Investment Cast Tooling
Investment Cast Tooling
Investment Cast Tooling is a great option for economic tool building needs. These tools can either be single or multiple cavity molds with manual or cylinder driven pulls. Commonly used for runs to maintain tight tolerances, they are ideal for thin wall applications and offer highly repeatable results. The final part cast with this process has such an elevated surface finish, that secondary polishing, sanding and deburring operations are greatly decreased. Whether you have automated or manual press equipment, we can manufacture Investment Cast Molds to meet your equipment specifications.
Mostly made from aluminum, these dies contain manual or pneumatic ejector systems that are compatible with our customers' systems. We manufacture all of our Investment Cast Molds to customer specifications.
We specialize in economy tool building, working with our clients to discuss tolerance modifications to deliver the desired part at the desired price.
Example Parts
Specifications
Tooling Applications
Investment Cast Tooling is used for metal castings. These tools can be employed in either automated or manual presses. Benefits of using Investment Cast Tooling includes:
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High repeatability
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Tight tolerances
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High performance in thin wall applications
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Superior surface finish characteristics
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Cast-net or near-net parts
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Good for high volume part production
Many times, investment casting is used as an alternative to standard sand casting by foundries that are looking to fabricate in high production larger molds. Investment casting is a cost effective alternative when tight tolerances are not needed.
Tooling Features
Investment Cast Tooling can be made with a variety of features based on the design of the final part. LMP can fabricate features into the molds such as:
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Manual/Pneumatic Ejectors
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Manual/Pneumatic Pulls
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Manual/Pneumatic Core Systems
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Investment Drawers
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Cores or Multiple pieces to draw out
We can also manufacture investment molds that require soluble cores in instances where standard pulls and core systems cannot be used.
Compatible Equipment
LMP can create investment cast molds and tooling that are compatible with manual or automatic presses. We can build our molds to accommodate any press capacity our customers' facilities have.
Investment Cast Tooling Materials
All investment cast molds are made from Aluminum with vertical mating surfaces. We hard coat anodize one side of the tool to prevent mulling of the material- resulting in a smoother pull.
Production Methods
LMP employs skilled machinists who use hand tools, manual machines and CNC machines to create the final investment cast tooling or mold.
When fabricating investment casting tools and molds out of aluminum- manual and CNC machining is utilized along with water jet cutting, Electric Discharge Machining (EDM) and laser jet cutting to create the correct features and dimensions of the pattern.
Direct Wax Machining
We can machine directly into wax to bypass the traditional investment casting process for projects of extremely low volume production. Machining a wax pattern is a cost effective alternative to conventional investment casting molds.
Secondary Operations
With investment cast molds, LMP can also provide pneumatic lines and controls as well as pneumatic ejector systems for larger or more intricate molds. Pneumatic ejector systems can be comprised of ejector pins, ejector sleeves, and/or ejector plates. The automatic secondary pneumatic system that LMP can provide is compatible with all presses and investment casting equipment. Other follow-up services offered include:
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Inspection Services- Manual inspection of the mold with a comprehensive inspection report.
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Maintenance Services
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Tool Modification - Adjusting the tool to fit on a new or different piece of equipment or adjusting for changes in the cavity due to part re-design.
Part Size Limitations
We can manufacture patterns and tooling of all sizes- from small, intricate equipment to large pieces that need to be trucked in for our customers. We have produced tooling requiring multiple shipments to a customer's facility where it was assembled on location.
LMP has created tooling up to 2 ft x 3 ft with manual pulls. We have the capability to create single piece tooling up to 30 in. x 60 in. x 30 in. in size. Larger tools will be made in multiple pieces as will extremely complex tools. Our typical grid size is 18 in. x 30 in.
Machining Tolerances
LMP has the ability to produce your smallest most intricate parts, molds, and models with tolerances +/- .005” using conventional and CNC machine tools.
Production Volume
LMP provides custom built to specification tooling- typically in a single quantity.
Preferred Drawing Submission
We support DWG, DXF, IGES, DSN, SCPRT, x_t and other customer files utilizing our Surfcam software and can arrange for file conversion of any program we do not currently support.
Software
LMP uses Surfcam CAD/CAM Software for all tooling design and fabrication.
In-House Equipment
Motionmaster 60 x 60 x 30 CNC 5-axis router (2)
Thermwood 60 x 120 3-axis CNC
Freyer 30 X 60 X 30 3-axis Vertical Machining Center
Cintimatic 18 X 30 X 18 3-axis Vertical Machining Center
Wadkins Vertical Turning Center
Industries Served
Investment Casting Foundries