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Our Casting Process Workflow: Make Casting
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We start your job by melting certified aluminum alloy (Ingot) in a gas or electric fired crucible (see alloy selection guide). The melt temperature and composition of alloy is continuously monitored and controlled at optimum levels.
Next, the mold is prepared (see molding making processes below). Note, cores are typically made in advance and carefully placed in the mold cavities during set-up (see core making processes below).
The mold is then filled with molten metal from the crucible. The metal is allowed to cool and solidify into a casting.
Once the casting has fully solidified it is removed from mold and the gates, risers and down sprues are removed.
As a final step, our finishing department smoothes and blends cast surfaces using a variety of methods including grinding, sanding, honing and bead blasting and vibratory deburr. Our typical surface finishes range between 125 and 250 RMS and up to 16 RMS using special processes.
Casting may be welded, heat treated, have surface treatments or be NDT tested after finishing.
Mold Making Processes |
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Automated Precision Green Sand Process |
Superior performance at any volume. Extremely efficient, flexible and cost effective. Utilizes automated system for building and handling the green sand molds used to cast parts. Pentz has a PLC-controlled state-of-the-art Sinto FBO II automated molding system capable of:
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Manual Precision Green Sand Process |
The most versatile casting process. Produces castings with high strength and complex shapes in all sizes with excellent finish. Utilizes manually formed green sand molds to make castings. Economical solution for many castings applications. |
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Precision Dry Sand Process |
Excellent for producing parts that require high strength and pressure tight/vacuum tight sealing characteristics. Utilizes chemically bonded dry sand to form molds used to cast parts. |
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Permanent Mold Process |
Produces very high-density castings that are pressure tight and have excellent structural characteristics. Parts are cast repeatably from the same cast iron mold. A mold typically lasts the life of the product. |
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Core Making Processes |
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Automated SO2 Core |
Fully automated system that produces cores with exceptional finish, precision tolerances and intricate geometries that are easy to remove during core knock out. A resin binder is mixed with dry silica sand and blown into a CNC machined urethane core box. The mixture is cured with SO2 gas. Once the core has hardened it is automatically ejected from the core box. Pentz utilizes a state of art Lampe automated SO2 core making system. With 45 second core cycles it is one of the most productive core making systems in the world. Applications – Small to large size cores |
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Automated Shell Core |
Fully automated system that produces strong cores with a good finish and dimensional stability. Resin coated sand is blown into a heated metal core box and melted/baked until hardened. Once the core has set, excess sand is poured out, leaving a shelled out core. Applications- small to medium size cores. |
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No Bake Core |
A traditional method to produce cores. Sand and a SiO2 binder are mixed together with a catalyst. The mixture is packed into a core box & cured at room temperature. Once the core has set, it is removed from the core box. Applications- medium and large size cores. |
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CO2 Core |
Versatile manual method to produce cores. A resin binder is mixed to dry sand in a core box and cured by permeating CO2 gas thru the mixture. The mixture hardens into a core. Applications- small size cores and lower quantities. |
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Click here to see a detailed process comparison table.