Technology / product information

For stainless steel components that require complex shapes, high dimensional accuracy, and material integrity, lost wax casting is the optimal solution. Compared to machining or welded structures, it offers an excellent balance between cost and quality.
Overview
When manufacturing industrial stainless steel parts, designers and production engineers often compare three main methods: lost wax casting (investment casting), machining, and welded assembly.
Each method has its advantages, but lost wax casting stands out for its ability to create seamless, high-precision parts while optimizing costs for medium- and large-volume production. Particularly for complex stainless steel components requiring tight tolerances and material consistency, lost wax casting is a reliable and efficient technical solution.
When to Choose Lost Wax Casting
- When complex shapes or hollow structures are required
Even shapes that are impossible or extremely costly to produce through machining can be accurately molded as a single piece using wax models.
- When high material uniformity and mechanical strength are required
Lost wax casting allows seamless, monolithic forming, eliminating stress concentration and leakage risks associated with welding, and improving overall structural reliability.
- When reducing costs for medium- to large-volume production
Lost wax casting spreads the cost of mold fabrication across multiple parts, making it significantly more cost-effective than machining or welding individual components. This is especially advantageous for projects requiring hundreds to thousands of identical pieces.
- When tight tolerances and fine surface finishes are required
Casting can achieve a dimensional tolerance of ±0.2 mm, and at Kobayashi Casting, finishing processes can further refine accuracy to ±0.01 mm. The cast surface is smoother than sand casting, reducing polishing and grinding operations.
Typical Applications of Lost Wax Casting
- Stainless steel fittings and pump parts with thin-walled or hollow structures
- Precision fluid components for medical and semiconductor applications requiring zero leakage
- Components for food and chemical equipment requiring corrosion and chemical resistance
- High-quality export products with full traceability and strict quality control
Lost wax casting is an excellent technology for mass-producing complex stainless steel parts with high quality, high precision, and low cost. By forming components as a single cast structure, it overcomes many of the limitations of machining and welding, ensuring both functionality and reliability.
At Kobayashi Casting, we leverage Japanese technology to deliver high-precision lost wax casting from our Vietnam factory. We achieve finishing accuracies of ±0.01 mm and handle a wide range of stainless steel grades including SCS13, SCS14, CF8, CF8M, CF3, CF3M, and 17-4PH. Our fully integrated production covers casting, machining, 3D measurement, and material analysis.
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