Looking for recommendation on steel die-casting company in N.A. or offshore

Looking for recommendation on steel investment casting company in N.A. or offshore

I'd be grateful for any comments or suggestions on a reliable and reasonable steel investment casting company in N.A. or offshore. Suggestions on who to avoid are equally welcome! Thanks in advance!

The parts being considered are not very complex, but incorporate too many compound curves for machining to be cost-effective IMO. Parts are only about 2.5" max dimension.

This is who I use... Dickson Investment casting...Another toolmaker I know who is international has a lot of parts for his tools cast here as well

Dickson Investment Hardware, Inc.

Here's who we use in Korea:
www.chunjimetal.com

Complex parts in mild stee, stainless and duplex. ISO 9000 plus nuclear quality plan.
JR

I have never dealt directly with an investment casting foundry, but I have machined and finished a lot of castings from some USA foundries whose names I never asked. Common problems are caused by warped wax patterns resulting in crooked castings, probably from handling the wax while it is still too warm. Some of the bent patterns were made from aluminum dies, but most were from rubber molds made from finished metal original parts. I expect the wax takes longer to harden in rubber molds, making warping more likely. Also I see positive and negative bubbles on the castings, cold shuts and short castings caused by the wax not filling the die or the metal not filling the mold. There is a lot of hand work involved in making the patterns and assembling them into trees, so individual skills influence the end result.

Bottom line is, you need a good foundry that will not waste your time and money with bad castings.

About thirty years ago, I was talking to a guy who told me he sourced investment castings from India. He said he got good product and the prices were very low.

Larry

Thank you for the comments and suggestions!

We get thousands of silver castings that were made from rubber molded waxes every year. No problem with warped castings,and most are quite thin. If the steel castings were made from wax patterns and were warped,they had some careless,ham handed operator there.

Get in touch with Paul Hamler of miniature tools fame. He does steel investments, but I do not know who he uses. PM me if you can not get in contact with him through his web site.

Jim

Thank you Jim, I will see if I can get in touch with him, and even if I can't, his website was worth seeing!