles from the furnace and poured in. Once the piece has cooled, the sand is removed and the object cleaned with a shot-blaster, and finally trimmed of burrs.

Fundiciones Barreiro has introduced some innovations, such as an enhancement of the sand compression process whereby they have replaced manual moulding with the use of a pneumatic tamper, as this is quicker and requires less effort. And where parts were once cleaned manually with wire brushes, they are now put into the shot-blaster, saving time and effort and achieving a better finish. As to casting, the process has been progressively upgraded: the fuel-oil crucible furnace was replaced by a cupola oven, and this by the current induction furnace. The benefits of this furnace are environmental, as no fossil fuels are used, as well as in the quality of iron, which is more closely controlled.