Abstract: A piston casting mold for casting all pistons in a single series with little weight variation one from the next, includes spacers of fixed dimensions are employed to locate a dome-forming core of the mold a fixed distance from a stationary portion of the mold from one casting to the next. Increasing or decreasing the dimensions of the spacer permits increasing or decreasing the as-cast weight of the piston.

Abstract: Apparatus for dispensing an individual part from a stack of a plurality of identical parts includes a magazine for receiving the stack of parts and an elevator movable in the magazine by an electrical motor for raising the stack for positioning an uppermost part at a pick-up position. The stack is raised until the uppermost part contacts and electrically connects spaced apart magnetic contacts on a pick-up member positioned above the pick-up position. The magnetic contacts constitute a switch of a control circuit that deactuates the electrical motor so as to position the uppermost part at the pick-up position for removal from the stack by the pick-up member. The magnetic contacts on the pick-up member not only constitute a switch of the control circuit but also exert a sufficient magnetic attraction force on the uppermost part to lift it from the stack.