Casting - What You Should Know

We can select the mold material that best suits your piece. Generally, there is 1% to 6% shrinkage from master to finished piece. Shrinkage has been calculated from in-house tests and manufacturer specifications and may be different depending on model geometry. (Example: Marquise dimensions change differently than squares and outside dimension change differently than inside dimensions.)

It is your responsibility to plan for the dimensional change in your parts based on your needs. Consider your model’s finish, mold material, finishing process and final part requirements. Please call or e-mail with any dimensional change (shrinkage), concerns or for further explanation.

If you want us to work from your mold or metal model, it may be necessary for us to make modifications to them to assure quality. We may need to replace, modify, move, or completely alter the feed sprue system of your metal model to get the best casting result. Minor mold alterations are typically done at no charge. Major alterations to molds or sprue changes on models are done for a fee. Sprue changes on models will also require making a new mold, for a minimal fee. We will contact you in advance regarding any changes.

A great deal of time, energy, and testing is spent by our product development department to engineer absolute casting quality into each cast product. Most designers, custom carvers, and retail jewelers don’t have the luxury to test their one of a kind or limited production designs in this manner. We often receive esthetically beautiful waxes and computer generated models that do not follow the natural laws of metallurgical physics. These technical design issues sometimes cause porosity, non-fills, and other casting defects.

We do our best based on our experience to compensate for these issues with sprues, risers, flask and metal temperatures but without testing, it’s a best "guess". Hoover & Strong can not be responsible for these types of defects. If there is a mold available we sometimes recast your parts at no charge to you. These additional casting trials will be at our discretion, you will be contacted if there are charges to be incurred.

If you choose not to have modifications to your molds or models, we cannot guarantee that there will be no seams or perfect fills. Additional wax injection charges may be applied based on the wax shot to acceptable wax ratio and the amount of time required to clean the waxes from your mold. We reserve the right to reject a mold if we feel that the labor required to produce the order exceeds our costs.

If you have spent a lot of time or money making a hand carved wax or rapid prototype, it is always in your best interest to make an RTV mold of your valuable design. The small $30 investment in a mold is far cheaper than re-carving or rebuilding your design again in the unlikely event of a less than satisfactory casting.

The mold materials that we use are listed here along with their associated properties. The casting and mold department will make individual decisions on type of mold needed based on model sent. Refer to the model section of our casting tips article.

There are rare times that we may refuse to cast a wax at all if the failure is assured based on our experience. We cannot afford to expend our time and labor when we are certain of failure based on our experience.

Custom Casting Services, Prices and Mold Materials

Contract Casting Terms and Agreement

Non-Disclosure Agreement

Download the "We Make It Happen" Custom Casting Services Order Form to mail or fax your custom order.

Finishing: We offer a number of finishing methods; from mass tumbling to hand polishing delicate designed jewelry. See Custom Casting Services, Prices and Mold Materials.

Security: Hoover & Strong will not copy or infringe on a customer's copyright and is not liable for copyright infringements by others. It is the customer's responsibility for maintaining ownership of the submitted design. Hoover & Strong will  not cast designs that have trademarks other than that owned by the customer. These trademarks can be real or implied, i.e. an actual stamp or pieces with known protection such as proprietary designs. Print the H&S Non-Disclosure Agreement.

Send models and waxes to Hoover & Strong, Attention: Custom Casting Department. Fed Ex or UPS are best; U.S. Postal Service only if it is insured and able to be tracked. Please package wax models very carefully in a small box. We suggest that you don't use tissues to wrap the waxes. Use a soft, fibrous material that will not leave behind lint. Tape the small box inside a large box before mailing. Also, enclose the name of your company, contact name, phone number, metal karat to cast product in and payment option for your order.

Hoover & Strong is not responsible for lost or damaged models during shipment.

Casting Time Frame

1 – 20 Piece Orders: 3 - 4 business days, add one business day if you are sending molds.

20 Piece or More Orders: 5 – 7 business days, add two business days if you are sending molds.

Model and Mold Services: 10-14 business days

Platinum and Palladium orders: 5-7 business days

Mold(s) with Order: 7-10 business days

These are general time frames, we always strive to expedite the processing of your order.