Appendix I
ZCast Design Guide - 7
4 Locating a Foundry
Whether you are an experienced mold designer with a foundry in house, or a design engineer
who has never designed a mold, the first step in the ZCast process is to run a trial with your
foundry. Typically, any foundry will find their end of the process (the set-up and pouring) to be
very much the same as traditional sand casting; therefore, the first choice would be to find a
foundry with experience in sand casting.
The foundry should be set up for running prototype quantities, or be able to comfortably adapt to
pouring parts in low volume. Depending on the design style (direct pour, shell method, etc.), the
foundry should be an active participant in the design. The more experience you and your foundry
have in pouring ZCast molds, the more efficient your digital to prototyping becomes.
Though not a requirement, your chosen foundry should be near the location where the molds are
printed. Close proximity minimizes the amount of travel the molds must endure. Molds and cores
may be shipped (even around the world), but they must be packaged carefully. Shipping molds
long distances can add days to the development cycle and increase risk of damage due to
shipping.
We recommended that you
provide a copy of this design guide
to your chosen foundry
partner.
4.1 Foundry
Trial
Parts
Once you have a foundry, you’ll want to introduce them to the ZCast process with a trial mold. Z
Corporation can supply you with files for two such parts. One is a cover plate and the other is a
manifold:
The molds can be printed, baked, and brought to your foundry. All of the instructions necessary
to pour these parts are in the “ZCast Direct Metal Casting: Quick Guide” (contact your Z Corp.
sales manager for a copy). These documents as well as other instructions accompany the mold.
The goal of this exercise is to make your foundry comfortable with the ZCast process. You would
typically like them to be as well informed about the materials and the process as you are.
If you have trouble finding a foundry in your area, contact your Z Corporation sales manager to
help you locate an experienced foundry.
Figure 1: Cover Plate mold and casting
Figure 2: Manifold mold and casting
