Vacuum Casting Service
At Step Rapid, We provide complete turnkey vacuum casting solutions for creating master patterns and cast copies according to your design or samples. We not only make high-quality silicone molds but we also offer comprehensive finishing services. We’ll help you create parts for engineering test samples, business campaigns, and more.
if you need low-volume quality prototypes? Polyurethane vacuum casting could be the ideal solution for you. Step Rapid team is committed to serving you with our expertise and the experience we helped many other customers to reach their success.
What Is Vacuum Casting And Its Process ?
Vacuum casting is a manufacturing process used to produce small quantities of high-quality plastic parts that are accurate reproductions of a master pattern or prototype. The process involves creating a silicone rubber mold of the prototype, then using this mold to cast copies of the part in a variety of plastic materials.
Here's a brief overview of the vacuum casting process:
- First, a prototype or master pattern is created using a rapid prototyping technique such as 3D printing.
- A silicone rubber mold is then created from the prototype using a two-part molding process. This involves coating the prototype with a layer of silicone rubber, then curing the rubber to create a flexible mold.
- The silicone mold is then placed in a vacuum casting machine consisting of a vacuum chamber, a casting pot, and a vacuum pump.
- The casting pot is filled with a liquid plastic material, and the vacuum pump is used to evacuate the air from the chamber. This creates a vacuum that sucks the plastic material into the mold and ensures that it fills all the details and cavities of the mold.
- The plastic is allowed to cure or cool, then the mold is opened and the cast part is removed.
Vacuum casting is often used to produce small quantities of parts for prototyping, testing, and pre-production purposes. It is a fast and efficient way to produce high-quality parts that are accurate reproductions of the original prototype.
Advantages
- One silicone mold can accurately cast about 20 parts
- Materials from flexible to extremely rigid and impact resistant
- Quick turnaround with high quality
- Low cost for molds
- Molds can be made in a few days
- Many types of polyurethane resins are available for casting, including over-molding
- Cast copies are highly accurate with excellent surface texture
- Perfect for engineering models, samples, rapid prototypes, bridge to production
Enquire Us
Do not hesitate to contact us for more information about vacuum casting. Your customer support partner
will contact you directly to answer any questions you may have.
When to Use?
Instead of making plastic injection molds, designers and engineers turn to vacuum casting when they need only a small volume, between 10 to 20 pieces with closed production quality plastic parts while avoiding the long lead time and higher cost. these prototypes are used for engineering testing and trade show campaigns, to test a new design's mechanical fit and functionality, and as a bridge to larger production volumes. Vacuum casting can also be used for end-use parts in some applications since some material options can be strong and durable for long applications. below are the available materials for your products using the vacuum casting process.
Available Materials
| Material | Color | Physical Properties |
| PX-100 | White | ABS-like material; Good impact; Can resist to 70°C. |
| PX-210 | Clear | PC like material; Good impact; Flexural resistance |
| PX-215 | White | ABS-like material; Good impact; Can resist to 70°C. |
| PX-521 | Clear | PMMA like material; Superior heat and impact resistance |
| PX-223 HT | Black | ABS-like material; Low viscosity; Superior heat and impact resistance |
| PX-245 | Off-white | PA like material; High reproduction accuracy; Can be easily colored with CP pigments |
| PX-523 | Clear | PC like material; High transparency; High reproduction accuracy; Good UV resistance |
| PU-5672 | White | PP like material; Good impact; Flexural resistance |
| PU-8260 | White | ABS-like material; Good impact; Flame retardant can be reached UL-V0 |
| PU-8400 | Off-white/Black | Rubber-like material; High strength; Can be easily colored with CP pigments |
| PU-8150 | Golden | ABS-like material;Low viscosity;Superior heat and impact resistance |
Why Choose Step Rapid for Vacuum Casting Services?
When it comes to vacuum casting, there are a number of manufacturers to choose from. Choosing the right one is essential for getting exactly the results you expect. Here are several reasons to choose Star Rapid for your vacuum casting needs.
Effective Communication
You will benefit from communicating with technical sales who know better to support what you need and discuss more options to find out the best fit for your project manufacturing, and know-how to guide you to the quick path and move projects ahead significantly. rest assured that you will know more about the manufacturing process from the conversation we do.
Exceptional Quality and Speed
Quality shouldn’t have to come at the expense of speed, and vice versa. At Step Rapid, we combine our extensive experience with the industry’s latest tools and technologies to deliver high-quality vacuum casting services on short timelines (typically in 7 to 14 days).
Expertise And Experience
To make sure that the right party you connected to, all sales in Step Rapid are well-trained and experienced with over 100 projects and help customers to reach their final production, nothing better than the experts who can guide you in the whole project, all you need to do is to trust us and enjoy the experience we share. which benefit your products or projects.
Design for Manufacturing Support and Factory Tour
We provide customers with pre-design manufacturing analysis before quoting and detailed design for manufacturing support after placing orders. technical support from materials, process, and risk menagement advice, also provide factory tour through video calls to verify our facility and capability.
Request Your Free Vacuum Casting Quote Today
Our engineering-dedicated team are ready to work on your next projects by delivering the best solutions. Most quotes are delivered within 24-hours, or less, depending on the project details. Sales engineers will reach out to you and build up the most effective conversation and support you continuously!