Investment castings are produced via a wax pattern. This process requires one wax pattern for each metal casting required and can be cast in most alloys. Multiple aluminum or zinc castings can be produced from a single tool making this process good for projects requiring a high number of castings.
Metal casting is one of the most common casting processes. Metal patterns are more expensive but are more dimensionally stable and durable. Metallic patterns are used where repetitive production of castings is required in large quantities.
Casting is a manufacturing process by which a liquid material is usually poured into a mold, which contains a hollow cavity of the desired shape, and then allowed to solidify. The solidified part is also known as a casting, which is ejected or broken out of the mold to complete the process. Casting materials are usually metals or various cold setting materials that cure after mixing two or more components together; examples are epoxy, concrete, plaster and clay. Casting is most often used for making complex shapes that would be otherwise difficult or uneconomical to make by other methods.