Investment Casting Process
The investment casting process begins by creating an injection die that meets the requirements of the specific project. Once made, the die inserts wax that forms the desired patterns; a mold is created when the pattern attaches to a central wax sprue. Molten metal is then dispensed into the sprue.
After dipping the wax several times into ceramic slurry, sand is added to the surface. Once the desired thickness is achieved, the wax is removed using an autoclave, leaving the impression of the required casting. The chosen metal is poured into the impression after the shell is heated in a furnace.
After the shell is removed with water blasting, each individual part is removed. Because the cast metal parts are still connected to the sprue, they are removed through the process of cold-break. In most cases, some degree of post-casting machining is also necessary to complete the investment casting process.