Find investment castings including non-ferrous castings, precision investment castings, investment casting processing and more. From lost wax castings and precision castings to steel castings, you will find the investment casting you need. Use the time-saving Request for Quote tool to submit your inquiry to all the investment casting manufacturers and suppliers you select.
Ferralloy supplies high-quality precision investment castings in carbon,
alloy and stainless steels. In addition, we offer heat treating and in-house
machining services as well as inventory stocking programs to facilitate
on-time deliveries and reduced inventories.
People seek us when they want steel investment castings. We produce parts weighing mere ounces up to 200 pounds. Customers' investment castings are done in exotic alloys, carbon steels and stainless steels. We've produced for the food processing, military and power generation industries.
Since 1944, Rimer Enterprises has developed a unique and outstanding investment casting technique, specializing in all areas of precision casting. We’re ready for any request with an in-house tooling shop and a machine shop for machining castings. As an industry leader, customers are of utmost importance.
EPCO provides high-quality investment casting products. Being precision driven, we design and produce the dies, tools and fixtures for our castings. Our air-melt alloys include: aluminum, carbon, cobalt-base, copper-base, ductile iron, silicon iron, stainless steel and tool steels.
Signicast Corporation is dedicated to incorporating the latest advancements in the investment casting process. The alloys we use include stainless steel, low alloy steel, tool steels, & more. Our investment casting process equals parts ranging from a few ounces to in excess of over 100 pounds.
We are committed to making you a customer for life... providing the best investment castings or steel castings (carbon, alloy, tool) you can buy at the lowest prices, with the fastest deliveries in the industry and a team of people who always respond quickly, professionally and cheerfully.
Investment casting is the production of industrial
parts through the metallic replication of wax models. In the first step
of this process, investment casting manufacturers inject wax into an
aluminum die to create an injection-molded wax pattern that is in turn
used to form a model of the proposed finished product. The resulting
wax pattern is used to form a ceramic mold, which can be created using
the ceramic mold process or the solid mold process. Ceramic shell molds
are created by dipping the wax pattern into ceramic material, called
slurry, and allowing the ceramic material to harden. Solid molds are
formed by placing a wax pattern into a flask and filling the flask with
plaster, which hardens into a mold. Once the slurry or plaster hardens,
the wax pattern is melted out of the mold, and the molds are heated to
remove leftover wax and to prepare the mold for casting. The mold is
then filled with molten metal, which will harden into the final product.
Once the metal has cooled, the mold is broken away.
The investment castings are then subjected to other treatments, as necessary,
which include additional heating, polishing and refinishing. The bulk
of the investment can be removed by sandblasting. Gating stubs are ground
flush and flashing is removed when needed. Major sections of the investment
cast pieces are welded together and the seams are ground down. Other
casting defects are fixed. Finally, investment casting manufacturers
sand the part down once again sanded and then texturize and finish it.
Investment casting materials are quite plentiful. Typically, all ferrous
and non-ferrous materials can be used. Carbon, tool and alloy steels
and many grades of stainless steel are some of the ferrous materials
commonly investment cast. Non-ferrous materials include most aluminum
and copper-based substances, among others. Heat-resistant alloys can
be investment cast for high-temperature applications. The investment
cast process allows the switching back and forth between metals (ferrous
or non-ferrous) within the ceramic shell molds. Selecting the right combination
of alloys will provide the highest corrosion resistance.
Industrial manufacturers often choose the investment casting process
when complex parts or large quantities of parts are needed during production.
Investment casting manufacturers can create an assortment of parts in
all sizes, shapes and weights, such as dental braces, automotive engine
parts and medical equipment. Although the weight of parts ranges from
one ounce to one ton, the majority of investment castings are less than
20 pounds. Because of the wide application of manufactured metal parts,
investment castings are found within almost every industry, including
the automotive, military, dental, mining, music, food processing, sports
and telecommunication industries. Although, the initial cost may be higher
than that of other casting procedures, investment casting provides greater
design flexibility, greater detail, near net shape (which lowers material
usage) and greater alloy selection to enhance part performance.
Investment Castings
and Investment Casting Manufacturers Images Provided by Ferralloy
Inc.
Types of Investment Castings
Aluminum investment
castings can be cast into complex geometric shapes and are commonly
used in the aerospace industry. Aluminum investment castings are also
used in aviation, electronics, hydraulics and military applications.
Ferrous investment
castings are cast out of metals that contain iron, including
300- and 400-series stainless steels, carbon and alloy steels and cobalt
and tool steels.
Investment casting process is the method through which industrial parts are produced through the metallic replication of wax models.
Lost wax casting consisted of creating and plastering a wax model, replacing the wax with molten metal and removing the plaster after the metal cooled.
