Protocast Guides

Casting Resources

Practical guides on permanent mold, low pressure, tilt pour, and sand casting for engineers and buyers sourcing aluminum and zinc castings, from the Protocast foundry in Commerce City, Colorado.

Production casting

Permanent Mold Casting

The production process and the umbrella for everything below it. Steel tooling, consistent geometry, and a per-part price that drops as volume climbs.

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Permanent Mold Casting: The Production Process ExplainedHow a steel die changes cost, finish, and repeatability, the two ways we fill it, and what to expect from a few hundred to 50,000 pieces a year.

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Permanent Mold vs. Sand CastingWhen production volume justifies the tooling, and how to move from one to the other without re-engineering.→Permanent Mold Tooling: Cost, Life, and RefurbishmentWhat goes into a steel die, why it runs about 40,000 shots before refurbishment, what it costs, and why we cut it in house.→Designing for Permanent Mold: Wall, Draft, and RadiiThe design rules that keep a die filling cleanly and pulling cleanly, with the minimums we work to.→Aluminum Alloys for Permanent Mold: 356 vs. 357Property tables, heat treat response, and when the extra strength of 357 is worth specifying.→From Sample to Production: The Permanent Mold TimelineTooling, first samples, first article, and the 12 to 20 week sample lead time explained.→

Thin walls, harder fills

Low Pressure Permanent Mold

Also called low pressure die casting. The alloy is pushed up into the die from underneath, which fills thinner walls that gravity cannot. Same volume range as tilt pour; the part decides which.

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Low Pressure Permanent Mold Casting: When the Fill Method MattersWhat the bottom-up fill adds, why the part rather than the volume decides, and how it differs from high pressure die casting.

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Tilt Pour vs. Low Pressure: Which Fits Your PartPart geometry, weight, and wall thickness decide it, not volume. Both cover the same range.→Low Pressure Casting for Thin-Wall Aluminum HousingsWhy the bottom-up fill reaches walls gravity cannot, and the design rules that keep them sound.→Pressure-Tight Castings: Why Fill Method MattersPorosity, leak testing, and what a non-turbulent fill does for parts that hold fluid or gas.→

Gravity filled

Tilt Pour / Gravity Permanent Mold

The most common way to fill a permanent mold, and the process buyers search for as gravity die casting or gravity permanent mold.

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Gravity Die Casting, Tilt Pour, Permanent Mold: One Process, Three NamesUntangling the names so the right quote goes out, and where tilt pour fits between sand and low pressure.

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Semi-Permanent Mold: Sand Cores in a Steel DieWhen internal passages need a sand core and how it changes cost, finish, and lead time.→Gravity Permanent Mold for Aerospace and Defense PartsISO 9001:2015, ITAR registered, and clear about which parts fit: non-flight-critical aircraft and defense hardware.→

Prototypes, short runs, large parts

Sand Casting & Printed Sand

Where most programs begin. Precision no-bake sand for fast first parts, and printed sand molds for complex geometry with no tooling at all.

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Sand Casting for Prototypes and Short Runs: Precision Sand and Printed SandTwo ways to make the mold, what each is for, and how sand castings become the on-ramp to a permanent mold program.

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Printed Sand Casting: No Tooling, Complex Geometry, Molds in DaysWhat the printer can do, what it replaced, and when it beats a pattern.→Precision Sand vs. Green Sand: Why We Use No-BakeFinish, tolerance, and wall thickness differences, and what the three types of sand are for.→Replacing Investment Casting with Printed SandThe geometry investment casting used to own, now done without wax or shell, on larger parts.→Prototype Castings: What to Send and What You Get BackFiles, quantities, alloys, and what a quote with DFM feedback and flow simulation includes.→

From the floor

Real Parts, Real Volumes

A few castings Protocast produces, with the process each one runs in and the annual volume behind it. The pattern is the point: printed sand and precision sand carry the low numbers, permanent mold carries the thousands, and the part decides between tilt pour and low pressure.

Flooring scrubber diskLow pressure permanent mold. About 5 lb, 2,000 a year.

Pressure relief valveLow pressure permanent mold. About 4 lb, 30,000 a year.

PVC pipe fusion equipmentLow pressure permanent mold. About 50 lb, 1,000 a year.

Medical monitor tubeLow pressure permanent mold. About 2 lb, 1,000 a year.

Medical cart handleTilt pour permanent mold. About 20 lb, 1,000 a year.

Boat stern bracketTilt pour permanent mold. About 4 lb, 1,000 a year.

Aluminum ground screwTilt pour permanent mold. About 2 lb, 15,000 a year.

Large cooling fanPrecision sand with steel inserts. About 25 lb, 500 a year.

Airline refueling componentPrecision sand. About 10 lb, 50 a year.

Drone cylinder headPrinted sand. About 1 lb, 20 a year.

Printed sand castingPrinted sand, shown before and after machining.

Reference

Answers and Reference

The numbers we quote from and the pages that support every process above.

Frequently Asked QuestionsTool life, tolerances, surface finish, wall thickness, and lead times by process.→ Alloys & Heat Treating356, 357, and zinc property tables, plus in-house T6 heat treating on parts up to 48" x 48" x 60".→ Machining & InspectionEight CNC machines for permanent mold tooling and post-cast machining, CMM inspection, an in-house spectrometer, and testing to your requirements.→ Company News & SpotlightNew equipment, people, and news from the foundry. Unchanged, and now one click from the hub.→

Not finding the answer you need?

Talk to a Protocast engineer.

Whether it is a process question, a quote, or a part that needs to move from prototype to production, the engineering team works from these same questions every day. Send the model and you will get a process recommendation, DFM feedback, and in most cases a flow simulation check with the quote.

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3900 E 68th Ave, Commerce City, CO 80022 · (303) 574-0060 · ISO 9001:2015 · ITAR registered