Z Corporation Z 406 User Manual download pdf (Page 130)

Appendix I

ZCast Design Guide - 12

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 process 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

representative for a copy). These documents, as well as other instructions, will accompany the

mold. The goal of this exercise is to make your foundry comfortable with the ZCast process. You

would 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 Corp. sales representative to

help you locate an experienced foundry.

Figure 1: Cover Plate mold and casting Figure 2: Manifold mold and casting

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Z Corporation Z 406 User Manual Page 130