On January 1, 1946 Robinson Foundry and Builders Supply Company began operation with eleven employees including the president and owner, Joseph H. Robinson, Sr. Mr. Joe was a well established and respected businessman who located his new foundry on a site previously occupied by a family owned gristmill. The primary products were ornamental castings and soil pipe.

 Encouraged by his wife Sara Holmes Robinson, he acquired a collection of antique antebellum patterns. As they began making special pieces for friends, interest in the items grew until it was decided a complete line would be marketed through a new company named Robinson Iron. In the 1970’s and 80’s the company, led by Vice President J. Scott Howell, expanded to include not only these cast iron reproductions and custom castings but Architectural Metalwork and Historical Restoration. With complex engineered projects, as far afield as New York, California, and Singapore, no challenge to date has been too great for this team of qualified experts.

Many innovations in metallurgy and foundry technology have occurred in the years since the company started operation. Traditional manual labor has been replaced by automation. Special skills used in the crafts of patternmaking and finishing however are being carefully preserved and passed along to a new generation.

 Most of Robinson Iron’s 45 employees are from Alexander City or the Greater Lake Martin Area. Our employees serve on local boards and committees of community organizations and the company supports the efforts of local agencies i.e., Main Street Alexander City, Gateway to Education, etc.

Robinson Iron’s business consists of 75% Architectural 25% Home and Garden. Of the Architectural work the percentage of new to restoration varies but usually it is about 40% new to 60% restoration. Of the restoration work approximately 70% is Commercial and Governmental with the remainder residential.

 Digital technology is employed increasingly in the engineering and fabricating of support structures receiving cast ornamentation. Documenting existing site conditions and creating an inventory of missing components has been made faster and easier. Proposed alterations or additions to a project are made with relative ease. Increasingly digitized models are used in combination with automated routers to produce patterns or waterjet cut designs in metal. Figural pieces, however, are still conceived and sculpted in an “Old School” manner using plastilina clay or wood carving tools..

 Robinson Iron has acquired many additional antique patterns through its restoration projects. They represent work from all the major American foundries operating in the early part of the 19th century: the J.L Mon Iron Works, the J.W.Fiske Iron Works and the Wood & Perot foundry. The bulk of the company’s collection is comprised of two purchased collections. These two collections are The Janney Iron Works of Montgomery, Al and Hinderer’s Iron Works of New Orleans, Louisiana. Newly commissioned pattern work is often based on an architect or designer’s sketch and incorporates traditional classical forms. Robinson craftsmen are equally at home with more contemporary styles as is evidenced by a new line of bronze furniture for Houston, Texas designer Kelly Gale Amen
http://www.kga.net.

 Robinson Iron is proud to have completed many prestigious projects i.e., Vulcan, Birmingham, Al, Carnegie Hall, NYC, Navy Pier, Chicago, and The Executive White House, Washington, DC. In 1990 Robinson Iron was honored to be selected for the restoration of The Raffles Hotel in Singapore. All the historic ironwork that had been purchased by the Sarkies brothers in 1899 and imported from MacFarland’s Saracen Foundry in Glasgow, Scotland for the original building had been destroyed during World War II. Through careful research and with one small fragment found embedded in a masonry wall Robinson craftsmen recreated the grand entrance canopy, two canopies for the Bar and Billiard room and two freestanding pavilions in the inner courtyard of the hotel. Careful coordination of field dimensions with shop fabrication was accomplished in metric measurements. All the structures were preassembled here in Alabama and engineered to break down in components for easy transport to Singapore. Robinson crews traveled to Singapore for the installation where they worked with SsangYong Construction Co., Ltd. to complete the project. From initial drawing approval to installation required only eight months. “The exciting part of these projects is seeing how we solve some of the more difficult and sensitive issues. Our people are always looking to the future while keeping in mind we are recreating the past”: Richard H. Robinson.

 A typical job is initiated through client discussions of the scope of work. Robinson Iron can assist a designer in the conceptual stages providing cost estimates and design details. Once an order is received working drawings are developed and patternwork/fabrication begins. Completed patterns are placed in the production schedule. The casting process is started by creating a mold. This is accomplished by inserting the pattern in a box called a flask and tightly packing sand around the pattern. The box is separated into two halves and the pattern removed. Then the two halves are put together to form the mold. An opening is made into the mold and molten metal is poured into the void. The cooled casting is shaken from the sand. The pattern is used over and over again to create as many molds/castings as needed. When castings are received in the shop they must be inspected and any remaining flashing ground from the seams. Component castings are assembled over a steel support structure by mechanical attachments or by arc welding with nickel welding rods. Weldments must be ground smooth and a primer coating applied. Finish painting can be applied in the shop or in the field. Robinson will upon request cast specialty alloys. Custom work generally takes about 10 to 12 weeks from receipt of approved drawings.

 Robinson Iron’s website www.robinsoniron.com features downloadable drawing files for designers, copies of current advertisements as well as a complete company resume. Links to issues of “Portfolio” the company’s popular quarterly email newsletter are posted on the Home Page. On-going projects include the annual installation of the Skate Rental Pavilion and Zamboni structure at the National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC. New work includes restoration of ironwork at The Nemours Mansion Wilmington, Delaware and the Cliff Path Railing in Fairmount Park, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

 Robinson Iron’s personnel include an incredibly specialized mix of artists, craftsmen, engineers, foundry men, fabricators and salespersons found in very few companies.  A spirit of co-operation and determination to accomplish the client’s goals are a hallmark of the company.