Lost Wax Casting - What Makes It Unique, Its Applications, and Step-by-Step Process

2022-12-26

Lost wax casting, often called investment casting, is quite a different casting method when compared to the more common casting processes, such as die casting, sand casting, and others. The lost wax casting method uses the wax molds as the tooling materials for the casting process. You might also add other layers for the wax molds by using ceramics or other breakable materials, such as the case with stainless-steel investment casting.

Here are the important factors that make lost wax casting unique:

●Using breakable molds. Compared to die casting, which uses steel molds for the casting process, lost wax casting uses breakable molds to perform its casting process. The primary molds you can use in lost wax casting are the wax molds, but you can also use other breakable molds, such as ceramics and rubbers.

●Superior dimensional accuracy. Thanks to the flexible molds you will use for the lost wax casting process, you can achieve superior dimensional accuracy when compared to other casting methods. This will allow you to produce parts and components that have specific dimensions with no deviations in their dimensional characteristics.

●More complexity in the design. The flexible wax molds will also allow you to create more complexity in the metal object design. It’s easier for the molten metal to follow the shape of the wax molds, which is the reason you can apply a more complex design in lost wax casting.

●Adding other layers for the wax molds. You can also add other layers for the wax molds before pouring the molten metal into the molds, such as by using ceramics or rubbers. You can use ceramics for additional layering in the lost wax casting technique for stainless-steel materials. 

Applications of Lost Wax Casting

The lost wax casting method has various applications across different industries. With its dimensional accuracy and capability to create complex parts, you can use this casting process to turn any design into actual objects with 1:1 ratio and with little or no risks of product defects.

Here are some common applications of lost wax casting:

●Oil and gas. The oil and gas industry needs to use hardware parts and components with complex shapes and dimensional accuracy for their refinery and other equipment. To produce these parts and components, lost wax casting is the best method to use. 

●Food industry. There are plenty of food-related products that use the lost wax casting process, such as tableware, cutlery, and kitchenware. Stainless steel is the most common material used by the food industry to create various food-related products using lost wax casting. The reason is that stainless steel won’t contaminate the foods, which won’t pose any risks for your health.

●Automotive. Various parts and components for the automotive industry, such as engines, exhaust pipes, gears, and many others, use the lost wax casting method to produce them. With lost wax casting, you can use various materials for the parts production in the automotive industry, such as stainless steel, iron, copper, and many others. 

●Aerospace. The aerospace industry also needs to use lost wax casting to produce various parts and components for their aircraft. Manufacturers use the lost wax casting process to produce the engines and other essential construction parts of aircraft and spacecraft.

●Medical. Lost wax casting is also useful in various medical applications, which include creating dental models in dentistry, creating medical tools for orthopedic patients, and creating various surgical tools, wheelchairs, stretchers, and other medical equipment.

Step-by-Step Process of Lost Wax Casting

The process of lost wax casting can get complicated, and it might take a long time for you to get your cast materials ready to use. Here are the simplified steps of lost wax casting:

●Wax mold creation. First, you will need to create the wax molds by using the 3D printing equipment and CAD software to create the basic design of the parts you want to produce, and then invert it for creating the molds for the parts.

●Injecting the wax molds into the wax pattern tree. After creating the wax molds, you will need to inject the wax molds into the wax pattern tree. It’s a hub that will connect various wax molds together for an easier casting process later.

●Pouring the molten metal into the wax pattern tree. Now, you will need to pour the molten metal into the wax pattern tree, and the molten metal will enter each wax mold connected to the wax pattern tree.

●Cooling down. You will need to cool down the molten metal to allow them to transform into solid metal objects that will follow the wax mold design. 

●De-waxing process. The de-waxing process will allow you to melt the wax molds and reveal the solid metal objects you have created in the casting process. You can recycle the wax materials and use them again in the next batch production.

●Quality inspection. Now, you just need to inspect the quality of each metal object to ensure that it meets your design requirements.

Conclusion

You can use lost wax casting to produce parts and components that have a high dimensional accuracy and complex shapes. The process can get complicated, but most of the time, you will get the completed parts and components that will meet your design requirements with little or no defects.