Commonly, companies are confused about the decision between sand casting and investment casting.

Both of them have their own unique advantages and disadvantages, though the main reasons our clients choose investment casting are its superiority in handling complex high tolerance designs, surface finishes and it’s ability to only be machined once, eliminating the second machining costs of other options. See the full list below.

Investment Casting vs Sand-Casting
Investment Casting Sand Casting
Advantages
  • Can be used to cast a wide variety of ferrous and non-ferrous alloys.
  • Low volume production runs are cheaper as tooling is less costly.
  • Can produce much more complex designs, incorporating design features such as logos.
  • Parts require little machining after finishing.
  • Excellent surface finishes can be achieved.
  • Low cost in small volumes.
  • Not limited by size.
  • Easy to change part design.
Disadvantages
  • Cycle times are much longer due to the nature of the process.
  • Part size is limited by what can be securely gated to a tree.
  • Dimensional accuracy is diminished with increasing part size.
  • It is a much more manual process and costs can be higher for large production runs.
  • High cost in large production runs.
  • Parts are less complex.
  • Lower dimensional accuracy.
  • Surface finish requires additional work.

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