Investment casting — also known as the lost-wax process — is a near-net-shape casting method capable of producing parts with fine surface finish, intricate geometry and tight dimensional tolerances. A wax pattern of the part is built, assembled into a tree, and repeatedly dipped into a ceramic slurry to form a shell. The wax is melted out, the shell is fired, and molten stainless steel is poured into the cavity. Once cooled, the shell is broken away and the casting is cut from the runner system, ground, heat-treated and inspected.
We use the silica sol process (also referred to as silica colloidal investment casting), which produces a smoother surface finish and tighter tolerances than the water-glass process. This makes it especially well suited to stainless steel parts that will see machining, polishing or close-fit assembly, and reduces the amount of secondary stock and rework required downstream.
Our partner foundry runs a fully integrated investment casting operation, with the following stages performed under one roof:
Vertical integration matters because it shortens lead times, keeps tolerances under one quality system, and avoids the hand-offs that often introduce defects in multi-supplier supply chains. It also lets us cost-engineer parts properly: in many cases we can redesign a fabricated or machined-from-bar component as a single casting and remove significant material and machining cost.
We routinely cast a wide range of stainless and special alloys to ASTM, EN and equivalent standards, including:
Other grades and bespoke chemistries can be matched against your specification or drawing. Material is verified by spectrometer at the foundry and again on receipt where required, and full chemical and mechanical certification is supplied with every batch.
| Single-piece weight | From a few grams up to approximately 50 kg per casting |
| Linear tolerance | Typically CT5–CT6 (ISO 8062) on as-cast features |
| Surface finish | Ra 3.2 µm or better on most as-cast surfaces |
| Wall thickness | Down to 2 mm on suitable geometries |
| Machined features | Held to drawing tolerance via in-house CNC and grinding |
Stainless steel investment castings used in pressure equipment cannot be signed off on appearance alone. Every part we ship is supported by a documented quality plan and a level of testing matched to the application. Standard capabilities include:
Our stainless steel investment castings are specified into demanding sectors where failure is not an option:
If you produce equipment in any of these sectors and you are sourcing stainless castings from multiple suppliers, there is usually a strong case for consolidating with a single, certified partner.
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