The Origin of Investment Precision Casting

The Origin of Investment Precision Casting

Investment casting was not initially called investment casting, but based on current data, it is mostly referred to as loss wax method. The reason for naming is clearly from the production process. It is said that in the mid-1940s, American engineer Austin founded the modern investment casting technology named after him. In 1955, Austin Labs proposed that it was their creation, which a Japanese person was not fond of. This person is called Deer Taking One Man. He questioned and appealed to the Austin Laboratory based on the history of China and Japan, as well as a large number of facts about products cast by the wax loss method. Finally, with a large amount of conclusive facts, the Austin Laboratory had to bow down and admit that wax loss casting was not created by them, but has a long historical origin.

Tracing the history of investment casting, or wax loss precision casting, dates back to approximately 4000 years ago. The first thing confirmed by historical events is the three countries among the four ancient civilizations, ancient Egypt, China, and ancient India. Then it spread to other countries in Africa and Europe.

The history of wax loss in China can be traced back to the Spring and Autumn and Warring States periods (770-221 BC). The copper ban (Xiong Shenyu, the King of Chu) and the bronze statue plate unearthed from the tomb of Marquis Yi in Xichuan, Henan Province, are the earliest known wax loss castings. In addition to artworks, weapons, and vessels, the wax loss method is also used in the production of building components. After the Warring States period, Qin and Han dynasties, the lost wax casting method became more popular, especially during the Sui, Tang, Ming, and Qing dynasties. The lost wax casting method had been widely used in ancient China.

From the above description, we can understand that in fact, our wax loss casting process should have originated earlier. According to relevant information, the technical principle of the wax loss method originated from the incineration method. The method of burning and losing wax was first seen in the mid to late Shang Dynasty, and this technique gradually disappeared after the emergence of the non-standard line wax loss method. The Shang Dynasty was around 1500 BC, and based on this time, the history of China's wax loss method is close to 4000 years ago, which is relatively close to the earlier history of wax loss method mentioned above.

Precision machining