From the metal pieces that make your car engine run to the handle you use to open the door to the key you put in the ignition, you rely every day on items created by casting metal. The pipes in your kitchen, the faucet in your sink, the knobs on your cabinets—if they’re metal, they were likely created in one way or another by metal casting services. Even the necklace you’re wearing or the ring on your finger may have been cast before coming to you.
Humans have been casting metal since times immemorial. It helped develop civilizations, and it also helped destroy them. If you want to learn essential information about metal casting, check out the article below!
Metal Casting: Essential Information For The Curious
Materials
Casting involves pouring molten metal into molds that will form it into a particular shape, be it a charm for a bracelet or a pipe for a plumber. Metals commonly used in casting include gold and silver for jewelry and, for more industrial purposes, iron, copper, aluminum, and zinc.
Melting metals, however, isn’t easy. In order to melt, solid metals are heated at temperatures that can exceed 1,000 degrees. This makes metal casting a very hot job – literally!
Molds
After the metal is melted, it turns into a very hot liquid that is ready for casting. In order to do this, there are different types of molds used. Molds to hold that liquid metal may be made of metal themselves; other potential materials include silicone, plaster, and sand.
As soon as the metal is poured into the molds, it starts to cool down. As it cools, it takes the shape of the mold. Some molds may be very complex to create pieces and parts with complex shapes. Metal may flow into many different nooks of a mold, or pieces may be added to clear out space for the middle of a pipe or other hollowed-out areas.
Finishing
Once cooled and solid, the metal object will need to be removed from the mold. In some cases, it may be possible to open a mold, remove the solidified metal, and use the mold again. Other times, however, recycling isn’t possible. That’s because due to a number of factors, molds break. If they don’t break, they will get broken to release the cast metal inside.
After the metal is removed from the mold, it may be tumbled, washed, or polished after release, depending on the mold used and the purpose to be served.
To sum up, metal casting has been around for thousands of years. It is a very old craft discovered by our ancestors. Today, it helps create many of the items we use in our lives. So next time you handle a shaped piece of metal, imagine how it might have gotten that way.