01
Hard tooling paid before the design is frozen
A die or a steel pattern costs real money and locks the geometry in. Move the design one revision later and the tool is scrap, so the schedule restarts from zero. The pattern becomes the bottleneck.
Investment Casting + 3D Printing
AI-Powered Investment Casting
Printed wax patterns, simulation-checked gating and CNC-machined interfaces let us quote a casting from your 3D file without cutting a hard tool first. Good for thin walls, undercuts and low-to-mid volumes.
±0.005 mm post-machiningNo minimum order quantity12-hour quote + DFMISO 9001 / IATF 16949
2011Casting and machining since
127High-precision CNC machines
±0.005 mmAchievable on machined faces
3–5 daysTypical shipping window
Where castings go wrong
Four problems that show up after the tool is cut
Most casting failures are decided long before the pour. These are the ones we see on incoming RFQs.
02
Wall thickness that never fills
Sections below 1.5 mm on a 120 mm part cool before the metal arrives. Misruns, cold shuts and gas porosity show up only after machining opens the surface. Scrap gets found at the worst moment.
03
Machining allowance guessed wrong
Give a foundry 0.5 mm of stock and the casting may clean up nowhere. Give 3 mm and the thin rib distorts. Both mistakes land on the mill, and both burn a week.
04
No data behind the quote
Sourcing teams get a number with no fill simulation, no shrinkage allowance and no gating sketch. Nobody can tell whether the price reflects the drawing or a guess.
How we build it
A printed pattern, a simulated pour, then CNC where it matters
One route from your STEP file to a finished casting.
Step one
Print the pattern instead of cutting steel
We grow the pattern on a resin 3D printer and assemble it onto a wax tree. There is no hard tool in the loop, so a geometry change costs a reprint rather than a new die. That is what makes low volumes workable.
The printed surface is smooth enough for most as-cast faces. Where a face has to seal, slide or bolt up, we leave stock and cut it on a CNC later. The two processes split the work along the same datum.
- 1No tooling charge at prototype stageReprint the pattern when the drawing moves.
- 2Undercuts and hollow sectionsGeometry a two-part die cannot pull.
- 3Wall sections from about 1.5 mmBelow that, we review the fill before quoting.
Step two
Simulate the pour, then machine the critical faces
Before anything is invested, we run a fill and solidification check on the part as drawn. Feeders, gates and shrinkage allowance come out of that run, not out of habit. Thin ribs and isolated bosses are where this pays for itself.
After casting we hold the part on a fixture cut to the same model and machine the interfaces. Bolt circles, bores, seal faces and threads land within ±0.005 mm on the machined features. Cast surfaces stay as-cast, so you are not paying to cut air.
- 1Shrinkage allowance per alloySet from the simulation, not a fixed percentage.
- 2Machined datumsCast faces serve as the locating reference.
- 3In-process checksCMM reports on request before shipment.
Selection guide
Printed pattern or hard tool?
The crossover sits around a few hundred pieces and depends more on geometry than on volume.
| Factor | Printed pattern route | Hard tool route |
|---|---|---|
| Typical volume | 1 to a few hundred pieces | Thousands of pieces and up |
| Tooling cost | None at pattern stage | Die or steel pattern required |
| Design change | Reprint the pattern | Rework or scrap the tool |
| Wall sections | About 1.5 mm and up | Thicker sections fill more reliably |
| Undercuts | Supported by assembly | Limited by draft and pull |
| Best fit | Prototypes, bridge builds, complex shapes | Stable design, high annual volume |
What we run
Six services that cover the casting route
Casting is one step. These are the others you will likely need on the same drawing.
01
Custom 3D Printing
SLA and resin patterns for the investment tree, plus functional prototypes in plastic when you need to test fit before metal.
02
Vacuum Casting
Silicone-tooled urethane parts for early builds. Useful when you need twenty housings next week and the alloy is not settled yet.
03
Metal Die Casting
Aluminium and zinc die casting for stable, higher-volume housings where a steel die is justified.
04
3, 4 and 5 Axis CNC Machining
Post-cast machining of datums, bores, threads and seal faces. 127 machines, up to 4,000 mm of travel.
05
Rapid Prototyping
Printed or cast prototypes inside the same workflow, so the geometry you test is the geometry we machine.
06
Part Surface Finishing
Anodizing, plating, powder coating, bead blasting and laser marking on the finished casting.
