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Your Design.
Metal. Days.

You’ve drawn it. Now prove it. Creative Alucast turns 3D CAD into cast aluminium prototypes — faster than a wooden pattern, at comparable cost, with the mechanical properties of a production casting. And if your current part is failing, short in supply, or not performing — we’re the call to make.
SEND YOUR DESIGN
PART IMPROVEMENT & RESCUE

Days

Pattern to cast part

Engineering pattern life (prints)
0
Validation pattern life (prints)
0 %

Your

Alloy. Matched to your spec.

01

Part One

Rapid Prototyping & 3D Pattern Making

For engineers and NPD teams who need a real aluminium casting — not a 3D-printed plastic — to validate form, fit, function, and mechanical performance before committing to a production tool.

Why Cast Metal, Not Printed Plastic

Your Prototype Should Act Like the Real Part

"I need to know it won't fail in service — not that it looks right in a render."

Plastic and resin prototypes tell you what a part looks like. An aluminium sand casting tells you how it behaves — under load, under heat, under machining, under assembly. That is the test that counts.

Real Material Properties

Cast LM alloy prototypes give genuine UTS, yield strength, elongation, and hardness — data you can use in FEA validation and material qualification, not estimated plastic substitutes.

Machineable to Final Dimensions

The cast prototype carries machining allowances exactly like a production part. Machine it, measure it, assemble it — your first article test is a genuine production-route result.

Design Freeze Confidence

Catching a wall thickness problem or a gating issue at prototype stage costs a pattern revision. Catching it after production tooling is cut costs significantly more — in time and capital.

Same Alloy as Production

Prototype in LM25, LM6, LM4, or the alloy your production drawing specifies — so your material characterisation, coating trials, and regulatory testing are conducted on the production-intent material.

CAD → Cast

No wooden pattern.
No 4-week wait.

Pattern Types

Choose Your
Pattern Grade

Two 3D pattern options — one for rapid design validation, one for sustained pilot and early-production runs — plus the traditional wooden pattern route for reference.

Validation Grade

Low-Cost 3D Pattern

Design prove-out · First-article · Fit & function checks
  • Pattern Life     50 casting cycles
  • Lead Time     Days from CAD file
  • Material     Standard FDM / SLA resin
  • Cost &nbsp     Lowest — fraction of wooden pattern
  • Casting Process     Sand casting (all LM alloys)
  • Best For     1–10 prototype castings before design freeze
When you need to validate a concept, check assembly fit, or run a first-article inspection before committing — this is the fastest, lowest-cost path to a real aluminium casting.
Start a Validation Proto

Engineering Grade

Production-Grade 3D Pattern

Pilot runs · Repeat prototypes · Bridge production
  • Pattern Life     1,000 casting cycles
  • Lead Time     Days from CAD file
  • Material     Durable composite / engineering resin
  • Cost     Comparable to traditional wooden pattern
  • Casting Process     Sand casting (all LM alloys)
  • Best For     Pilot batches, bridge supply, repeat prototyping
When you need the pattern to last — for pilot production, design iterations, or as a bridge while permanent tooling is prepared — and you want all the speed of 3D printing at the cost of a wooden tool.
Start an Engineering Proto

Traditional

Wooden Pattern

Long-run production · High-volume casting
  • Pattern Life     Long-term production tool
  • Lead Time     4–8 weeks (pattern making)
  • Material     Hardwood / MDF / metal inserts
  • Cost     High upfront tooling investment
  • Casting Process     Sand casting (all LM alloys)
  • Best For     Established designs at sustained high volume
The right choice for a locked design running at volume — but the wrong starting point for a new development. Many engineers now use a 3D pattern to validate, then commission wooden tooling once the design is confirmed.
Discuss Your Design Challenge

How It Works

From Your File to a Cast Part

Five steps from the moment your CAD arrives to the moment a real aluminium casting is
in your hands.

1

Submit Your CAD

Send a STEP, IGES, or STL file — or a 2D drawing as a minimum. We review geometry immediately.

DAY 0

2

DFM Review

We add draft, machining allowances, and gating — and flag any issues before pattern production begins.

DAY 1-2

3

3D Pattern Print

Engineering-grade or validation-grade pattern printed and finished for the moulding box.

DAY 2-4

4

Casting & Fettling

Sand mould made, metal poured, casting cooled, fettled, and shot-blasted to drawing surface condition.

DAY 4-7

5

Despatch / Machining

Cast part despatched — or passed to our machine shop for finish machining to drawing dimensions if required.

DAY 7-14

Start with a file. Walk away with a casting.

Share your 3D CAD or 2D drawing and we’ll assess lead time, pattern grade, and alloy suitability the same day. No commitment required to receive a technical review and indicative lead time.
Send Your Design

What We Need

What to
Send Us

You don’t need a perfect drawing to start — you need a direction. Send us what you have and we’ll tell you what we can do with it, what’s missing, and what the casting will cost to produce.
  • Any of the formats below get the process started. We'll confirm suitability within the same business day.
  • If you have an existing part that's failing or a competitor part you need to improve — send us that too.

3D CAD File

STEP, IGES, or Parasolid. Solid model allows direct pattern generation and DFM analysis. Preferred format.

Ideal

2D Engineering Drawing

PDF or DXF with dimensions and tolerances. We'll build a 3D model from this for pattern generation.

