Lost wax casting is a primitive casting process that manufacturers can use to produce metal products with very high precision. Therefore, customers specifically look for lost wax casting manufacturers and ask them to customize various high-precision metal products. Lost wax casting can accurately replicate a large number of original products, thereby helping users increase business profits.
History Development
Lost wax casting originated from the Indus Valley civilization more than 6000 years ago. The ancients at that time had already begun to use this technique to create various crafts. Nowadays, modern lost wax casting technology is more mature, can produce metal casting products with higher precision, and involve more fields.
Lost Wax Casting Process
Operation Process of Lost Wax Casting
Lost wax casting requires multiple steps to be completed.
1. Model making.
The manufacturer creates the original model with wax, clay, or other materials. Waxes and oil-based clays are more commonly used because these materials are relatively soft.
2. Reverse mold.
Use the original model to mold. Generally, there is a rigid outer mold plus a softer inner mold, and the inner mold is the exact negative shape of the original model. The inner mold is usually made of latex, urethane rubber, or silicone and supported by the outer mold. The outer mold can be made of plaster, but it can also be made of fiberglass or other materials. Most molds are made of at least two pieces, and during construction, some spacers are placed between the parts so that the mold can be accurately put back together. If there are long and thin parts that extend out, they are often cut from the original model and molded separately. Sometimes many molds are needed to reconstruct the original model, especially for large models.
3. Cast wax.
Once the mold is complete, pour the molten wax into it and shake it to form a uniform coating on the inner surface, usually about 1/8 inch (3 mm) thick. Another method is to fill the entire mold with molten wax and let it cool until the desired thickness is set on the surface of the mold. Then pour out the rest of the wax again, invert the mold to cool and harden the wax layer. Using this method is more difficult to control the overall thickness of the wax layer.
4. Remove wax.
Remove the hollow wax version of the original model from the mold. The mold can be reused to make multiple copies, which is only limited by the durability of the mold.
5. Polishing.
Polish each hollow wax replica and wipe the parting line with a heated metal tool. The surface of the wax model should not have any defects, it looks like a finished product. The individually molded wax molds can now be heated and combined together.
6. Open the sprue.
The wax replica is made into a wax tree with a tree-like structure, which will eventually provide a path for the molten casting material to flow and allow air to escape. There is usually a wax "cup" from the top, and the wax mold is connected to various points by wax pillars.
7. Sizing.
The wax tree is immersed in silica slurry and then immersed in sandy plaster or crystalline silica with a certain grain size. The combination of slurry and gravel is called a ceramic mold. Dry and repeat the process until at least half an inch of coating covers the entire part. The larger the object, the thicker the shell needs to be.
8. Burn out.
The ceramic shell coating is placed in the kiln, and the heat hardens the silica coating into a shell, melting the wax and expelling it. The melted wax can be recycled and reused, but it is generally simply burned. Now, the shape of the original object is the inside of the hardened ceramic shell, which is the negative shape previously occupied by wax. The feed tube is now also hollow.
9. Test.
Let the ceramic shell cool down and then test to see if water will flow freely through the feeder and exhaust pipe. Cracks or leaks can be repaired with thick refractory paste. To test the thickness, holes can be punched in the shell and then patched.
10. Pouring.
Reheat the shell in the kiln to reinforce the patch and remove all moisture, and then put the mouth up into a bucket full of sand. The metal is melted in a crucible in the furnace and then carefully poured into the shell. The enclosure must be very hot, otherwise, the temperature difference will destroy it. The filled shell is then cooled.
11. Demoulding.
The shell is knocked off, removing rough castings. The metal gate is also cut off and recycled for the next pouring.
12. Metal polishing.
Finally, metal casting is polished.
Benefits of Lost Wax Casting
● Lost wax casting products have high dimensional accuracy and surface finish
● Can produce high-precision metal products in large quantities
● Various patterns can be customized
Application Field
With the improvement of industrial technology, the application range of lost wax casting is now wider. It can be applied to the aerospace field, food processing, construction field, medical field, auto parts, valve and pipe manufacturing, propeller manufacturing, military equipment, etc.
Lost Wax Casting Manufacturer
If you are looking for a lost wax casting manufacturer to help you produce various metal products. Then you may need our besser casting to serve you.
We are a precision casting company from China, and our best casting process is lost wax casting. Our current casting products are mainly exported to more than ten countries, including the United States, Germany, Japan, Spain, the Netherlands, Italy, South Korea and Brazil. So far, we have become an important Chinese supplier to two of the world's top 500 companies, and a designated supplier of many industrial giants.
Our Advantage
● The geographical position is good, we are located in a coastal city, and can deliver products quickly.
● The production cost is low. We have decades of production experience, which can reasonably reduce your unnecessary losses. Make your products more competitive
● Professional technical team, we have a technical team and hundreds of skilled workers can help you solve various problems very well.
● To support various processing services, we have two factories, one for production and one for processing.
● After-sales service, we have online customer service to ensure that you can answer you in time when you need help.
Our Lost Wax Casting Service
● Design and manufacture of precision casting molds
● Metal surface treatment
● Heat treatment
● Non-destructive testing (NDT)
● Passivation service
● Fast delivery
Contact Besser Lost Wax Casting Manufacturer
Contact us today to learn more about this industry-leading industrial manufacturing process. Learn how we can work with you to increase the efficiency of mass order production without losing the precision performance that makes your company stand out.