Inside the Foundry: Casting Repete Dropouts

Take a closer look at how one of the most characteristic segments of Repete frames - stainless steel dropouts - is made. In the world of framebuilding, individual manufacturers often differentiate themselves based on the details of their processing, the use of segments, and other work with them. Cast dropouts have always been one of the symbols of framebuilding for us, and we knew that the path to them was not an easy one. But, because of our desire to create products exactly to our vision, we decided to approach a Czech foundry and start casting our developed dropouts locally. Casting is like a ritual. The entire process, from the preparation of wax models to the melting of steel and the actual casting, is a process in which everyone has a clearly defined role. The process of melting the steel alloy is akin to a precise ritual, where the individual bulk elements are carefully measured and added to the molten bath. This creates the resulting steel alloy with the desired material properties. The melted steel at 1,538 degrees, subsequently transformed into the desired shape, is a symbol of technology that we have known for more than 7,000 years. Thanks to Petr Chytka (IEG) for accompanying us all the way! And also to everyone from the foundry! Because production is of course not a one-person job, but it is a collaborative effort. Camera: Pepa Dvořáček Music: Hey Emil Sound: Jan Vosýnek Graphics: Martin Kolerus