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Choosing the right casting or forging process directly impacts the quality, cost and lead time of your parts. Lost wax casting, resin-bonded sand casting, shell moulding, forging… each process has its own strengths, limitations and ideal applications.
At Castmetal Advanced Services, we master 10 casting and forging technologies, sourced through our qualified partner network in China.
This casting and forging process comparison gives you a clear vision to make the right decision or have a more informed discussion with our team.
The table below compares the main casting and forging processes across five criteria: surface quality, dimensional precision, cost, environmental impact and ideal application.
| Process | Surface quality | Precision | Cost | Environmental impact | Ideal for |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Colloidal precision casting (lost wax) | Excellent | Excellent | Very high | Low | High-precision parts with fine details and complex geometries. |
| Compound process (lost wax) | Good | Very good | Moderate | Low | Complex parts progressively replacing SOSI and water glass, with better environmental impact, slightly higher precision and slightly higher cost. |
| Shell moulding or croning | Very good | Very good | Low | Moderate | Parts requiring high surface quality and thin walls with superior dimensional precision vs sand. Mainly for parts remaining in raw state. |
| Resin-bonded sand casting | Good | Good | Moderate | Moderate | Large parts in small to large series. |
| Lost foam casting | Very good | Good | Moderate | Moderate | Complex parts without parting lines or cores, integrating internal channels, very complex geometries and near net shape manufacturing. |
| Green sand casting | Fair | Fair | Very low | Low | Large parts in high volumes requiring low precision, in virtually all alloys. Dimensions up to several metres. |
| Forging | Very good | Good | Low | Very low | Parts requiring high mechanical strength in medium to very large series. |
| Water glass / SOSI (lost wax) | Good | Fair | Low | Moderate | Complex parts at competitive price requiring near net shape and complex internal geometries. |
No process is universally superior. The right choice depends on your specific requirements:
The chart below positions each process according to two complementary criteria: the weight of the parts produced and the batch size.
Green sand casting is the most versatile – from a few grams to several tonnes, in all batch sizes. At the other end, colloidal precision casting and the compound process are reserved for lighter parts.
In between, each process occupies a specific range, but weight and batch size are not the only criteria to consider. Surface quality, precision, cost and environmental impact seen in the table above also come into play to refine the choice.
Our team evaluates your drawings, specifications and production volumes to recommend the most appropriate process from our network of audited partners in China.
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