Investment Casting Cost Factors
Learn about the various factors that can determine the price of an investment casting project, including material costs, labor, secondary operations, and more.
A foundry worker inspecting a crucible before metal pouring.
I like to imagine casting quotes as a Lego set. There are hundreds of pieces and factors that contribute to the model. And, as any experienced Lego builder knows, one missing piece can make a massive difference in the final build. Similarly, being informed about each of the ins and outs of the casting process can help you find the best foundry for your project, avoid production pitfalls, and find a cost-per-part that matches your budget.
In this blog, we'll examine a few of the most significant elements that contribute to precision casting costs, including material choice, the costs of the casting process, secondary and tertiary operations, shipping, and beyond. We hope this is a helpful guide, but as always, if you have questions about an investment casting project, contact our team today!
Material Choice & Costs
Unsurprisingly, you'll have to pay for the alloy you choose to cast. But what alloy should you choose? Alloy prices vary widely across materials and grades - As an example, 1020 steel is much cheaper to pour than a superalloy, but if your project requires the material properties of Inconel, you likely know your materials costs are going to be higher than a low-carbon steel project. Without getting too deep into the weeds of material selection, ensure that you aren't going overboard on capability and, conversely, aren't cutting corners on strength and performance to save cost. If you have questions, ask a materials expert at a reputable foundry!
Once you've selected a material, a quick Google search will give you a price-per-pound for nearly any material you can imagine. However, material costs are dynamic and constantly in flux. Market trends, material availability, strategic partnerships, supply chain constraints, shipping costs, and even the global stock market can dramatically impact material costs. As such, it's not uncommon for foundries to add an alloy surcharge on top of their base prices to accommodate for these changes without having to requote.
Finally, raw material cost is just one piece of the pricing equation. It can mislead an inexperienced buyer to compare an alloy per pound price to their final price-per-part and misguidedly confuse engineering competence value-add and other manufacturing expenses with all margin/markup. Many additional factors contribute to your project's total cost, which we'll get into next!
Raw material costs are significant in determining price for your casting project.
Costs of the Investment Casting Process
Material costs are a rather obvious driving factor behind costs, but equally important are the costs associated with the investment casting process. Below are just a few cost-driving components of the process:
1) Onboarding:
A quality investment casting partner will prepare a production plan for your part before commencing production. During this onboarding stage, they will work with engineers and other foundry staff to optimize production for your part. This includes figuring out the best combination of wax gates and trees to produce parts as efficiently as possible, choosing how many coats of the shell to form the best mold for your part, planning finishing operations, and more. Onboarding contains several critical steps to ensure time & material efficiency as well as a successful production run for your metal components.
2) Tooling:
Tooling is when an investment casting foundry prepares metal molds for the wax injection phase of the investment casting process. Tooling can be a time-intensive and costly part of the process, but it is critical to get right because it will ensure that every part produced meets your exact specifications. Depending on a part's complexity, tooling can cost a few thousand dollars to over $20,000. Once a mold is formed, it can be used thousands of times - meaning that costs per part decrease the more you produce. Investment casting is incredibly cost-effective when producing parts over multiple production runs, as the production team can use the tooling repeatedly.
3) Part Complexity and Size:
As a rule of thumb, a small, simple component will cost less per part than a complex one. As a part becomes more intricate (thin walls, internal cavities, unique surface finish, spirals, threading, etc.), costs will rise to match the unique engineering challenge of the complexity. For example, a part with very thin walls will require a unique approach to the ceramic coating part of the process - too much or too little ceramic will impact tolerances and part quality, so engineers will adapt the process to meet your part's demands. As an aside, if your design is flexible, a quality foundry may work with you to make minor optimizations to your design to provide cost and time savings during your production cycle.
4) Wax:
Wax is an essential material in the investment casting process. It serves as the template for your metal component and provides the structure for gates and trees (see image below). The wax cost will factor into the total cost per part of your project.
Several small wax models (brighter green) are being formed into a tree of parts with its gate (olive-colored wax).
5) Slurry & Number of Shells:
During casting, your wax models will be dipped in a ceramic slurry multiple times to form a shell for metal pouring. This ceramic material has associated costs, and depending on your part's complexity, it may undergo numerous rounds of dipping, further increasing these costs.
6) Gates & Trees:
As mentioned above, foundry workers will cluster your part into a "tree" of parts with a gate for metal pouring. Trees and gates are used so foundry workers can pour multiple copies of your part in one action, saving you time and money. When we speak about trees, there is a ratio of actual finished parts poured and waste that will be cut away during the finishing stages (the gates and scrap). Part of the onboarding process is getting this ratio to include more metal-finished parts and less waste. This yield will have a considerable impact on your material costs.
7) Basic Finishing:
Minor imperfections may remain after the casting process. Foundry workers may use robotics or manual processes to grind or sand away imperfections to ensure all of your parts match specifications. This finishing work requires time and labor and will also impact costs.
8) Labor:
Labor costs, from sales and support staff to engineers and foundry workers, will be factored into your price per part.
9) Facility Costs:
During the investment casting process, a lot of equipment is utilized, including wax injection machines, autoclaves, robotics, super ovens, industrial grinders, cooling components, and more. Running and maintaining this equipment will factor into your price per part.
10) Number of Parts Produced:
Investment casting is most cost-efficient when producing parts en masse in medium or large-volume projects. For smaller-scale projects, alternative metalworking methods like machining or sand casting may be a better option. In short, the more parts you produce via investment casting, the lower your cost-per-part will be.
Metal parts being removed from their gate after casting.
Cost of Secondary and Tertiary Operations
Investment casting allows for a lot of design flexibility, including smooth surface finishes, logos cast onto your finished product, and other complex geometry. However, for many products, additional work is needed to get your casting ready for market. Here are just a few examples of additional work that can add to the cost of your casting project:
Painting
Anodization
Powder coating
Heat Treating
Machining
Certification and Testing
Shipping and Delivery Costs
Everyone who's ordered something online has fallen victim to a surprisingly high shipping cost. Shipping and logistics can also significantly affect your total casting costs. For example, are you casting your parts overseas? Do you require rush delivery? Have you chosen a local foundry or one several states away?
Remember to factor in the cost of shipping and logistics when shopping for an investment casting partner!
Other Cost Factors
Thousands of factors can impact your total cost, but here are just a few more we thought were worth mentioning:
Prototyping and design:
Is your part still in development? Working with a foundry's engineering or prototyping teams can help get your project to market quickly, but it will have associated costs.
International Manufacturing:
Offshoring your part can dramatically cut some production costs. Do your homework and ensure your offshore partner communicates clearly and has a good reputation.
Delays:
Choosing a partner with a solid track record and production plan can save you headaches, stress, and a failed product launch/deployment that can follow production delays. A failed or delayed launch can come with significant costs!
Do your homework and always opt for a reputable foundry, even if it comes at a premium. Experience comes at a price, and if one quote is significantly cheaper than other foundries, there may be a reason for that...
Final Thoughts
We hope this was a helpful look at the various factors that can impact the cost-per-part of your investment casting project! As always, do your homework when looking for a production partner, as they can make a massive impact on the success of your product launch.
Robotics dipping "trees" in ceramic slurry at IPC Foundry Group's Utah location
IPC is Your Investment Casting Partner
At IPC, we've stayed on top of industry best practices and have over 45 years of experience providing castings for hundreds of industries. With two domestic foundries, international partner foundries, and our network of machining and finishing partners, we're primed to tackle even the most demanding projects.
If you're ready to get started, contact our team today!
