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March 31, 2017 | Prototype Casting

Die Casting History

Die casting is believed to have had its humble birth sometime during the middle of the 19th century. According to records, the first die casting equipment was invented in 1838 with the sole purpose of manufacturing parts for the moveable type machines responsible for the printing industry. Eleven years later, the first patent related to die casting was granted. In fact, printing facilities had a great amount influence in early days of die casting.

20th Century

By the early 20th century, metal foundries were utilizing aluminum alloys and zinc in the die casting process. A few decades later, the casting of copper and magnesium was introduced.

Refinement

Since then, the processes of die casting has certainly been updated and refined, but the general elements remain the same. That is, molten metal is poured into a closed die cavity and once it has been cooled and solidified, it is ejected.

In the mid-1960’s. General Motors developed its own die casting process that could successfully cast low aluminum alloys. These cast parts were, of course, used for their line of vehicles.

Modern Days

Today, we are continually developing ways to cast faster and with a better surface finish as seen in high pressure die casting.

Even though the history of die casting is short, you can see that we have indeed come a long way from the days of low-pressure injection using limited metals like tin, lead and their various compositions. Looking at how far die casting has come, it is clear that there will be a need for even more metal foundries in the future as the demand for quality die cast parts will certainly rise.