Cast in Steel is a student competition hosted by the Steel Founders Society of America. This challenges teams of students from all around the country to produce cast products that were traditionally produced by the forging process.

The challenge this year is to produce a small production run of George Washington Swords (his sword collection is on display in Mount Vernon). We will be judged on best design/process, best authentic sword, best casting, best project video, and best performance based on testing. Our team has decided to produce George Washington's Alte Presentation Broadsword.

After producing this sword, our Cast in Steel team will be representing Pittsburg State University as we fly to Atlanta, Georgia for the Cast in Steel competition April 9-11, 2025, followed by the awards ceremony on April 12.

The competition will include three days of Forged in Fire style testing, where our sword will be pitted against other colleges from around the nation. This year, and for the first time, SFSA will be producing a five-hour Forged in Fire special, televising the competition.

We thank you for your consideration of a gift towards making our educational experience and competition a success!

2024-2025 Cast in Steel Senior Project Team Members

From left to right:
Josh Kanarowski (documentation and scheduling lead), Brandon Edwards (manufacturing and financial lead), Austin Frazier (team lead), Gabe Galindo (quality and procurement lead), Starzia Gray (design and marketing lead).

Faculty Advisor (not pictured): Jacob Lehman

Design Requirements (based on Cast in Steel): 

• Swords must weigh no more than 2kg (4.4 lbs.)
• Swords must be no longer than 1m (40 in)
• Teams must produce a technical report of less than 30 pages supporting our process decisions
• Teams must produce a 5-minute video documenting their process

Additional Design Elements:

In addition to the competition requirements, we will include the SFSA logo, and the Pittsburg State Gorilla cast into the design.

Procedure Detailed:

 All parts will be modeled in SolidWorks, then 3D printed at full size to check physical size and overall design.

            Blade: The blade will be cast out of a steel alloy. We intend to make a detailed core box using other resources in the college, such as the Wood Tech department. We will then coat the mold to produce a smooth surface finish. All engravings on the blade will be cast in. This will then be poured at a local partner foundry as required by SFSA. Mold will be chemical bonded stand.

            Hand Guard: The hand guard will be investment cast out of a brass alloy, followed with a fine polish. This process will use aluminum tooling to create wax molds and silicate sand to produce a shell. 

            Handle: The handle will be produced out of wood, shaped then wrapped in leather and braided copper wire.

Below is a breakdown of all expenses.

Total budget for project - $7,695.46

Support 2024-2025 PSU Cast in Steel Senior Project

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