Why use Vacuum Casting?
Vacuum Casting is a fast and cost-effective prototyping method for producing small numbers of highly accurate polyurethane prototype parts. Characteristics and quality are comparable to the final product e.g. for functional testing or marketing.
How Does Vacuum Casting Work?
Vacuum Casting is a casting process for using a vacuum to draw the liquid material into the mold. Using two-component polyurethanes and silicone molds.3D Printing or CNC Machining master pattern then to make a silicone mould. Pouring the liquid material into the silicone mold, extract the air and bake at high temperature for molding.
It begins by producing a master model, typically using 3D Printing or CNC Machining plastic with a high-quality surface finish. Then a silicone mold is produced by casting silicone around the master copy, partially under vacuum to avoid air bubbles. After curing, the silicone mold is cut according to pre-defined parting planes and the master is removed, leaving a cavity to make copies.
What are the advantages of Vacuum Casting?
Lower the production cost.
Shorten the time of small batch production
Complex parts can be processed as a whole without split
Better product finished.
Vacuum Casting can produce parts with varying degrees of flexibility or rigidity, in a wide range of color and materials – clear parts.
Compared with CNC Machining or other processing methods, what its disadvantages?Futher reading :What’s the difference between CNC Machining and Vacuum Casting?
Product tolerances are more difficult to control
There will be color difference between the actual product and Pantone. The thicker the product wall, the greater the color difference
For large-scale transparent products, bubbles will be easily generated
The silicone mold has a limited number of uses. Depends on parts size & structure.
What materials are suitable for vacuum casting?
All plastic parts and rubber parts are good at vacuum casting. Like ABS/PC/PMMA/POM/PP etc. We could processing any color as your requirement. Here are cases reference.
