Vacuum casting
Leading Edge offers high-quality urethane vacuum casting services for cost-effective parts production. With our strong expertise in silicone vacuum casting, we ensure precision and quality throughout the manufacturing process.
- 1 to 200+ parts
- 10+ plastic grades available
- Versatile manufacturing capabilities
- Ready within 8 days
- 10+ finishing options
What is vacuum casting?
Vacuum casting, also referred to as urethane casting, is a production process that begins with the creation of a master pattern typically produced using 3D printing. A silicone mold is then formed around the master pattern. Subsequently, resin is poured into the mold and allowed to cure within a vacuum chamber, resulting in a solid part. This technique enables the manufacture of multiple parts from a single mold, leading to significant cost savings through economies of scale.
Additional polyurethane vacuum casting services
Leading Edge goes beyond basic manufacturing processes and offers a variety of additional services.
Reaction injection molding (RIM)
RIM can produce a larger number of higher quality parts by injecting polyurethane resins into a hard mould at low pressure.
Assembling
In addition to manufacturing individual casted copies, Leading Edge provides assembling services to integrate multiple components into a finished product.
Overmolding
Our molding capabilities allow the incorporation of metal inserts or a second material, resulting in integrated parts with the combined benefits.
Your project in 6 steps
Get your plastic prototypes or production parts in no time. A flexible organization providing a personalized response to your need without any setback.
Step 1: Your quote
Upload files and specifications
Step 2: DFM
Design optimizations
Step 3: Tooling
Sampling and adjustments
Step 4: Production
Close follow-up
Step 5: Quality control
Dimensional report, pictures, and videos
Step 6: Delivery
Packing, door-to-door tracking
Applications
Vacuum casting parts are extensively used for rapid prototyping and short-run manufacturing of plastic parts. These parts serve multiple purposes, including the creation of engineering models, market testing, concept proofs, and short-run production. They frequently act as a transitional bridge to mass series production.
Vacuum casting materials
We provide an extensive selection of urethane resins sourced from renowned international material suppliers like Sika and Heicast. Our range of resins offers the capability to simulate both rigid and soft plastic materials while meeting specific requirements such as high impact resistance or flame retardant properties.
Below is a non-exhaustive list of commonly used materials for vacuum casting.
All materials
Heicast 8263
Heicast 8400
Heicast 8150
Heicast T0387
Sika PX223 HT
Sika UP 4280
Sika PX 5690
Pelnox UR-2180
Sika PX 5210
UX50
Sika PX 527
Sika PX331
General vacuum casting characteristics
General tolerance:
Mini tolerance of +/- 0.3 mm / 0.010 in and then 0.05 mm / 0.002 in every 25 mm / 1 in
Precise tolerance:
Leading Edge will check your 2D drawing and give you our comments
Maximum part size:
1000 x 1000 x 600 mm / 39 x 39 x 24 in
Minimum part size:
0.50 mm / 0.020 in (may depend on part geometry)
Lead time:
From 5 days
Vacuum casting finishes
Explore our diverse range of finishing options that offer numerous benefits, including enhanced aesthetic appeal, and ultimately bring your prototypes to life.
The pigmentation process makes it possible to produce pieces naturally colored in the mass of certain plastics. It is possible to choose the desired RAL or Pantone, with color pigments mixed with the material. This is applicable for rigid or flexible parts.
This type of finishing is a high-level polishing, also known as mirror polishing, that gives the part a smooth, reflective, and aesthetically pleasing appearance.
There are several degrees of transparency depending on the technologies and materials used. The opacity can also be manually adjusted by polishing, sanding, or pigmentation.
Whether by applying a surface treatment or by pigmentation, matching the colors of your prototypes and parts is important for meeting your specifications and the visual quality of the final product.
A paint finish that enhances the surface condition both functionally and aesthetically. It is possible to achieve different effects of appearance: satin, matte, gloss, or semi-gloss.
Chrome plating is a technique of applying a thin layer of chromium onto a substrate through galvanic or vacuum plating. This additional layer not only improves the aesthetic but prevents corrosion and wear.
Vacuum casting capabilities
With our team of casting engineers and in-house casting shop—comprising two vacuum machines and two ovens—we provide comprehensive casting services, including finishing, to deliver high-quality results for your projects.
We offer a diverse range of options to meet your specific project requirements, including material selection, and post-processing finishes. Our experts will work closely with you to ensure the perfect fit for your project needs.
