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Frequently Asked Questions
What separates us from other
investment casting foundries?
What metals can be cast?
What size range of parts can be
produced by the investment casting process?
What are the dimensional
tolerances and surface finish that can be attained?
Aren't investment castings
expensive? And if so, how can they save me money?
What type of tooling or pattern
equipment is necessary?
When is a part to be considered
for this process?
How do we know if our design
optimizes the process capability?
Q. What separates us from other investment casting
foundries?
A. Some of the things that
separate Aristo Cast from our competitors are the honesty,
integrity, service, and quality you get when dealing with Aristo
Cast. Our willingness to go above and beyond, and our attitude
of total cooperation sets us above the rest. We have a modern
well equipped facility designed from inception as an investment
casting facility. We offer one stop shopping from concept to
production; design assistance, rapid prototypes in both castings
and ABS plastic, we have the very best tool shop in the industry
to construct cavities to our specifications, we cast a wide
variety of ferrous and non-ferrous alloys. We are one of a
select group of investment casting facilities to include
zinc and magnesium in their alloy choice.
Our combined experience in the automotive latch hardware
industry is unsurpassed.
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Q. What
metals can be cast?
A. At Aristo Cast, Inc.,
we can cast virtually any air-melt alloy, aluminum, bronze,
stainless steel, low and high carbon steel and cobalt alloys are
routinely cast. We now offer magnesium and zinc castings also.
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Q. What size range of parts can be produced by the
investment casting process?
A. Investment castings can
be produced in all alloys from a fraction of an ounce (such as a
dental brace for a tooth) to over 1,000 pounds (complex aircraft
engine parts). Of the approximately three hundred investment
casting foundries nationwide, most cast parts are in the ounces
to 20 pound range. Presently a larger number of foundries are
increasing their capability to pour larger parts, and pieces in
the 20-120 pound range are becoming quite common.
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Q. What are the dimensional tolerances and surface
finish that can be attained?
A. +/-.005 inch per inch
and 125 RMS max.
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Q. Aren't investment castings expensive? And if so, how
can they save me money?
A. While investment
castings are generally more expensive than forged parts or those
produced by other casting methods, they make up for the higher
cost through reduction of machining achieved through the near
net shape tight tolerances that can be held as cast. Many parts
that require milling, turning, drilling and grinding to finish
can be investment cast with only 0.020-0.030 finish stock.
Again, it is imperative for the engineering staff of the foundry
and customer to get together and discuss what can or cannot be
cast to determine final finishing requirements and the potential
cost savings.
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Q. What type of tooling or pattern equipment is
necessary?
A. Typically, a split
cavity aluminum die is manufactured that is the "female" mold
from which the "male" wax patterns are produced. Depending on
the complexity of the casting, various combinations of aluminum,
ceramic or soluble cores may be employed to yield the desired
configuration. Most tooling for investment castings falls in
the $1,000-$15,000.00 category.
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Q. When is a part to be considered for this process?
A. Any time a part has
extensive machining required or a multi component assembly, are
just a couple of examples, of when to consider investment
casting for your parts.
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Q. How do we know if our design optimizes the process
capability?
A. Contact our engineering
department to discuss design concepts at the very outset of part
design or inception.
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