Accepted

Physical Sample / Existing Part

Send us the part and we reverse-engineer it. Useful when drawings are lost, incomplete, or the part needs improvement.

Accepted

Sketch / Concept Brief

Even a hand sketch with approximate dimensions gets us started. We'll confirm a solid model for sign-off before pattern production.

Starting Point

02

Part Two

Part Improvement & Problem Solving

If a current casting is failing in service, your supplier has quality issues, or supply has dried up — bring the problem to Creative Alucast. We diagnose, redesign, or replace.

Part Improvement

Engineering Support

The Part Isn't
Working. We Can
Help.

Not every casting problem starts with a clean sheet. Sometimes the design is inherited, the drawings are incomplete, the supplier has changed, or the part has always been marginal and nobody fixed it. We work from where you are — not where the textbook says you should be.

Porosity & Internal Defects

Shrinkage porosity, gas porosity, or cold shuts causing leak paths, machining rejections, or pressure-test failures. We review gating and riser design, alloy condition, and process parameters — and produce replacement castings with the defect resolved.

Dimensional Drift & Tolerance Issues

Parts that used to pass first article but are now drifting out of tolerance — wall thickness, bore position, flatness, or machined feature location. We investigate root cause and deliver corrected castings with documented dimensional results.

Mechanical Property Shortfall

Parts failing at loads below design intent — suspect alloy grade, incorrect heat treatment, or unsuitable casting process for the application. We review alloy selection, process route, and heat treatment specification, and propose an improved solution.

Design That Was Never Right

Wall sections too thin to fill reliably. Undercuts that force broken cores. Radii too tight for clean solidification. We DFM-review the geometry and propose casting-optimised revisions — minor changes that make the part reliably manufacturable.

When Things Go Wrong

Three Calls
We Get

These are the situations engineers call us about most. If yours sounds familiar — make the call.

Situation 01

My Supplier Has Stopped Supply

Your foundry has shut, your supplier has gone silent, or a single source has become unreliable — and production is at risk.
  • Send us drawings or a sample — we'll assess bridge production feasibility immediately
  • 3D pattern making bypasses the wooden pattern wait — first castings possible in days
  • We hold stock where repeat demand justifies buffer inventory
  • Full alloy and process matching to your existing part specification

Situation 02

Parts Are Failing Quality Checks

High rejection rates, leaking under pressure test, machining rejections revealing porosity, or surface defects causing assembly problems.
  • Send us rejected samples and rejection data — we'll identify likely root cause
  • Process review covers gating design, alloy verification, solidification and shrinkage
  • We produce trial castings and measure actual results before committing to volume
  • 100% pressure testing, spectrometric alloy verification, and CMM inspection available

Situation 03

The Part Needs Improvement

The part works — but you know it could be lighter, stronger, more reliable, or easier to assemble. You want a better version without starting from scratch.
  • Weight reduction through wall optimisation and section analysis
  • Alloy upgrade or heat treatment change to improve strength or corrosion resistance
  • Process change — from sand to GDC or LPDC — for better surface finish or tighter tolerances
  • Consolidation of assembled sub-components into a single casting

How We Work on Part Problems

From Problem
Stated to
Part Resolved

We don’t need a perfect brief to start. We need the part, the problem description, and whatever documentation exists. The rest is engineering work — and that’s what we do.

Tell Us What's Wrong

Send drawings, samples, photos of defects, rejection reports, or just a description of what's failing and in what way. The more context the better — but even a short description of the symptom gets things started.

We Diagnose & Propose

Our engineers review the part, the defect, and the process. We identify likely root cause and propose a technical path — whether that's a process change, alloy correction, tool revision, or design modification. We'll tell you what we think the problem is before asking for an order.

Trial Castings & Verification

Before committing to volume, we produce a trial batch under the revised process or specification — measured, tested, and reported against your drawing requirements. You approve the results before we scale.

Production & Ongoing Supply

Once the part passes, we move to agreed production volumes with documented process controls — so the fix holds, consistently, across every batch.

FAQ

Common Questions

Technical questions engineers typically ask when
evaluating dissolving-core casting for their
application.
ASK A SPECIFIC QUESTION
How quickly can you produce a prototype casting?
From a finalised 3D CAD file, we target first casting within 7–14 days depending on part complexity — pattern printing typically 2–4 days, casting and fettling a further 3–5 days. This is significantly faster than the 4–8 week lead time of traditional wooden pattern making. For urgent situations, contact us directly to discuss what’s achievable.
Validation-grade (50-print life) is the right choice when you need 1–10 castings to check fit, form, and function before design freeze. Engineering-grade (1,000-print life) costs comparably to a wooden pattern but is produced in days — the right choice when you need pilot production batches, repeated prototyping iterations, or a bridge supply while permanent tooling is made.
STEP or IGES is ideal — solid model format allows direct pattern generation and DFM analysis. STL is accepted. A 2D PDF or DXF drawing is the minimum — we’ll build a solid model from it before production begins. Even a hand sketch with approximate dimensions gets the technical conversation started.
Yes. The 3D pattern route bypasses the wooden pattern wait — if you have drawings, we can assess feasibility immediately and begin production within days of receiving them. Send us the drawings and urgency level and we will tell you what is achievable and by when.
Yes — this is the most common starting point. Send us the part, the rejection data, and a description of how it’s failing. Our engineers will assess likely root cause and propose a path forward. We’ll give you our technical opinion before you place any order.
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