Access practical information to support supplier evaluation, part design, project preparation and manufacturing review.

Practical guidance covering common design considerations for custom investment castings, including:

• Wall thickness and section transitions
• Fillets and radii
• Holes and internal features
• Draft and tooling considerations
• Machining allowances
• Casting versus machining decisions
• Features requiring additional manufacturing review

These guidelines can help identify potential manufacturing challenges before tooling and production begin.

Providing clear project information allows casting, machining and inspection requirements to be reviewed together at an early stage.

This guide summarizes the information that is most useful when preparing a new custom casting RFQ.

The more complete the project information, the easier it is to evaluate tooling, casting, machining and inspection requirements together.

Technical guides are useful during the early design and sourcing stages, but they should not replace a part-specific manufacturing review.

Final casting tolerances and process decisions can be affected by geometry, overall dimensions, wall thickness, material, tooling method, heat treatment, machining sequence and critical functional requirements.

For this reason, we recommend confirming critical dimensions and machining requirements against the actual drawing before tooling begins.

Looking for more detailed information about investment casting design, materials or manufacturing processes?

Explore our technical articles for practical discussions of casting design, tooling, dimensional control, common manufacturing challenges and project planning.

Send us your drawing, 3D model, material requirements and expected quantity.

Our team can review casting feasibility, tooling approach, machining areas, critical dimensions and inspection requirements before quotation.