Our casting foundry is situated in Dongying City, Shandong Province, China.

We specialize in producing steel castings through various methods, including sand casting, water glass casting, and silica sol precision casting.

These processes are integral components of the investment casting method.

Nevertheless, some of our clients often find themselves puzzled when deciding which method best suits their needs.

In this context, we aim to provide a concise overview of the distinctions, advantages, and drawbacks of these techniques.

This information will serve as a valuable reference to assist you in making an informed choice.

Difference 1: Conceptual Variances

Understanding Sand Casting, Water Glass Casting, and Silica Sol Casting:

1. Sand Casting: This process employs damp clay sand as the primary molding material, known for its cost-effectiveness.
2. Water Glass Investment Casting: This method utilizes water glass quartz sand for molding, withstanding temperatures of up to 1800 degrees. However, it tends to be pricier than wet clay sand.
3. Silica Sol Investment Casting: In this approach, silica sol zircon sand serves as the molding material, capable of withstanding temperatures reaching 2000 degrees. However, this molding material is notably costly.

For more in-depth information on each casting process, please refer to the dedicated pages for each process.

What is Sand Casting?

What is water glass casting?

What is silica Sol Casting (Investment Casting)?

Difference 2: Casting Surface Quality and Defects

1. Sand castings exhibit notably rough surfaces and tend to have more surface and internal defects. Here are some images illustrating the surface quality of steel castings produced through the sand casting process.
2. Water glass investment castings boast significantly improved surface smoothness, with fewer surface and internal casting defects. Below are images showcasing the surface quality of steel castings manufactured using this method.
3. Silica sol investment castings excel in surface quality, offering exceptionally smooth surfaces with minimal surface and internal defects. Presented below are photographs of steel castings crafted through this process.

Difference 3: Specifications Concerning Unit Weight and Wall Thickness Variations

1. The sand casting process can produce very heavy and large steel castings but is not suitable for creating small, intricate, or thin-walled castings.
2. Investment casting can manufacture castings smaller than 10 kilograms, whereas sand casting struggles with small and complex parts as effectively as investment casting. Investment casting also has size and weight limitations similar to those in sand casting. For reference, the table below highlights their distinctions:

Here’s the information presented in a table format:

Accompanying photos showcase the intricate complexity achievable with silica sol investment casting.

Difference 4: Casting Prices The cost of mold materials significantly impacts casting prices, leading to substantial differences among these processes.

Wet clay sand is highly affordable, water glass quartz sand is expensive, and silica sol zircon sand is exceedingly costly.

The investment casting process typically commands higher costs than sand casting due to its complexity and preparatory requirements. For instance:

• Sand casting unit price: $1.5 USD/kg
• Water glass investment casting unit price: $2.50 USD/kg
• Silica sol investment casting unit price: $6.5 USD/kg

Difference 5: Surface Finishing Surface finishing presents another significant contrast between investment casting and sand casting, including water glass investment casting.

Investment casting yields finished parts with smooth surfaces and low tolerances directly from the pattern.

After removing the sprue gate and shot blasting, the casting blank serves as the final part for delivery.

Water glass casting offers superior surface quality compared to sand casting.

In sand casting, the mold must be separated to release the final product, leaving an evident parting line on the finished part.

Due to the coarse sand, finished cast parts feature a rough surface.

Therefore, additional time and cost are required for secondary machining to remove the parting line and achieve a smoother surface.

Difference 6: Ease of Design Investment casting utilizes a ceramic shell mold created using liquid slurry, enabling the production of parts in nearly any shape.

This grants engineers exceptional design freedom to incorporate intricate features and complex shapes.

In contrast, sand casting often requires parts to have tapering (draft angles) or specific shapes to facilitate easy removal from the sand with minimal friction.

Creating parts with internal voids or cavities is challenging in sand casting, necessitating properly shaped cores inserted into the mold to form the part’s interior.

This can involve multiple cores and additional time and effort to create and secure them within each mold.

Are you looking for a reliable investment casting manufacturer in China?  Contact us today.