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Investment Casting Comparisons

Investment Casting Comparisons

Advantages of Investment Casting

To download the complete guide on the Benefits of Investment castings, please click here.

Investment Castings

Investment Casting

  • Ceramic mold casting cavity produces a smooth finish
  • Typical surface finish of 125 Ra as cast
  • Holds a .005”/inch tolerance for majority of applications
  • Low amount of machining required after casting
Investment Castings

Sand Casting

  • Sand shell casting cavity creates a rough exterior
  • Typical surface finish of 250 Ra as cast
  • Cannot hold tight tolerances
  • Needs extensive machining after casting for acceptable surface finish
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Benefits of Investment Casting

Investment Casting

  • Wax is injected into an aluminum cavity
  • Aluminum has a low cost, is easy to cut, & is inexpensive to maintain
  • Wax is easy on tooling, allowing it to maintain consistent parts for many users
  • Can cast both ferrous & non-ferrous metals
Die Casting

Die Casting

  • Molten metal is forced into a mold cavity
  • Molten metal requires tooling with extremely expensive start-up costs 
  • Die casted tools wear quickly, requiring expensive refurbishments & replacements
  • Cannot cast ferrous metals like carbon steel & stainless steel
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Benefits of Investment Casting

Investment Casting

  • Patterns are created using expanding wax
  • Tooling is less costly for low production runs
  • Excellent surface finishes can be achieved
  • A wider range of alloys can be cast with this process
Lost Foam Casting

Lost Foam Casting

  • Patterns are created using expanding polystyrene foam
  • Higher costs associated with this method
  • Lower quality surface finished
  • Less alloys can be cast using this method
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Benefits of Investment Casting

Investment Casting

  • Wax is injected into a pattern to create desired shape
  • Requires less expensive equipment
  • Inherently less dangerous allowing costs to remain lower
  • Reduced machining due to investment casted parts ability to hold tighter tolerances
Forging

Forging

  • Hot or cold material is pressed into the desired shape with a massive hammer
  • Requires expensive tooling & specialty equipment that often needs to be replaced
  • Heightened level of danger drives the cost of forgings higher
  • Needs to be heavily treated & machined for hardness & tolerance holding
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Investment Casting

Investment Casting

  • Created by pouring molten metal into a ceramic shell
  • Low scrap waste due to consistency in castings reduces final cost
  • Shorter labor time reduces lead times & costs
  • Offers one continuous part that has a consistent & clean look to the end user
metal fabrication

Metal Fabrication

  • Produced by cutting, bending & welding multiple pieces of material together
  • Multi-step process causes higher scrap
  • High material waste & labor time results in expensive & time-consuming production
  • Can look sloppy to end users without extensive work after casting
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Investment Casting

Investment Casting

  • Economic way to produce high definition, complex detail parts
  • Reduced waste, labor time & machine time lowers cost
  • Shorter labor time reduces lead times & costs

Machining

  • Large amounts of material waste for anything other than a simple design
  • Excess material leads to higher costs
  • Can be a very lengthy process leading to longer lead times & more expensive parts
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