To create a casting first and for most a pattern needs to be manufactured, there are many different materials which you can manufacture a pattern out of all of which promote different qualities.

  • Thermo Cole

  • Wood

  • Aluminium

  • SG Iron

  • Urethane

  • Epoxy Filled

Patterns are made to an exact replica of the shape of the end product. When creating patterns we need to take into consideration the shrinkage of the casting as its cooling, this will depend on the material used. Iron contacts at 1mm for every 100mm, steel contracts at 1mm for every 60mm, the finished casting is to be machined an allowance of 2mm to 5mm is added to cover machining.

Thermo Cole

This material is used for when a rougher casting needs to be done with a lack of machining. This material would be used for a prototype casting due to it being a cheap material.

Wood

Wooden patterns can be made for batch sizes of 200 or less. This is due to wood being prone to warping and getting wear and tear meaning accuracy gets lowered after a while. This is a cheap option but still gives a fairly rough surface area.

Aluminium

This is good for large batch sizes aslong as it is looked after correctly. Good surface finishes can be achieved via Aluminium with tight dimensional accuracy.

SG Iron

Spheroidal graphite cast iron are commonly used for shell casting moulding, this is due to it being good at dealing with high temperatures and having a high yield strength.

Urethane

This material is a step up from Aluminium castings being a tougher material allows more components to be made from this pattern. This material enables a good surface finish.

Epoxy Filled

This material is perfect for processes with high temperatures due to epoxy having good thermal stability. Excellent surface finishes can be achieved via this material.
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