Alloy choice decides your casting yield, your machining hours and your scrap rate. We review the drawing, then tell you which grade will cast cleanly and which one will fight you.
Most casting problems trace back to a grade chosen for the wrong reason, or a wall thickness nobody checked.
A high-carbon martensitic grade is picked for hardness, then quenched without a preheat step matched to section size. Parts crack at a corner radius. You lose the whole lot and the tooling lead time with it.
A 1.5 mm wall in a low-fluidity alloy fills short on the far end of the shell. Wax injection looked perfect. The defect only shows after knockout, so you pay for the pour and the cut-off anyway.
The alloy is cheap per kilogram but abrasive. Tool life drops, cycle time climbs, and the per-part cost lands above the higher-grade option you rejected at the quoting stage.
A grade with adequate chromium is chosen, but the service environment has chlorides and the part is welded. Stress corrosion cracking shows up in the field, not on the bench.
We read the drawing for wall thickness, radii, cores and post-cast operations before naming a grade.
Fluidity and shrinkage set the floor for wall thickness. Austenitic stainless grades pour well and hold thin sections, but they shrink more than carbon steel and need feed paths sized for that. Martensitic grades fill less readily and want thicker walls and generous fillets around internal corners.
If the drawing has a 2 mm wall in a long, narrow passage, we say so before quoting. The fix is often a small geometry change, or a switch to an austenitic grade that will fill it. Either way, you hear it at the DFM stage, not after the pour.
Investment castings rarely ship as-cast. Datum faces, bores and sealing surfaces get machined, so the alloy has to survive the cut, not just the pour. 17-4PH in the H900 condition cuts cleanly and holds a bore, which is why it shows up on valve bodies and pump housings. Soft austenitic grades work-harden and need sharp tooling and steady feeds.
We hold ±0.005 mm on machined features and Ra 0.8–1.6 μm on sealing faces when the casting is sound. Porosity under a machined surface is the failure mode that matters here. We check it before the part reaches the machine.
Starting points for the first conversation. Section size and heat treat always override the table.
| Alloy family | Strengths | Watch out for |
|---|---|---|
| Low alloy steel | Strong, hardenable, low cost | Needs heat treat control; limited corrosion resistance |
| Martensitic stainless | Hard and wear resistant, magnetic | Cracks without matched preheat; poor weldability |
| Austenitic stainless | Corrosion resistant, weldable, non-magnetic | Work-hardens; lower hardness than martensitic |
| Ferritic stainless | Magnetic, moderate corrosion resistance | Lower strength; limited hardenability |
| Duplex stainless | High strength, resists stress corrosion cracking | Narrow heat treat window; needs controlled cooling |
| Copper-based alloys | Thermal and electrical conductivity, easy to machine | Lower strength at temperature; heavier than aluminium |
| Tool steel | Wear and shock resistance, hot strength | High carbon; needs careful preheat and tempering |
Casting, machining, finishing and inspection in the same supply chain, so tolerance stacks stay short.
Silicone tooling for bridge parts and low-volume runs. Useful when a casting is needed before hard tooling is cut, or when the design is still moving.
Aluminium and zinc alloys in steel dies for higher volumes. We compare it against investment casting when the geometry allows.
16 simultaneous 5-axis centers handle contoured faces, angled bores and features that would otherwise need several setups.
27 three-axis machines and 16 mill-turn centers for the turning and milling work on castings and bar stock.
Printed patterns and prototypes to test fit before committing to production tooling.
Anodizing, plating, powder coating, bead blasting and laser marking, applied after machining.
Capabilities we can commit to from our own equipment list.
| Item | Capability | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Maximum processing size | 4,000 mm | Larger travels on specific machines |
| Machining tolerance | ±0.005 mm | On machined features, not as-cast surfaces |
| Surface finish | Ra 0.2–0.8 μm | Fine finish on request; standard is Ra 0.8–1.6 μm |
| Order quantity | 1 to 10,000+ | No minimum order quantity |
| Inspection | 100% before shipment | Material, in-process and final checks; reports on request |
| Confidentiality | NDA on request | Uploads are handled as confidential |
Casting, machining and finishing experience across aerospace, automotive, medical and industrial work.
Machined features held to ±0.005 mm (0.0002 in) on parts we produce end to end.
Measured across production runs, supported by 100% inspection before shipment.
Quotation and free DFM analysis within 12 hours of receiving a drawing.
Material and tooling released so cutting can begin within 24 hours of approval.
7,600 m² in Dongguan plus a Singapore factory at No.3 Joo Koon Circle.
Thin-wall structures and pressure-tight housings. Traceability and dimensional reports are expected on every lot.
Cast housings and brackets where cycle time and weight both count. IATF 16949:2016 processes govern the run.
Stainless instrument parts and housings that need clean surfaces and repeatable geometry across lots.
Valve bodies, pump parts and tooling that run hard and get replaced on a schedule.
304 or 316 covers most corrosion-resistant work where hardness is not the driver. They cast well, weld easily and are non-magnetic, which matters if the part sits near a sensor.
Choose 17-4PH instead when you need strength and hardness after aging. It machines predictably and holds a bore, but it is magnetic.
When the service environment has chlorides and the part carries stress, especially if it is welded. Duplex resists stress corrosion cracking better than austenitic grades and gives higher strength at a similar chromium level.
The trade-off is process control. Duplex has a narrow heat treat window and needs controlled cooling, so it suits a shop that already runs tight thermal cycles.
Sometimes, but it depends on the length of the section and how it feeds. Low alloy steel is less fluid than austenitic stainless, so thin walls far from the gating tend to fill short.
Send the drawing and we will tell you whether the wall holds or needs to thicken. Changing the geometry before tooling is cheaper than changing it after.
Yes, and usually more than the casting price does. Soft austenitic stainless work-hardens, so feeds and tooling change. Abrasive or hard alloys reduce tool life and raise cycle time.
We quote the casting and the machining together so you see the total per-part cost, not just the pour.
We inspect before machining, since a defect found after the cut costs you the casting and the machine time. Location matters too: porosity in a non-sealing area may be acceptable, but not under an O-ring groove.
Acceptance criteria are agreed at the quoting stage so there is no argument later.
The 3D model or drawing, the service environment, any heat treat or welding steps, and the surfaces that will be machined. Cycle count helps as well.
With that, we return a material recommendation and a DFM analysis within 12 hours, including any geometry changes we would make.
Yes. Vacuum casting with silicone tooling covers bridge quantities and early builds, and it works when the design is still moving. There is no minimum order quantity.
Once the design freezes, we move to production tooling for runs up to 10,000+ parts.
Yes. Uploads are handled as confidential, and an NDA is available on request before you send drawings.
We can also restrict which engineers see the files if your program requires it.
Quotation and free DFM analysis within 12 hours, with a material choice you can defend to your own review board.
12-hour quote100% inspectionNo minimum order quantityNDA on request
Trusted by engineers and manufacturers worldwide
Upload your 3D model or 2D drawing and get a quotation with a free DFM analysis. Maximum processing size 4,000 mm.
CNC Metals 13 grades
CNC Plastics 10 grades
Machines & processes 12 options
Surface & post-processing 10 options
Material: not selected Machine: not selected Post-process: not selected
Fill in this short form and we'll open WhatsApp with your message ready to send. We only use these details to reply to you.
Nothing is sent until you press send inside WhatsApp.