Non-ferrous investment
castings are formed from metals that do not contain iron, including
aluminum and copper-based alloys.
Precision casting is the process of creating metal shapes with wax molds.
Titanium investment
castings are used for lightweight, complex structural applications.
Titanium investment castings are also used by engineers to create one-piece
and near-net-shape pieces, which require a minimum of machining and
assembly time.
Investment Casting Terms
Alloy – A
compound consisting of either more than one metal or a metal and a nonmetal
blended together.
“As Cast” Condition –
Casting that is not heat treated after being removed from the mold.
Burnout – The process whereby
excess water and wax is removed from a molding.
Casting – Forming and shaping
a material substance, such as an industrial piece of equipment, by pouring
liquid into a mold and allowing it to harden.
Cavity – The empty space within
the mold into which the molten metal will be poured.
Centrifugal Casting – The process
of filling a permanent mold cavity with molten material while rotating
the mold. Centrifugal casting is often used during the investment casting
process to increase the amount of pressure exerted upon the metal in order
to reproduce mold details, such as lettering and holes.
Ceramic Mold Process – The process
by which an investment mold is created from a pattern in order to be cast.
Ceramic molds consist of solid molds and ceramic shells.
Ceramic Shell Process – The
method of creating a ceramic mold through the immersion of a pattern into
a slurry of liquid and covering the coated pattern with sand. The pattern
is usually immersed and coated nine to ten times before the shell is completed.
Cocoon Process – The method
of applying protective plastic to metal.
Cold Shut – Lines on the surface
of a casting that are the by-product of the incomplete fusion of metal
streams.
Concentricity – The sharing
of a common point or axis of two or more surfaces of shapes, such as cylinders,
cones, spheres and hexagons.
Core – A form inserted into
a mold to create internal mold features.
Dirty Casting – A surplus of
nonmetal substances within a casting.
Ferrous – Pertaining to or containing
iron.
Forging – The method of reshaping
metal through the application of heat and compression.
Gates – The openings in the
gating system that transfer the molten metal from the runners into the
mold cavity.
Gating System – The structure
that transfers the molten metal into the mold. Gating systems are designed
to uniformly transfer the metal into the mold cavity to create an even
mold.
Inclusions – Small pieces of
refractory materials, sand, slag or deoxidation products that have been
trapped within the casting while it was solidifying.
Injection Molding – The injection
of a molten substance, usually metal, under substantial pressure into
a mold.
Lost Wax Process – An ancient
process related to investment casting that consisted of creating and plastering
a wax model, replacing the wax with molten metal and removing the plaster
after the metal cooled.
Misrun – An incomplete casting.
Mold – A hollow container from
which liquid substances can be formed into solid shapes.
Molten – A solid that has been
converted into a liquid through the application of heat.
Non-ferrous – Not pertaining
to or containing iron. Examples of non-ferrous metals include aluminum-
and copper-based substances.
Pattern – A casting model created
by injecting metal dye with wax. When the wax solidifies, it forms the
pattern, which is then molded and cast.
Pattern Oversize Factor – A
term that refers to the extent to which the pattern size must be increased
to allow for metal shrinkage.
Plaster Mold Casting – The process
in which a wax pattern is sprayed with plaster slurry to create a mold.
Permanent Mold Casting – The
process of using metal, often iron, to create the mold. Permanent molds
are cheaper than sand molds when a large quantity of parts is produced,
as they can be used more than once.
Pouring Cup – The part of the
gating system that pushes the molten metal into a mold.
Riser – An open space in a mold
into which extra molten metal is trapped.
Runners – Horizontal mechanisms
connected to the sprue that transfer the molten metal from the sprue to
the mold.
Sand Casting – The process of
pouring molten metal into a natural or an artificial sand mold to form
large parts, often made of iron.
Shell Casting – The process
in which sand and plastic are poured over a hot metal pattern, whose heat
causes the sand and plastic to mold to the pattern. The mold is removed
from the metal, filled with molten metal and broken once the metal hardens,
forming a cast.
Shrinkage – The contraction
of metal during the cooling process.
Shrinkage Allowance – The degree
to which a pattern is enlarged to allow for the contraction of the metal
during the cooling process.
Slurry – The thick, insoluble
liquid made of substances like plaster and silica from which a mold is
created by repeatedly covering the patterned wax with the liquid.
Solid Mold Process – The method
in which a wax pattern is placed within a steel container called a flask.
The flask is then filled with a liquid plaster, which hardens into a mold
of the pattern.
Sprue – Vertical mechanism connected
to the pouring cup that transfers the molten metal to the runners.
Straightness – A term that refers
to the deviation of the cast axis from the true axis.
Vents – Small holes in the gating
system through which air is pushed out of the mold as molten metal is
poured into the mold.