Stainless Steel Lost Wax Casting Service
HDC is very experienced in stainless steel casting service. With strong capability of casting a wide variety of stainless steel alloy, we provide custom stainless steel casting parts and components for industries and applications including automotive, food & dairy, machinery, medical, plumbing, watering, mining, petrochemical, electrical, energy, aerospace, submarine and others.
Lost wax casting, which is also referred to as investment casting or precision casting is a process for casting. In this process, a ceramic shell is created around the wax patterns. Later, all the wax is lost and only the developed shell remains to receive the molten metal or metallic alloy. Since the wax is lost during the process, hence the name lost wax casting.
Around the wax patterns, to receive the molten metal or metallic alloy. Here is the detailed process of investment casting
Our Expertise of Stainless Steel Casting Service
We are very experienced in stainless steel casting. With strong capability of casting a wide variety of stainless steel alloy, we provide custom stainless steel casting parts and components for industries and applications including automotive, food & dairy, machinery, medical, plumbing, watering, mining, petrochemical, electrical, energy, aerospace, submarine and others. We can assure you high quality stainless steel castings. The sizes of the stainless steel casting parts range from 0.1 inch up to 24 inches. The weights of the stainless steel casting parts are from an ounce to 50 pounds. Typical tolerances are ± .005” per inch.
Stainless Steel Casting Material Information
| Material | Grade | Common Application |
|---|---|---|
| Stainless Steel | 304 | Housings, bodies. SS304 is widely used in medical, plumbing, watering, mining and petrochemical industries as the standard for cleanliness as well as corrosion resistance. |
| 316 | Housings, gears, plates. Superior corrosion resistance of SS316 makes it ideal for many applications including automotive, food & diary and petrochemical environments. | |
| 304L/316L | Similar to other 300 series steel, low carbon makes it softer but more corrosion resistant. Ideal industries are such as food & dairy, medical and petrochemical. | |
| 410 & 416 | Housings, bushings, handles, brackets. 400 series steels are high strength and very machinable. They will tend to break rather than bend under intense pressure. Ideal industries are automotive, food & dairy and various machine tools. | |
| 17-4 | Very strong. Can be used in military, various machine tools etc. |
Chemical Compositions | ||||||||
| Grades | Elements | |||||||
| C | Si | Mn | S | P | Cr | Ni | Mo | |
| 304 | ≤0.08 | ≤1.00 | ≤2.00 | ≤0.03 | ≤0.045 | 18 ~ 20 | 8 ~ 11 | – |
| 304L | ≤0.03 | ≤1.00 | ≤2.00 | ≤0.03 | ≤0.035 | 18 ~ 20 | 8 ~ 12 | – |
| 316 | ≤0.08 | ≤1.00 | ≤2.00 | ≤0.03 | ≤0.045 | 16 ~ 18 | 10 ~ 14 | 2 ~ 3 |
| 316L | ≤0.03 | ≤1.00 | ≤2.00 | ≤0.03 | ≤0.045 | 16 ~ 18 | 10 ~ 14 | 2 ~ 3 |
| 410 | ≤0.03 | ≤1.00 | ≤1.00 | ≤0.03 | ≤0.040 | 11 ~ 13.5 | ≤0.6 | – |
| 416 | ≤0.15 | ≤1.00 | ≤1.25 | ≤0.15 | ≤0.060 | 12 ~ 14 | ≤0.6 | – |
| 17-4 ph | ≤0.07 | ≤1.00 | ≤1.00 | ≤0.03 | ≤0.040 | 15.5 ~ 17.5 | 3 ~ 5 | – |
| 2205 | ≤0.03 | ≤1.00 | ≤2.00 | ≤0.03 | ≤0.040 | 21 ~ 24 | 4.5 ~ 6.5 | 2.5 ~ 3.5 |
The benefits of lost wax casting:
Stainless Steel lost wax casting offers multiple benefits for the manufacturers and in the application. Here are a few benefits of using the lost wax method for manufacturing parts.
