Minimalistic designs, fast production

This is part four of the “Engineers’ guide to metalcasting”, from the Batesville Products Inc. webinar series. Click here to watch the complete webinar.

The more complex a design, the more time and expense to produce.

It’s important to consult a foundry engineer while designing your part to avoid unnecessary features and tolerance requirements.

Think about the purpose of a part and decide what attributes are necessary and what can be done without. For example, if the part will not be highly visible to the end user, it probably doesn’t need a high-quality surface finish and those tolerances can be relaxed.

Any production flexibilities will make things much easier on the foundry technicians and potentially increase speed to market.

In the past, we worked with a company to produce a product that didn’t pass the first quality inspection. The failure was due to flexing on a hole with very tight tolerance requirements.

Our engineer went to the customer to better understand the purpose of the hole. We learned that it was only there to make way for a ground wire screw and did not need to be made with such tight tolerances. This realization allowed us to reject far fewer finished parts and greatly increase efficiencies without affecting the product’s functionality ultimately resulted in a cheaper part on future orders.

Prototyping

Sometimes it’s important to have a finished product before deciding if a design is ready for production. But that does not mean the prototype has to be created the same way you intend to create the final parts.

Prototypes can be created with 3D printers, one-off sand molds or machined so engineers can get a better sense of the form, fit and function of the product.

Foundry experts analyze the prototype and work with the customer to decide if it can be efficiently produced through permanent mold or another form of casting. They’ll also consider if the production plan can be improved before a single mold is made.

Coatings, drafting and finishes

Appropriately implemented mold coatings play a critical role in proper solidification and casting removal.

Coatings are added to protect the molds and maintain the integrity of the surface. They can be used to insulate or cool a particular section of a mold for a variety of reasons. They also act as a lubricant to allow easy, consistent ejection of the part, like a nonstick baking pan spray. So it’s very important to properly coat every crevice of the molding to ensure even ejection.

What else would you like to know?

We haven’t even scratched the surface of metalcasting, so reach out to us for more information and/or to discuss your next project. If you’re considering metalcasting, our experts can help save time, money and resources by getting involved during the planning stages.

You can email us at sales@batesvilleproducts.com or give us a call at 812-537-2275. You also can request a quote at batesvilleproducts.com/request-quote.