Process for casting hard-faced, lightweight camshafts and other cylindrical products

A process for casting an elongated hard-faced product having cylindrical surfaces, such as an automobile camshaft, comprising the steps of:

• (a) preparing a homogeneous molten composition formed from a molten base metal and an additive in particle form having a hardness value greater than the hardness value of said base metal, said homogeneous molten composition having said particle additive evenly and uniformly distributed throughout said molten base metal;
• (b) introducing said homogeneous molten composition into an upper end of a vertically extending flask containing a meltable pattern of an elongated product having cylindrical surfaces to be manufactured and encased in sand whereupon said composition melts said pattern and assumes the shape of said pattern within said sand, said meltable pattern having a central elongated cavity extending from an upper end to a lower end thereof such that said homogeneous molten composition fills said pattern from its lower end to its upper end as said homogeneous molten composition is introduced into the upper end of said flask;
• and
• (c) rotating said vertically extending flask and said pattern along therewith about a vertical axis extending longitudinally through the center of said pattern and through the center of said flask as said homogeneous molten composition is introduced into said flask and passes down through said central cavity to melt away and fill said pattern from its lower end to its upper end in thereby causing particles of said additive entrained in said molten base metal of said homogeneous molten composition to migrate by centrifugal action to the radial extremities of said pattern and thereby provide the cylindrical surfaces of said elongated product with a hardness value greater than the hardness value of the center of said product when said homogeneous molten composition solidifies within said sand.