1. Offers high-precision
The lost wax casting method offers a very high level of precision for the manufactured parts. With investment casting, you can achieve very complex and intricate shapes without the fear of overrunning tolerances. Therefore, the stainless steel lost wax casting method is one of the most popular manufacturing methods for high-precision designs.
2. High-quality surface finish
The stainless steel lost wax casting method offers you a very high surface finish. Mostly, you do not have to perform secondary machining for refining the parts. However, it is optional for you to perform any surface finish for additional protection of the completed part. HDC offers multiple coating and furnishing surfaces for stainless steel parts.
3. Ideal for custom designs
Investment casting is an ideal method to develop custom designs of stainless steel. HDC is one of the most competent stainless steel lost wax casting manufacturers. Therefore, we offer multiple options for custom design to you. You can share the CAD design of your part and we will develop it with the investment casting method. You can even show us the image of the product, along with measurements, and we can develop the part for you.
4. Highly Reliable Method
Investment casting offers great reliability and durability for the parts throughout their life. The higher reliability of the investment casting method makes it a very popular method for critical industries like the aerospace industry.
5. Saves time
Stainless steel lost wax casting saves a lot of time as it is very little to the minimal need of reworking the final parts. As such, investment casting saves a lot of time that you can benefit from.
Stainless Steel Lost Wax Casting Parts
HDC offers all major types of parts that are manufactured from the lost wax casting method. Here is a list of the most popular investment casting parts that are provided by HDC.
·Centrifugal Pumps
Centrifugal pumps are a requirement in every industry around the world. We at HDC offer all types, shapes, designs, and categories of centrifugal pumps for all types of industries.
·Gearbox components
You can also get the gearbox components that are fully developed by the investment casting method. The components are of stainless steel 300 and 400 series. We select the best material for the parts. We also provide a material certificate if required by your local authorities.
·Stainless Steel tools
Investment casting is one of the best methods to manufacture tools. All our stainless steel tools are intricately developed and require a high level of precision. Also, the tools need to be durable and reliable for operation. We also manufacture custom stainless steel lost wax casting parts for our clients.
·Medical equipment
HDC manufactures stainless steel investment casting equipment that is ideal for work in the medical and medicinal industry. All our parts are tested on the highest level of quality inspection before being handed over to our clients. We also provide a material certificate with our parts if our clients request.
·Plumbing equipment
HDC manufactures all types of plumbing equipment. If you need pipes, clamps, tees, elbows, or other fittings plumbing then we can provide it for you. We can manufacture custom sizes and designs of stainless steel investment casting plumbing equipment.
Custom parts for the Stainless Steel industry
HDC can manufacture all types of custom investment casting parts from stainless steel. You just have to share your design with us along with the allowed tolerances and other specific details of the part and we will manufacture your custom parts. We at HDC are an experienced stainless steel lost wax casting manufacturers that provide the highest quality of products for our clients.
FAQ for Investment Casting
What are the benefits of using investment casting?
The stainless steel investment casting offers multiple benefits:
- Offers high heat resistance
- Tight tolerance levels
- Offers flexibility of sizing
- Higher surface finish quality
- Possible to create intricate shapes
- Corrosion resistance
- No/minimal secondary machining requirements
- Low material waste
What are the major applications of investment casting?
Due to the high corrosion resistance, high-strength and low maintenance investment casting are used in multiple applications like:
Food processing industry
Typical products of the food processing industry that make use of investment casting are food storage items, grinders, cooking machine components, etc.
Automotive industry
The automotive industry has extensive use of investment casting products. These products include grills, trims, exhaust pipes/components, and converters.
Medical and Healthcare industry
Since stainless steel investment casting offers high precision and corrosion resistance, it is very suitable for the medical industry. The investment casting process is often used for the manufacturing of surgical tools, operating equipment, MRI machine components, X-ray equipment, stretchers/wheelchairs, implant products, and dental tools.
