Please follow along with this series of slides to learn about the Investment Casting process
Fig. 1 – Inject Pattern Material
STEP 1:
A wax pattern is produced by injecting melted wax under high pressure into an aluminum injection die. This die is pre-engineered by Niagara Investment Castings to allow for proper wax introduction on our presses. The die may be a single cavity, or multiple cavities, depending on the typical number of castings run per order. The die also may have a series of “pulls” which are used to form internal geometries, or may use soluble or ceramic cores for more complex internal detail. The die is also built with a shrinkage allowance on the geometry, so that the wax produced is LARGER than the finished casting, since both the wax pattern and the casting itself will SHRINK during the transition of both to solid from liquid.
Wax patterns can also be produced by “printing” the pattern in any number of materials available using our 3D stereo lithography technology, allowing for investment castings to be produced without the need for the injection tool, however this would only generally be considered for samples, research and development, or one time small runs of product.