Our Business
KenWalt Die Casting Company is a privately owned ISO 9001 Certified Die Casting Company and ITAR Registered Die Casting Company incorporated in Sun Valley in Los Angeles, California. Kenwalt was established in 1968 by Ken Zaucha Sr. and Walter Zaucha. KenWalt Die Casting Company is currently listed in the small business category of less than 50 employees, with management and staff having many years of hands-on experience producing high-quality Aluminum Die Castings and Zinc Die Castings. KenWalt staff are trained, experienced, dependable and dedicated to customer satisfaction and manufacturing high-quality die cast parts using aluminum and zinc die casting alloys.
We manufacture high-quality Aluminum Die Casting and Zinc Die-Casting parts using a unique Vacuum Die Casting Process to produce quality aluminium castings.
Our Founders
Walter Zaucha and his son Ken Zaucha Sr were born and raised in Cleveland, Ohio. Walter was an outstanding baseball player in the 1930’s back in the days of Babe Ruth, Joe DeMaggio, Bob Feller, Dizzy Dean and others. In fact, Walter was such an outstanding baseball player that he was drafted to play Professional Baseball by the Cleveland Indians Major League Baseball Team. Unfortunately for Walter and the game of baseball, ballplayers were paid little money in those days, so Walter decided instead to work to help support his mother and the rest of his family. Walter worked over 30 years at Superior Die Cast Company in Cleveland, Ohio.
In the late 1950s, the Zaucha family relocated to the San Fernando Valley in Los Angeles, California, where Walter applied his extensive die casting experience as Plant Manager of Withrow Die Casting Company in North Hollywood, California. Walter was loved by die cast foundry employees as well as the die casting company owners for successfully attaining production goals and his continuous development of responsible and reliable employees. Walter had a stellar reputation and a wonderful sense of humor. He was instrumental in making his fellow die-cast operators and trimmers some of the highest-paid die-cast employees at the time.
Ken Zaucha Sr’s passion for engineering and mathematics led him to work in the Rocketdyne Engineering Development Center located in Canoga Park, California while attending engineering classes at Pierce College. His experience at Rocketdyne, subsequently owned by Boeing and now a subsidary of United Technologies Corporation (UTC), also known as Pratt WhitneyRocketdyne, included rocket engine building and testing at Rocketdyne’s Santa Susana Field Laboratory test facility, rocket engine maintenance, overhaul, review and technical reporting of rocket engine perfomance.
These rocket engines which supported NAS‘s ApolloSpace Flight Missions (Apollo 7, 8, 9, 10, 11) and NAS‘s SaturnSpace Flight Missions were all tested at the Santa Susana Laboratory Test Facility and ultimately landed the first man on the moon!
Kenwalt’s History
In 1968, Walter and Ken decided to start their own business together, and thus, the legacy of KenWalt Die Casting Company was born. In 1968, Walter and Ken started their own die-casting company in a rented building on Lopez Canyon Road in Sylmar, CA. Not long before the infamous 1971 San Fernando Earthquake, also known as the Sylmar Earthquake, they purchased the property at the current location at 8719 Bradley Ave Sun Valley, California.
A close customer relationship and a dedication to producing only the highest-quality casting are proven formulas for success. This, along with high ethics and honesty, built Walter and Ken a respected reputation with customers, suppliers, and industry associates. Thin-wall gating design and “vacuum assist” casting have been utilized at KenWalt for over ten (20) years.
KenWalt Die Casting Company continues to expand into the 21st Century and gain a worldwide reputation for excellence by producing high-quality aluminum and zinc die castings that are key to its customer’s success!
Our Facility
KenWalt Die Casting Company Expansion! While the manipulated economy weakened manufacturing in the USA and caused the closing of many good die-casting companies, KenWalt Die Casting Company continued to expand!
After adding two buildings with over 8,000 square feet, we now have over 26,000 square feet of clean manufacturing space devoted entirely to manufacturing high-quality Aluminum and Zinc Die Casting, quality control inspections, trim die operations, machining and secondary operations, toolroom operations, die cast molds storage, die cast parts storage, die casting machines, foundry maintenance, aluminum alloy metals, zinc alloy metals, gas and lubrication storage, shipping and receiving and our renovated administrative offices.
Our administrative offices were expanded to include a new conference room. In addition, KenWalt Die Casting Company owns 2 acres of adjacent property for future expansion to exceed our customers’ growing needs and expectations. We are conveniently located adjacent to the Golden State (5) Fwy just minutes north of the Bob Hope Airport (Burbank-Glendale-Pasadena Airport) at 8719 Bradley Ave. in Sun Valley, California, in Los Angeles County.
Our Blog
Our blog serves as a knowledge base for die casting and manufacturing in general.
Revolutionizing Automotive Engineering for Tomorrow
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Unlocking the Secrets of Die Casting Finishes
Revealing the secrets of die casting finishes involves understanding both their aesthetic and functional…
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