Newby Investment Castings Ltd

Wax Injection

Newby Investment Castings can create complex and intricate items using the traditional wax injection process. We use an aluminium die that has been precision made and then inject it with molten wax. We are highly skilled in this process and can make a huge array of items in this way, using tired and tested techniques that have been proven to work over many years of continued use and improvement. 

Newby Investment Castings allows for the contraction in both the wax and metal as part of the die so precision is guaranteed. 

Pattern Removal

After injection wax is left to cool and set in the mould and once it has reached a temperature lower enough to handle and has properly hardened it is removed from the die, leaving a perfect replica of the finished part, called a pattern. This pattern can be used to make multiple copies and will only need to be replaced once it starts to show signs of wear, this enables Newby Investment Castings to recreate your part over and over again at a low cost.

Pattern Assembly

Newby Investment Castings can either assemble patterns individually or more commonly as a group depending on the size of the component. They are built around a central runner that holds the parts in place as hot soldering iron melts the surfaces together. They remain joined collectively as one piece in the pattern assembly once they have cooled. This is also sometimes known as a pattern tree.

Ceramic Investment

A ceramic based slurry is then used to dip the whole assembly in, any surplus liquid is drained from it and it is then placed in a ceramic stucco where it is left until it is dry. The combination of slurry and grit is often referred to as a ceramic shell mould material. This process is repeated numerous times with larger assemblies requiring a thicker shell coating and the process will be only be complete once the desired thickness has been reached.

De-Waxing

Newby Investment Castings then places the entire ceramic mould into a high temperature oven or kiln that will harden the outside shell coating and melt the wax letting it run out.  The beauty of this process is that the melted wax can be reclaimed and reused again in some cases if it doesn’t burn up.  The negative space where the wax was is now left free inside the hardened shell.

Mould Sintering

Whilst in the kiln, the ceramic shell is also baked to ensure that it can withstand the high temperature of the hot molten metal that will be poured into at the next stage of the process. Newby Investment Castings use a wide range of metals that al have different melting temperatures so it is essential that the ceramic shell is able to survive any metals that clients may have requested.

Metal Pouring

Newby Investment Castings use an induction furnace to heat ingots of various metals which can include Stainless Steel, Carbon Steel, Tool Steel, Cast Iron, Nickel Alloys, Cobalt Alloys, Bronze, Brass

or Aluminium. The metal will be melted in the induction furnace until it is red hot and molten at which point it is removed from the oven and poured into the hardened ceramic shell.

Ceramic Removal

The filled ceramic shell is left to cool down and once it has reached the appropriate temperature to begin working with again the ceramic is them gently vibrated off the castings and the runner system to reveal the completed part with still with a few rough edges but ready for our skilled staff to undertake the final finishing stages of the process.

Finished Product

All that is then to be done is to remove the castings from their runner system for which we use an abrasive cutting wheel. We then carefully finish your castings to the highest standard using methods such as linishing, grinding and blasting. Each of the castings is then inspected by a member of Newby Investment Castings experienced team who meticulously go over the castings to ensure that they meet the customer’s specifications. Only when we are fully satisfied that the parts come up to our high standards are they despatched to our clients.

Product Design and Development and CAD

We offer a comprehensive range of services at Newby Investment Castings and can work with our clients on all stages of their project. Our technical team are able to offer advice and assistance on the design of your part as well as valuable information on the best metals to use, which can often help save money. We also have skilled CAD engineers who are able to use state of the art 3D software, including SolidWorks, to either create your component from scratch as well modifying and converting existing parts. We can use SOLIDCast software to create a preproduction flow/solidification simulation, which helps reduce both development time and scrappage by making sure that the solution is correct the first time.

Production and Preproduction Batches, Reproduction and Finishing

Newby Investment Castings are able to prototype a range of patterns using silicone and rubber dies. We can produce both small, preproduction batches to help decide on design and suitability of the product as well as producing production batches that can consist of just a few components or thousands. We are also able to reproduce both obsolete and spare parts from old files, CAD drawings, technical drawings, images or from the actual component itself. We finish our products using a range of techniques that include shot blasting, glass bead, painting, polishing, anodising and powder coating.