Sand Casting Aluminum Parts
Quoted as
Aluminum Die Casting Parts

Aluminum Sand Castings versus Aluminum Die Casting

We can convert your Aluminum sand cast part into a die casting aluminum part. Here is an example: Jerry gave me a sample aluminum sand casting he uses for his product. He is proud of his product and wants to keep the quality level high. He wanted me to quote his product as a possible die casting part.

Aluminum Sand Casting Costs

Jerry buys the aluminum sand casting for $21 each part and puts about $11 of machining into each aluminum casting part. That is a total cost of $32 for his sand cast aluminum part. Tooling for Jerry's aluminum sand casting costs him $1,500 for the pattern and the tool life, which Jerry said is 5,000 parts.

Aluminum Die Casting Costs

A comparison aluminum die cast price is $8.20 each part, and estimated machining savings of $3.00 each part for an aluminum die casted part. Total part cost is $8.20 plus the remaining $8.00 in machining for a total part cost of $16.20 each part as an aluminum diecasting. The machining required for his aluminum sand casting that could be accomplished in the aluminum die casting process: 10 holes drilled and the top and bottom surfaces milled flat. Die cast tooling inserts for Jerry's part costs $22,000 and typical die cast tool life is over 100,000 aluminum die casting parts and sometimes as many as 1,000,000 die casting parts if the tolerances remain similar to the sand casting tolerances.

Die Casting Part Prices

Sand Casting Tooling Cost
VS
Kinetic Die Casting Tooling Cost

Aluminum sand cast tooling costs from $500 to $7,500 depending on size and complexity of the aluminum casting part life is 5,000 parts. Aluminum die casting tooling costs from $5,000 to $75,000 depending on size and complexity of the aluminum die cast part. However, tooling insert life is 100,000 parts and can be as much as 1,000,000 high pressure die casting parts.

What is the cost difference?

Quantity Sand Casting Die Casting Better Choice 1,000 parts
Tool Cost

Total Cost
$ 32,000
$ 1,500
-----------
$ 33,500
$ 16,200
$ 22,000
-----------
$ 38,200

Sand Casting
$4,700 savings
5,000 parts
Tool Cost

Total Cost
$ 160,000
$ 1,500
-----------
$ 161,500
$ 81,000
$ 22,000
-----------
$ 103,000

Die Casting
$ 58,500 savings 10,000 parts
Tool Cost

Total Cost
$ 320,000
$ 3,000
-----------
$ 323,000
$ 162,000
$ 22,000
-----------
$ 184,000

Die Casting
$139,000 savings
50,000 parts
Tool Cost

Total Cost
$ 1,600,000
$ 15,000 *
-------------
$ 1,615,000

* needs 10 tools $ 810,000
$ 22,000
-----------
$ 832,000

Die Casting
$783,000 savings

As I discussed last week, the quickest way to make this part is to machine it from billet aluminum. This is a great path to select for doing early prototypes, proof of concept, or if you just need some parts really quickly. However, it is not a good solution if you&#;re looking to get 10 parts or more. The reason for this is because this part would cost around $800 to machine overseas in China or Taiwan and $ to machine in the US.

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The next method you can investigate is either sand casting or investment casting. This part in particular would be a better candidate for sand casting because it doesn&#;t have fine details. Investment casting would likely yield a price of $100 each where sand casting would come in around $80. With both Sand Casting and Investment casting you&#;ll need to pay a little bit up front for your master part that the molds will be made from.

Next, we have high pressure die casting. This is a great manufacturing type to use for high volume because the price would come out around $30 each for this part. But, you have about a $45,000 up front investment in the die casting tool. Also, it&#;s hard to make changes to the part once the tool is done. So, with the high tooling cost and the difficulty in making design changes, you only want to move in this direction if you are super confident in both your sales projection and your designs.

Contact us to discuss your requirements of Custom Aluminum Castings. Our experienced sales team can help you identify the options that best suit your needs.

If you really need high performance out of this part, you can consider having it forged. This will yield the best properties for strength. But while forging has a slightly lower tooling cost than high pressure die casting, it would probably cost around $40 per part, meaning it has a higher piece price.

So, now let&#;s start trying to figure out how much this is going to cost and which one is right for you. Take a look at the graph below which is a representation of the costs I&#;ve detailed above. For the purposes of this part in particular, we are weighing the difference between machining, sand casting and high pressure die casting.

Want more information on ductile iron sand casting for sale? Feel free to contact us.