China Water Glass Investment Casting Factory

Water glass Investment castingis very similar to investment casting (i.e. the lost wax method), but is particularly suited to larger castings and is cheaper to produce. The process provides a far superior surface finish and dimensional precision to that achieved through sand casting, and more complex shapes can be achieved. In addition to steels, it is possible to cast alternative materials such as iron and SG iron using this method.
The difference between the lost wax method and water glass casting is simply the way the wax is removed from the ceramic mould:
· Investment casting uses high temperature autoclaves to melt the wax, whereas:-
· In Water glass casting the molds are submersed in hot water to remove the wax. The wax is then melted away from the molds and it floats on the surface of the water. This then allows for it to be skimmed off and reused for wax making purposes.
Obviously, this also provides environmental advantages and the wax is completely recyclable.
Lester-cast is able to offer the water glass option through its partner company in China, who have a wealth of experience in manufacturing components using this process.
To summarize, the water glass process offers:
· Superior surface finish than sand casting.
· Greater dimensional precision than sand casting.
· Achieve more complex parts.
· Larger parts than the traditional investment casting method.
· Cheaper than investment casting.
· Greater choice of metals.
· Environmental advantages.
Water glass casting is one of investment casting process, in which water glass is added into the molding materials in proportion and then gets stirred and mixed for 6-8 min, then grind into “ sodium silicate-bonded sand”. Then the sand is put into the mold boxes in which CO2 has been much blown into. CO2 starts the chemical reaction with the water glass to from the silica gel which hardens the sodium silicate-bonded sand.
Why choose water glass casting for your customized parts?
The water glass casting parts is the most cost-effective casting process with short shell making cycles, which helping you to cut a lot costs.
Compared with silica sol casting parts, water glass casting components is with large surface roughness and low dimension accuracy.
The surface quality of investment water glass casting parts is poor, so it is mainly used for carbon steel and low alloy steel castings. And the silica sol precision casting is mainly used for high-alloy steel and stainless steel products.
Application: China water glass castings is widely applied throughout all kinds machinery, such as automotive castings, engineering machinery casting, agricultural casting parts, motor casting components, elevator cast parts, mining parts, earth-moving machinery casting components, construction machinery casting parts,  marine & ship casting, pump fittings, hydraulic cylinder castings, valve casting spare parts and various metal casting.

Process	Water glass Casting
Mold	General Aluminum Mold & Steel Mold
Mold Material	Low Temperature Wax
Mold Shell	Sodium Silicate, Quartz Sand
Technology Characteristics	Suitable for complicated structures. Reduced machining allowance. Decrease production cost.
Tolerance Range	CT7 to CT9
Single Weight	0.5kgs to 200kgs
Surface Roughness	RA12.5
Casting Material Type	Carbon Steel, Alloy Steel, Grey Iron and Ductile Iron
Common Material Specification	GB, ASTM,SAE,AISI,DIN,BS,JIS,NF,EN,AAR,ISO
Product application field	Automobile, Engineering Machinery, Railway, Marine, Agricultural Machinery, Mining and other industrial fields