ArtMetal

Gene:

That sounds amazingly cheap. I imagine the part was simple to cast. I will keep that in mind if I need multiple pieces of something.

The challenge, I would think, might be designing a pattern that would work. For people with experience casting, the pattern might be trivial. I would probably need to get advice from the casting shop or somebody here to successfully design a mold that is easy to cast.

Once upon a time I was a manufacturing engineer, specializing in design for manufacturability. But that was in the electronics business, so not much help in designing casting patterns. ;-) I know that success depends both on the design of the part, as well as the design of the pattern. I am sure that one could design a part that would be a headache to cast, and perhaps a slightly different part that would be easy to cast. Easy to cast means lower cost and higher quality. But if you don't know the process, you might design a part that would be hard to cast.

Richard

http://www.fergusonsculpture.com
Sculptures in copper and other metals