Scope
What a powered investment casting order includes
| Item | Detail |
|---|---|
| Materials | Aluminium 6061, 7075, ADC12; stainless 304, 316L, 17-4PH; steel 4140; copper C36000 |
| Pattern method | Resin 3D printed pattern, assembled by hand |
| Machined tolerance | ±0.005 mm on machined features |
| As-cast tolerance | Set per drawing during DFM review |
| Surface finish | Ra 1.6–3.2 μm as machined, Ra 0.8–1.6 μm on request |
| Inspection | 100% inspection before shipment; reports on request |
| Lot size | One piece to 10,000+ parts, no minimum order quantity |
Why GreatLight
Numbers we can stand behind
Casting and machining sit under one roof, which is why the handoff does not lose the datum.
2011
Operating since 2011
Fifteen years of casting and machining work, three wholly-owned plants and 7,600 m² of floor space in Dongguan and Singapore.
127
CNC machines on site
Sixteen simultaneous 5-axis centers, twelve four-axis mills and sixteen mill-turn centers handle the post-cast operations.
±0.005 mm
Machined feature tolerance
Held on bores, bolt circles, seal faces and threads. Equivalent to ±0.0002 in for inch drawings.
4,000 mm
Maximum processing size
Large travel of 4,000 × 400 × 150 mm covers long castings that would otherwise need two suppliers.
12 hours
Quote and free DFM
Quotation and DFM analysis returned within 12 hours of receiving a workable 3D file.
99.99%
Qualification rate
Raw material check, in-process monitoring and final inspection back that number up.
7,600 m²Manufacturing space
150Technicians
<2%Historical late-delivery risk
4ISO certifications held
Fit by industry
What these sectors ask for, and what we hand over
Aerospace brackets
Thin-section aluminium brackets where weight matters and every face is dimensioned.
- ±0.005 mm
- As-cast ribs
- CMM report
Automotive and EV housings
Cast housings with machined sealing faces and threaded ports.
- IATF 16949
- Leak-face flatness
- 3–5 day ship
Robotics and automation
End-effector bodies and gearbox covers with pockets and bearing bores.
- Bore tolerance ±0.005 mm
- Undercuts
- Small lots
Medical and instrument parts
Stainless 316L and 17-4PH components with smooth, cleanable surfaces.
- ISO 13485
- Ra 0.8–1.6 μm
- 100% inspection
FAQs
Questions engineers ask before sending a file
What wall thickness can be cast with a printed pattern?
Around 1.5 mm is the practical floor for most aluminium and stainless parts under 150 mm. Thicker is safer.
Send the model and we will run a fill check. If a section will not fill, the DFM report says so and suggests a change before you commit.
Do I need to pay for tooling?
No tooling is needed at the pattern stage, which is why a one-off or a fifty-piece run is viable.
A hard die or steel pattern only makes sense once the design is stable and volumes are in the thousands. We will tell you when that crossover arrives.
How tight are the tolerances?
Machined features are held to ±0.005 mm. That covers bores, bolt circles, seal faces and threads.
As-cast surfaces are looser and are quoted per drawing. We do not promise machined tolerance on a face nobody cuts.
Which alloys do you cast and machine?
Aluminium 6061, 6061-T6, 7075, ADC12; stainless 304, 316L, 17-4PH; steel 4140 and 4340; copper alloys such as C36000.
Titanium and Inconel are handled on the machining side. Ask during DFM if your alloy is not on the list.
What is the smallest order you take?
One piece. There is no minimum order quantity, and the same process runs up to 10,000+ parts.
Prototype and production share the same datums, so the second build does not re-qualify the geometry.
How fast is a quote and a first article?
Quotation and free DFM analysis come back within 12 hours of a workable file.
Production can start within 24 hours of approval, and parts typically ship in 3–5 days. Historical late-delivery risk sits below 2%.
Can you keep my design confidential?
Uploads are secure and treated as confidential. An NDA is available on request before you send anything.
We hold ISO 27001:2022 for information security, alongside ISO 9001:2015, IATF 16949:2016 and ISO 13485:2016.
What file format should I send?
A STEP file plus a PDF drawing with critical dimensions and datums marked. Native CAD helps but is not required.
If tolerances are only on a few features, say which ones. That keeps the quote honest instead of pricing the whole part to the tightest callout.
Send the model. Get a casting route back.
Upload a STEP file and we return a quote with DFM notes inside 12 hours. No minimum order quantity, no tooling charge at pattern stage, 100% inspection before shipment.
12-hour quote100% inspectionNo minimum order quantityNDA on request
