Investment Casting

Wax which conforms to complex cavities and intricate exteriors is injected into precisely tooled dies which, while accounting for both wax expansion and metal contraction, yield finished tolerances of ± .0057.

The resulting wax patterns are assembled on a tree, or sprue, which provides the gates through which the molten metal will be poured.

The tree is dipped repeatedly into ceramic investment, strong enough to handle molten metal but pourous enough to allow air to escape, thus preventing voids.

After the wax is burned out of the ceramic mold, hence the term "lost wax," molten metal is poured into the resulting pattern at up to 3,000°F.

The heat of the casting alters the ceramic chemistry so the mold crumbles away after cooling. Gates are then cut off and the part is cleaned.

Finished parts are checked for allowable tolerances. X-ray, magnetic particle and penetrating dye inspections are available.