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DESIGN GUIDE OVERVIEW
Signicast's goal is to work in partnership with our customers to produce high-quality investment cast components that will provide superior performance and durability. This requires sound mechanical design of the final component and the investment casting, reliable process controls, consideration of marketplace economic requirements, and clear communication among all parties.
In any manufacturing process, the price of a product will increase as the dimensional tolerance and inspection criteria become more stringent. At Signicast, we believe that early involvement and input by our technical staff allows our customers to overcome traditional casting tolerance issues. This is accomplished by innovation and technology to provide 100% conformance to specifications as cast, delivered on time and at the lowest total cost.
The most important design guideline to remember is to get Signicast involved early in the design stage. For more on how Signicast can help with your design, read our New Product Launch Guide.
- SIZE AND WEIGHT
Part size and weight are the most critical factor in determining investment casting cost because mold capacity is limited by both size and weight. The more pieces that can run on a mold, the lower the part cost. Unnecessary mass should always be removed by correct engineering practices to reduce part weight. - NUMBER OF GATES
When possible, a part should be designed so that a single gate can feed the part. This will generally yield more pieces per mold and reduce the pour weight per mold. - CASTABILITY
The design contains features that will raise scrap or rework rates (and piece price) the Signicast Estimating Engineer will recommend design modifications to keep the piece price down.
To download our complete Design Guide, Click here.