Marine and locomotive industry
Stainless steel is resistant to corrosion and heat changes, therefore, it is an ideal material for the manufacturing of marine and locomotive parts like hydraulic blocks, valves, pumps, and associated equipment.
Pipes and Fittings industry
Investment casting is widely used for manufacturing stainless steel pipes, tees, elbows, nipples, and busing for the piping and fitting industry.
Is investment casting expensive?
For font-up costs, the investment casting process is slightly expensive than the forging or mold casting processes. However, certain benefits of investment casting reduce the overall cost of the product and benefit you in the long run. Meaning that the secondary machining cost required for milling, turning, drilling and cutting, etc. in other casting processes are avoided in the investment casting. Moreover, investment casting requires minimal draft angles for the removal of patterns from tooling and no draft is necessary for the removal of the metal castings from the investment shell. Therefore, the overall cost of the investment casting process is very competitive.
What tolerances can be achieved by investment casting?
Based on the use of various binder materials here are the general tolerances that are possible with investment casting:
Dimensional Casting Tolerance (DCT)
DCT G4-G6 Sol Lost Wax casting
DCT G5-G9 Glass Lost Wax casting
Geometrical Casting Tolerance (GCT)
GCT G3-G5 Sol Lost Wax casting
GCT G3-G5 Glass Lost Wax casting
At HDC the typical tolerances we offer are +/- 0.005 per inch. However, in case you need any specific tolerances for your parts you need to discuss the exact details with our design team for the finalization of tolerances of investment casting parts.
What stainless steel grades are available for investment casting at HDC?
You can choose from the stainless steel grades 304, 316, 304L/316L, 410, 416, and 17-4 for the investment casting process.
What are the size limits of investment casting parts?
You can now get products as small as dental braces, which range from a few centimeters to large aerospace parts which weigh 100s of kg from investment casting. We at HDC usually manufacture parts ranging from 0.1” to 24”. However, you need to discuss the project with our design team before finalization of the order for information on the possible size and weight of the stainless steel investment casting product.
What surface finishing is possible for investment casting?
Due to the injected wax during the casting process, the final investment casting product has a very formidable surface finish. However, as a general practice, a 125 rms micro finish is applied to the surface of investment casting products. It is even possible to use 63 or 62 RMS finishes on the surface during the secondary finishing stage. Although these are the standard finishes, the final finish will be as per the requirement of the client.
How does HDC do quality control of investment casting?
HDC is an ISO 9001-certified manufacturing facility which means that we have a rigorous quality control program in place. Furthermore, to ensure the highest quality for the final product we have multiple checkpoints in our investment casting process. Finally, the finished products are tested and checked for any deviations from the allowed tolerances before delivery to the client. Through this rigorous quality control process, we can manufacture the highest quality of lost wax casting products.
Are there any porosity or shrinkage defects due to the investment casting process?
Not in HDC. These issues are faced when the gas is not properly removed from the molten metal or if the metal takes a long time to solidify. However, HDC uses multiple technologies like the use of high-heat ceramic shells for better cooling. Moreover, the tree is designed in a way to trap the porosity in the tree rather than the casting. As a result, the final product is of high quality and free of any porosity/shrinkage defects.
What is the usual lead time for investment casting products?
It usually depends on the size, material, quantity, and complexity of the design of the product. Usually, small batches of up to 100 simple stainless steel investment casting products can be delivered between 2 to 4 weeks. Whereas, if the number increase or the part is complex then it can take some additional time. You can discuss the exact timelines of your investment casting products with our team before ordering.
What will I need to submit to HDC for starting the project?
You will need to provide HDC with the exact design details that you need. This also includes the CAD drawing of your product. If you don’t have the CAD drawing we can still work with it if you have the measurements and tolerances. You will need to inform us about the material you want to use for the process. Plus, when you will be in contact with our team member, he will guide you properly for all the requirements.
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