Wall Colmonoy to open advanced vacuum casting furnace
Above: Vacuum Precision Investment Caster being installed at Wall Colmonoy’s Pontardawe, Wales site.
Courtesy Wall Colmonoy
On the factory floor of Wall Colmonoy’s South Wales facility, engineers are making final preparations for what will soon become one of, if not the most advanced commercially available equiaxed vacuum casting furnaces in the UK. Behind this lies a transformative vision for UK defence as for the first time, the capability to cast high-performance components will be accessible to defence manufacturers across the sector.
Filling a Defence Manufacturing Gap
Founded in 1938, with its UK operations established in 1969, Wall Colmonoy has built its reputation on metallurgical innovation. The company, employing approximately 200 people in the UK, has been a backbone of the local Welsh economy for many decades.
Whilst the company has traditionally focused on commercial high-temperature and wear-resistant materials, its recent move into defence aerospace manufacturing marks a significant opportunity to strengthen its role in a critical and fast-evolving sector. The Defence and Security Accelerator (DASA) recognised this, supporting Wall Colmonoy through the Defence Technology Exploitation Programme (DTEP) in 2024.
Dr Chris Weirman, Director of Technology, Wall Colmonoy, said: “Defence is going to be a core foundation of what we do moving forward.
“There are numerous defence opportunities, and having DTEP funding through DASA has been instrumental in accelerating our capabilities.”
Breaking New Ground with Vacuum Investment Casting
Wall Colmonoy has reached a major milestone in its DTEP project with the installation of an advanced vacuum casting furnace, set to transform the production of high-performance aircraft components and bolster UK defence capabilities.
At the heart of this innovation is a state-of-the-art vacuum casting furnace designed to operate in a high vacuum, oxygen-free environment. Unlike traditional foundries that melt metal in open air, Wall Colmonoy’s vacuum technology enables the creation and protection of aerospace-grade alloys under highly controlled conditions, ensuring superior material integrity, cleanliness and performance.
This new facility marks a significant shift in accessibility to advanced casting technology. Traditionally confined to large civil and defence aerospace corporations, Wall Colmonoy’s furnace will be commercially available to a wide range of UK defence and industrial manufacturers. This opens the door for faster, more efficient production of high-quality components without the delays often caused by competing priorities in commercial aviation foundries.
Dr Weirman said: “We are building a furnace capable of casting parts up to 200 kilograms,” states Weirman. “This will likely be the largest and most advanced commercially available casting furnace in the UK—possibly in Europe.”
The new foundry is expected to play a pivotal role in strengthening the UK’s defence manufacturing infrastructure, accelerating innovation and supporting national security objectives.
Digitalisation driving innovation
Wall Colmonoy brings additional innovation through their ’digital twin’ approach to casting technology. By creating detailed simulations of metal temperatures, pouring rates and shell designs, the team can virtually test castings before any physical production.
Dr Weirman said: “We can create a digital twin of the part and process it through the digital foundry. This tells us that we’re on track for first time-right manufacturing when we cast the physical part.”
This digital approach, strengthened by the DTEP funding, not only reduces waste and cost but significantly accelerates development timelines for critical defence components.
Michael Shreeve, Business Unit Manager, Wall Colmonoy, said: “Wall Colmonoy is always seeking opportunities to apply digital technologies and automation to what is a traditional manufacturing environment.
“Curating our own agile environment for development and growth in a diverse range of sectors. It is vital we continue to apply technologies every day to compete on a globalised scale.”
Accelerating innovation through partnership
Through DTEP, Wall Colmonoy has also formed a strategic partnership with Rolls-Royce and will dedicate approximately one-third of the foundry’s capacity to Rolls-Royce aerospace applications.
Dr Weirman said: “By providing them priority access to our capabilities, we’re accelerating their development cycle for component design by a significant margin.
“Our business is built on long-term strategic partnerships where customers choose Wall Colmonoy as supplier not because they have to, but rather want to” says Shreeve. “The development pipeline is growing fast with multiple major aerospace primes in addition to other high-integrity sectors such as Nuclear, Renewables and Medical. I believe this is due to our approach to customer relationships that links back to our core values as a business.”
Innovative recycling of legacy materials
Another key aspect of the project is reducing waste. Wall Colmonoy identified that numerous legacy aerospace components that are no longer suitable or required for flight, can be recycled for valuable aerospace-grade alloys.
“These high-quality materials are difficult to source,” explained Weirman. “By recycling these legacy parts and reforming them into components for modern platforms, or reformulating into modern alloys, we’re not only addressing supply chain challenges but also delivering significant cost and sustainability benefits.”
This aspect of the project resonates with broader defence objectives around resource efficiency and supply chain resilience.
DASA’s flexible approach to funding innovation has also proven important for the company. When the opportunity arose for Wall Colmonoy to purchase a system capable of casting components up to 200 kg – more than double their original DTEP project target – the company was able to adjust, thanks to DASA’s adaptive funding framework.
“The larger system required more extensive site modifications,” noted Dr Weirman. “While this extended our installation timeline from six to nine months, it significantly enhances our long-term capabilities.”
Michael Shreeve said: “This project is just one of our advancements. Within the last 12 months we have also ramped up our Additive Manufacturing capabilities, producing a wide range of Additive Powders to serve the full supply chain, embracing the threats of modern manufacturing techniques rather than ignoring them.
“Diversity and positive attitude towards change within our business is our core value proposition, offering turnkey solutions utilising a wide range of technologies and manufacturing processes.”
The foundry is scheduled for completion in August 2025 and the first castings are planned for early September.
“It will be full steam ahead,” Weirman emphasised. “The development pipeline for the foundry is strong and we anticipate it becoming one of the busiest parts of our plant.”
Through DASA’s DTEP funding, Wall Colmonoy will strengthen the UK’s defence industrial base and ensure that when the next generation of defence platforms take to the skies, they’ll be powered by parts developed at pace, in the UK.
Dr Weirman said: “Since being introduced to the potential of DASA funding via strong support from Neath Port Talbot County Borough Council, Business Development Manager, Adil Pirmohamed, Wall Colmonoy has only had a positive experience through the full journey. We have continued the interaction and hope to have more defence supporting projects in the coming years. We are already working on a submission for Innovation in the Defence sector for completion in 2026.”
