investment casting

you'll learn below, one-shot patterns are made by injecting wax into the mold, so features that are difficult or costly to injection mold or die cast are also cost-prohibitive to investment casting.

Investment casting is often used when low volumes are expected (for example, less than 10,000 pieces), while die casting is often used when high volumes are expected.

Investment casting parts can be made from a variety of metal alloys. Investment casting materials include aluminum and copper alloys, carbon and low alloy steels, stainless steels, tool steels, and nickel and cobalt alloys. Die casting must be limited to metals with relatively low melting temperatures – mainly zinc and aluminum.

In investment casting, metal molds or molds are made by machining or casting. The more complex the shape (for example, due to undercuts), the more expensive the metal tooling will be.