Our 75 Years of Quality American Manufacturing for Aluminum Sand Casting

Tazewell Machine Works, Inc., was founded in 1945 by Henry F. and Blanche M. Cakora as a jobbing machine shop. In order to better serve customers, a non-ferrous foundry was later added so that the company did not have to rely on other foundries to procure their castings.

Today, Tazewell Machine Works is still owned by the Cakora family and we are now a fourth generation family-owned business. The company has an experienced workforce and management team with over 153 combined years of service expertise. We are committed to continuous reinvestment of our profits back into our equipment so customers can always depend on us for high-quality castings and excellent service at competitive prices for many years to come!

Tazewell Machine Works, Inc. Timeline

1945
The company was founded by Henry F. and Blanche M. Cakora.

1949 – 1963
Company expanded numerous times during this period of time until a fire completely destroyed our 20,000 sq. ft. structure.

1964
Relocated to a new 32,000 sq. ft. plant at our present location in Pekin, Illinois. A new facility is built as a non-ferrous foundry because most customers preferred this option to machine their own castings.

1975
Built the very first semi-automatic molding line to be used for the industry.

1976
Added an additional 3,000 sq. ft. to our in-house loading dock and core knockout areas.

1979 – 1981
Decided to enter the machining industry once more due to our customers’ changing needs with a plan to only machine castings made by our foundry. We purchased our first CNC milling machines.

1982
Elected first “Outside Directors” involving individuals that were non-shareholders, non-employees and non-family members. The company shareholders decided to elect outside directors in order to ensure continuity for the company.

1985
Built the second semi-automatic molding line to be used within the industry.

1987 – 1988
We added 10,000 sq. ft. for a new machine shop and storage area to house work-in-progress and finished castings. In addition, Tazewell Machine Works purchased our first machining center and the following year, three additional ones.

1990
16,800 sq. ft. of additional warehouse space was added to store work-in-progress, finished rough castings and machined complete castings.

1992 – 1994
An additional 19,000 sq. ft was added for an automatic cope and drag molding line (constructed in 1993). We then relocated the cleaning room and shipping/receiving areas into a new building.

1995
Demolished 1,500 sq. ft. of outdated office space and began construction on our new 4,800 sq. ft. business office. Built a second pattern vault for storing large patterns and core boxes. We also installed a new computer system network and created an eco-friendly, paperless environment.

1997
Installed a new Muller computerized sand system and increased our sand capacity by 30%.

1998
Added an additional 21,600 sq. ft. for a Roberts-Sinto FBO III automatic molding line, expanded cleaning room and our shipping/receiving department areas.

1999
Built the second largest rollover molding line in the industry.

2000
Upgraded our Osborne cope and drag molding line with new Osborne molding machines and automated the mold handling process.

2002
Tazwell Machine Works, Inc. purchased a HAAS EC-1600 Horizontal Machining Center.

2005
Added an additional 10,500 sq. ft. for expanding the Core Room and Maintenance Center.

2007
Built the third largest rollover molding line in the industry.

2011
Purchased E-C 1600 Horizontal Machining Center.

2012
Replaced Osborne Molding Machines wiht BMM Molding Machines.

2014
Built 4th Large Rollover Molding Line and purchased our 3rd VF-6 Vertical Machining Center.

2015
Built 4th Large Rollover Molding Line and purchased our 3rd VF-6 Vertical Machining Center.

2019
Modernized our plant with energy-efficient LED lighting.

2020
Upgraded our Sinto Molding Line Sand System with newly optimized computer programming and controls.