Marie Chiesa China recently had the pleasure of visiting the Maycast-Nokes team at their Halstead facility, an important location known for delivering top-tier machined, finished and assembled castings. We’re especially grateful to Dave Blower (Sales Director) and Simon Gill (Business Development Manager) for their gracious hospitality and engaging conversations.

** Maycast-Nokes history

Maycast-Nokes traces its roots to the 1950s as Evans Foundry, supplying aluminium castings for scientific equipment. The company expanded through technological investment in the 1980s and achieved their first quality accreditation in 1993. That same year, it acquired Maycast Precision Products, the two companies merged in 1998 to form Maycast-Nokes Precision Engineering. Today, Maycast-Nokes employs over 115 people and generates annual revenues exceeding £8 million. Located in Halstead, Essex, Maycast-Nokes is a leading name in precision engineering, specialising in the production of high-quality sand, investment (lost wax) and gravity die castings in both aluminium and steel. Maycast-Nokes serves major Tier 1 customers, with approximately 83% of its focus dedicated to the aerospace sector, while maintaining a diversified portfolio that includes significant work in the defence and automotive industry.

** A fully integrated manufacturing partner

Maycast-Nokes offers ready-for-production, fully machined and finished components thanks to their vertically integrated supply chain and comprehensive in-house capabilities.

  • Castings:
    •  Investment/Lost Wax: High-precision castings in a wide range of metals, ideal for complex, high-integrity components with minimal machining.
    • Precision Sand: Two-process facility producing castings from 0.1kg to 90kg with tight tolerances and excellent surface finish.
    • Gravity Die: Cost-effective and repeatable aluminium casting method ideal for medium to high volumes.
  • Machine Shop: Equipped with 4/5-axis CNC machines and operating 24/7, Maycast-Nokes offers flexible, high-precision machining tailored to its castings. Services include prototyping, full production and in-house inspection with CMMs.
  • Heat Treatment: NADCAP-approved facility offering tailored heat treatments for aluminium castings to AMS and British Standards. In-house and subcontract services supported by computer-controlled ovens and full traceability via the Materials Lab.
  • NDT: NADCAP-approved and performed by NAS 410/EN4179 Level 2 and in-house Level 3 inspectors, ensuring full compliance and self-certified process control.
    • Radiography: In-house X-ray inspection using 225 kV and 320 kV systems for aluminium and steel castings.
    • Liquid Penetrant: Surface inspection to detect surface breaking defects.
  • Metallurgy: NADCAP-approved testing including tensile (up to 100kN), hardness and metallography. Chemical analysis performed via advanced optical emission spectroscopy (OES) to ensure material compliance and quality.
  • 3D Scanning: Advanced Nikon laser scanning system enhances FAIR reporting, reverse engineering, and tooling wear analysis. Features 9μm precision and a 2.5m working diameter, integrated within a climate-controlled inspection environment.

** Key highlights:

With a commitment to delivering end-to-end solutions, Maycast-Nokes operates two dedicated foundries alongside a state-of-the-art machine shop. This comprehensive suite of services enables customers to receive fully machined and finished castings from a single source. When required, Maycast-Nokes can also provide complete assemblies or subassemblies, delivered production-line ready.


Marie Chiesa China and Simon Gill.