Investment Casting History: Ancient Lost Wax to Precision Cast Machine Components
Lost Wax and Foam Casting Through Time and Development
Investment casting is an ancient technique which has been refined and developed into a modern high-tech process. Investment casting, also known as lost wax or lost foam casting, was originally used for copper statues and tools over 5,000 years ago. Civilizations in the Indus Valley, Egypt, China and Central America developed lost-wax casting, with many surviving traditions still producing unique art and even practical tools. Artists, toolmakers and military suppliers used lost wax casting to create intricate figures, complex tools and sharp arrowheads. Ancient lost-wax casting used materials such as beeswax and clay to produce these copper, bronze and gold items much faster than smithing and abrasion.
Modern investment casting methods began in the dental industry. This method was used to create precision tools which require small, intricate metal parts. Investment casting is perfect for creating tiny dental crowns based on molds of the patient’s teeth. This same precision would later go on to aid countless high tech machines in the coming century.
Continued development of investment casting was necessitated by the heavy material demands during World War II. Newly designed weapons of war required innovative manufacturing processes to keep up with advancing design specifications. New aircraft engines were particularly reliant on investment cast parts capable of meeting precise design requirements. Exact alloy concentrations and physical dimensions are critical to the survival of high-performance aircraft and their crews. Countless similar applications proved vital for the war effort, advancing the technological sophistication and popularity of precision investment casting.
Due to the need for steel and alloy machine parts capable of operating within thinner and thinner tolerances, investment casting is quickly becoming an incredibly precise industry relied upon for creating increasingly complex and effective components. Art production, the original application of lost-wax investment casting, lives on as the most reliable method of fabricating metallic sculptures from artists’ molds.
R2 Quality Castings draws on decades of experience and millennia of tradition when creating effective cast parts, high quality fine art, and precision cast propellers. Our precision investment casting process represents the peak of metal casting with outstanding custom cast parts designed for performance and tested for perfection.
