The History and evolution of Investment Casting
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Investment casting is one of the oldest known metal forming techniques, and over time it has been refined and developed into the precision engineering process it is today.
How Long has Investment Casting Been Around?
The origins of investment casting can be traced back more than 5,000 years, with early examples of the process taking place in ancient Egypt and China. Early materials used in the ‘lost-wax’ process included animal fat, leather and beeswax.
Even these earliest examples exhibit great craftsmanship, with highly intricate casted parts being produced thousands of years ago.
How has Investment Casting Evolved?
For the vast majority of its history, investment casting was primarily used for sculpture and works of art. It was not until the beginning of the 20th century that casted parts started to be used as medical and engineering components.
The process itself has come a long way since the days of using beeswax. Today, more advanced waxes, refractory materials and specialist alloys are used to make castings of far greater complexity than would have been possible historically. It is also possible to make patterns with water-soluble cores in order to cast hollow components.
Typically, patterns are now made using natural or synthetic wax, and used to make moulds from aluminium or steel.
Prototyping
Another major development in investment casting is the advent of rapid prototyping.
This form of prototyping uses 3D printing to create iterations of a design in resin for a designer to check and make adjustments to if necessary.
This is far quicker than previous techniques, which required prototype parts to be cast using a mould. This older process is still used in certain circumstances.
Find out more about Texmo Blank’s investment casting capabilities.
Further Information
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