Which casting machine should I choose?

which casting machine should I choose? indutherm, topcast, cimo,
neutec, cheng yi xin??

I’m very confused right now in choosing which casting machine to
buy. There’s no comparison anywhere on the web, only
specifications from each companies. To anyone who’s been using
casting machines, like indutherm, cimo, topcast, neutec, cheng yi
xin (from China) or other brand of casting machines, which I’ve not
heard of, give their opinions of the machines? Maybe some
advantages, and disadvantages?

I’m starting to produce my own jewelry, so the capacity of the
machine would be about 1-2 kg of liquid metal. I’m casting in yellow
gold mainly, but would like to cast in other non- precious metals as
well. The models that I’m casting would be thin, so the casting
machine needs to be fairly good at casting thin, detailed models of
jewelry. I’m also very interested in doing stone casting. I heard
that induction/ frequency machine like indutherm, topcast, and cheng
yi xin is better than cimo which doesn’t use induction, so I’m
leaning toward the induction system machine.

Which machine is the best bang for the buck? My budget is about US
$20,000 for the casting machine, but of course I’d prefer to spend
less ;-). As of now, the machines that I’m closely looking at are,
indutherm vc 200/300, cimo k2cast/ mix cast, and the most cost-
effective Cheng Yi Xin from China. Has anyone ever used this Cheng Yi
Xin casting machine, or maybe other casting machines from China? I’m
worried about machines from China in general, but I’m sure there’s
quality machines being made in china.

Need help ASAP, since deadline is getting closer.

Thanks.

My name is Peter and I’m from company Indutherm in Germany.

Do you like me to help to select the best casting machine for your
process?

For 1-2 kgs of yellow gold and mainly thin pieces I recommend our
MC50 or the VC400.

Both machines are induction heated vacuum pressure casting machines
for smaller and medium size production.

The MC50 is the smaller version. It is a tilting single chamber
system. It can cast up to about 500gram of 18k Au per flask. The
flask size is limited to diameter 80mm * 80mm (3.5" * 3.5") The VC400
is the larger version with a 2 chamber sealing rod-system. It can
cast up to 3kgs per flask and the flask size can be up to diameter
125mm * 260mm (5" * 10")

The cost of a MC50 is 9500 Euro and the VC400 is 15.800 Euro but
without vacuum pump, packing and transport

Please inform me more in detail so I would like to give you more
assistance. Where do you live? So we can check from whom you can
expect service in terms of casting problems or machine problems. Can
you send me some pictures of your items?

Best regards
Peter

Hi Phillip,

This is a very detailed answers. Number 1- 5 sounds like a good
criteria to choose a casting machine, but how do I know if the
consumable parts are good or not? By the way, the consumable parts
are just crucibles, right? Could you give some tips on knowing a good
crucibles? I read that silicon carbide is stronger than clay
graphite, but I haven’t found articles on knowing if one clay
graphite is better than another clay graphite. Even on indutherm
site, they don’t have any detail or specifications on
their crucibles.

It’s the same for the thermal probe, unfortunately. There’s no
specifications on their thermal probe on indutherm, cheng yi xin,
yasui, etc.

As for the 2kg size flask, it’s the maximum size of the flask, it
might not produce the full 2 kg depends on the item size and
thicknes etc, but I could use a smaller flask if I’m casting way
less. It’s nice to have the capacity, in case I need it.

As I’m just starting to cast and produce jewelry, I’m not going to
cast that much. But the smaller indutherm mc15 or mc50 for example
will definitely not be an option since it’d be too small for mass
production. And since the China made casting machine is half the
price of the German made for the 2kg capacity, I might as well go
for it to future-proof my purchase in case I need more capacity. For
the oven, I don’t have one yet, I guess I could buy a 6 flask
capacity oven first, and then if I’m casting more, I could buy a
bigger oven. Currently, the turnaround wouldn’t be fast, since the
gold jewelry business is pretty quiet these days. Once a year would
pretty much be the big turnaround.

Hi Ivan,

I’m quite surprised that you like Neutec better than the others; I
thought that indutherm is the best. Why did you like Neutec better
than the others?

Technician service is indeed a very good point. I was thinking about
the technology and capacity comparison the whole time, that I almost
forgot about the tech service. I’m not sure if the technician are
readily available 24/7 in my country, because there are only
resellers or agents from those company. I will ask about this.

So, you prefer graphite to silicon carbide for gold/ silver because
graphite protects the metal from oxidation? You also said something
about gold sticks to the ceramic crucible, am I understanding it
correctly?

I also agree that it’s the caster and not the casting machine that
makes the castings successfull. I guess, you’re saying that because
casting machine isn’t the only thing that matters, mold making, wax
injecting, investment, and all the rest of the processes matter too.

Thanks for replying, I do love to hear other people’s experiences.