Investment Casting

Investment Casting is a foundry process known since ancient times. Used in times long past almost exclusively for sculptural production, it was almost completely abandoned and then rediscovered during the Second World War for war purposes, and in the following 50’s for industrial production.

After the Second World War, Investment casting had a sudden development. Today, thanks to its versatility and dimensional precision, it covers various sectors such as: aeronautics and space, oil and gas, nautical, furniture, automotive, goldsmithing, medical, just to name a few.

The modern techniques used in the industrial field have had a continuous development. They passed from the technology called “Water Glass”, the only one initially available, to the most modern and reliable casting technology called “Silica Casting”, where Zirconium sands and silicate-based binders are the ingredients that allow to obtain much more performing ceramic shells. The Water Glass technology, despite being cheaper, has now been abandoned, mainly for 2 reasons:

– non-suitability for the melting of stainless steels

– low quality of the casting surface

– major porosity problems

In Italy, even if this technology was already known, it took hold only in the 50s, when it was imported from the United States.

In Russia the technological development went hand in hand with the American one, and from there the technology was exported to China around the end of the 50s.

Today the major producers are located in Asia, China and India, as the production process requires a lot of manpower, forcing up production costs in Western countries.

The Lost Wax Casting Process is characterized by several steps. To know more about the production flow please refer to the video below.

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With Lost Wax casting Process you can obtain products of variable dimensions, both in weight and size. Initially, this technology was only used for the production of small components, especially in the field of jewelry and in the dental field. Today, with lost wax casting technology, objects varying in weight from a few grams to over 100kg are produced. The dimensions of the items can reach volumes of 500mm*500*450mm; these dimensions are normally linked to the capacity of the presses used in the formation of waxes. However, considering that the single waxes can also be added together, the maximum dimensions can change greatly.

SR Tech produces components for different types of manufacturing industries. All products are made of steel, in various versions, stainless steel, alloyed, tempered, special. We do not produce Aluminium, Bronze or other non-ferrous alloys.

SR Tech imports castings from China. As it is easy to realize from the flow of the production process above, finished parts cannot be obtained in a short time; it takes at least 30 – 40 days to obtain the raw part with the Lost Wax Casting technology. At this point it is necessary to take into account any accessory machining, from CNC machining, to polishing, or finishing parts. So it is easy to reach at least 60 – 70 days before the part is ready to be shipped. Finally, the times of crossing by sea must be added to this lead time, and then we have to count the standard supply times of about 90 – 100 days. SR Tech has decided to activate at its headquarters in Parma the possibility to manage the stocks with KanBan system in security, completely eliminating the waiting time, guaranteeing the delivery of the products in 5 working days.

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