Sand casting, also known as sand molded casting, is a metal casting process that uses sand and binder as the mold material. A steel sand casting is produced by placing a pattern (tooling) with a gating system in sand to create a mold. The pattern is then removed and liquid molten steel is poured into the mold cavity. Once the metal cools, the sand mold is broken away from the part and the casting is cleaned. Steel sand castings can be from around 1 lb. to 1,000,000 lbs, and with various degrees of complicated configurations.
Investment casting, also known as lost-wax casting, is an old technique for forming metal. The technique is often used for small castings but can produce steel castings of up to 600 lbs and aluminum castings of up to 60 lbs. In investment casting, a ceramic mold is made from wax patterns. After the wax is removed from the mold and it is preheated and sintered, molten steel is poured in the mold to form the casting. The investment casting process usually costs more per unit than die casting or sand casting but has lower equipment costs. It can create intricate shapes that would be difficult at best with die casting yet it requires little surface finishing and minor machining in some cases. Finally, we can make castings from aluminum and iron as well.
We are able to offer the best casting options in the industry through our network of global certified partner foundries. With facilities in the U.S., South Africa, China, India and South Korea, we are able to utilize many different molding options. Parts produced through metal casting meet the high quality standards of our Six Sigma trained quality experts. With more than three dozen ISO certified foundries, our products are trusted and relied upon by OEMs throughout industry. We partner with companies in the automotive, power generation, water and wastewater, oil and gas, mining, hydraulic, rail, construction and industrial equipment industries and can easily accommodate their casting requirements.
To learn more about CAB’s industrial metal casting capabilities, please contact us today.