Investment casting (also known as lost wax investment casting) produces parts with fine detail and excellent as-cast surface finish. Investment castings shape into internal or external features, thin walls, and internal passageways to get to a near-net shape. These features often lead to significant cost savings in material, labor, and machining compared to other metal casting processes.
In investment casting a detailed wax pattern of the finished part is created and mounted onto a wax "tree" that includes the metal delivery system (gates and risers). The tree is alternately dipped into a ceramic slurry and sprinkled with stucco material, and then allowed to dry. This process is repeated until a thick shell exists over the wax pattern.
The wax pattern is then melted, leaving a cavity within the stucco material in the shape of the pattern. Molten metal is poured into this cavity. Once the metal solidifies the shell is broken away through a shakeout process and the gating material is removed, leaving the finished part.
