Sand casting – an overview

Sand casting – the most widely used casting process – is a casting process that sand is used to create a mold, after which melted metal is poured into this mold to create a part.

The sand casting process involves the use of a furnace, metal, pattern, and sand mold. The metal is melted in the furnace, then poured into the sand mold. It fills the cavity that defines both the finished parts and risers.

Sand casting, as a process, has several of benefits for a wide range of use cases. These includes:

• Can produce very large parts

• Can form complex shapes

• Many material options

• Low tooling and equipment costs.

• Scrap can be recycled

• Short lead time possible

However, the nature of sand casting means that while it offers advantages in some areas, there are other applications and requirements for which it is not well-suited, these include:

• Poor material strength

• High porosity possible

• Poor surface finish and tolerance

• Secondary machining often required

• Low production rate

• High labor cost