If You Want to Cut Costs, Be Versatile in Your Design By P. F. Foley


Harcast Company, Inc.


Illustrated are two components for an automated valve. Both were cast from the same universal tooling simply by changing core pins. The savings made are obvious. In this respect, the versatility of investment castings should not be overlooked as a cost-cutting maneuver. With removable inserts or cores it is fre- quently possible for one die to produce several some- what similar parts which require only limited change in configuration .


. Producing similar parts from one die is particularly economical on short runs. On large runs, individual tooling for each part may be the wiser decision since an increase in the production rate could more than cover the cost of individual tooling.


Being versatile can pay off in still another way. Con- sider switching alloys as the application demands. The two parts illustrated are produced in cobalt base alloys, 17-PH stainless and in Monel when required. The identical die is used in each case. The secondary machining or grinding operations needed cost less overall than individual tooling for each alloy.


In addition to savings realized by investment casting vs. machining from bar stock or sand casting, the cost of the valve components was further reduced by a versatile approach to investment casting pro- duction.


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