Manufacturing Disciplines Index

Click on a discipline below for more information and links to frequently used tasks.

• Assembly
• Castings
• Engineering & Design
• Fabrication
• Forging
• Heat Treatment
• Machining
• Machining-CNC
• Metal Finishing
• Mold Making
• Pallets
• Plastic & Rubber
• Prototyping
• Tool & Die Making

Manufacturing Disciplines

Casting - An Overview

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Casting is the process of pouring liquid metal into a specially shaped container called a mold, then allowing it to solidify inside. When the part is removed, it will be a solid piece of metal with the same shape as the inside of the mold. This shape is called a casting. No matter what the size or shape of your part, chances are it can be made with some type of casting process.

Casting is one of the most economical ways to shape metal, since most of the material it uses ends up in the part and the rest can usually be melted down and reused. Complex shapes are ideal for casting, since the shape of the part only has to be produced once in the form of a mold or a master pattern, which can then be copied many times at a much lower cost. Parts can also be cast from exotic metals that are difficult to form by any other method. Because liquid metal changes size and shape as it cools, many types of casting cannot produce a perfect copy of the original part, but if an accurate shape is needed, parts can be machined after they are cast. This can be cheaper than simply machining the part because the part is closer to its final shape so there is less material to remove and because many surfaces of the part may not need machining at all.

One disadvantage of casting is that it requires an initial investment to make the mold or master pattern. However, if you are expecting to produce a significant number of parts, this cost will eventually spread out over all of them, and they may end up costing much less than if they were made by an alternative process. Another disadvantage of casting is that the shape of a part must sometimes be modified so that it can be removed from the mold. However, this change is usually acceptable, and its effects on the part can be minimized.

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Casting Processes Supported

Centrifugal Casting Ceramic Casting Die Casting Investment Casting

Permanent Mold Precision Casting Sand Castings Shell Casting