Lost Wax Investment Casting

Lost wax investment casting, commonly referred to simply as investment casting, is a manufacturing method that uses epoxy or aluminum molds to produce identical goods. Designers create an original wax pattern, which is encased in layers of plaster. Once the plaster forms a hardened shell, it can be filled with molten metal to create the parts. The process gets its name from the use of wax to create the original part pattern, as well as the dewaxing stage where the wax is melted and removed from the mold.

• Detailed part production. The mold creation process ensures that every detail of the original design is captured. The metal parts that solidify in the mold will be detailed, precise, and require very little finishing to match the original design. Lost wax investment casting works with both simple and intricate pieces.
• Cost-effectiveness. Investment casting requires fewer individual processes, which allows manufacturers to save time and money on the total production process.
• Flexibility. This process works with both ferrous and non-ferrous metals. Companies also have a high degree of freedom when creating the design for the castings and mold, especially in terms of shape, size, and thickness.
• Smooth finish. The parts capture the precise surface texture of the mold with a reduced risk of defects. Not only does this mean they can be very detailed, but the parts also have an excellent surface finish.

• Aluminum. Aluminum is resistant to corrosion, is lightweight, and is popular for covers and plates.
• Bronze. Bronze alloys such as aluminum bronze, manganese bronze, silicon bronze, and tin bronze are resistant to corrosion, durable, and have an appealing surface appearance.
• Steel. Steel is strong and durable. Stainless steel is popular because of its resistance to corrosion.

In terms of the wax mold itself, aluminum or epoxy may be used to create the tooling necessary for developing the mold.

• Epoxy is cheaper than aluminum which saves a small amount of money up front. Epoxy used to be the industry standard, but it is now used primarily for very short production runs due to the limited service life of the mold.
• Aluminum has become the standard for this type of tooling because machining and material costs have dropped. Aluminum tooling only costs about 10% more than epoxy. CNC cutting for aluminum is fast and the tool lasts indefinitely.