Contact Kinetic Die Casting Company 818-982-9200 if you have a difficult product to produce. We will be able to make parts for you when others fail. Send us your die casting tooling and we will make your parts for you.

A customer of ours, in the early 1990’s, contacted Kinetic Die Casting Company, to send us their die casting tooling so we could produce an aluminum die cast enclosure housing for them. This company, Monitor Dynamics Incorporated (MDI), produced a security card reader system used in government buildings. MDI was well known for their high quality security systems. MDI demanded high quality products from their suppliers.

This aluminum die casting part had transformed many times from its inception. It started out as a steel box that was welded together. The design was simple, ¼ inch plates welded together in a box shape with a slot to slide electronic cards through and an area for a keypad. The next change was to make aluminum sand castings in a similar design. Later, the delivery and quantity requirements for the programs required MDI to purchase die casting tooling and die casting parts from a competitor of ours.

Unfortunately, our competitor did not realize the important differences between aluminum sand casting parts and aluminum die casting parts. The part design was poorly planned in the following ways:

• The draft on the interior walls was not properly created, the parts has several drag marks and stuck too easily in the tool.
• The tooling die not include a mold base, it consisted of inserts only. This kept the customer captive to the poor quality die casting company, our competitor.
• The wall thicknesses of 1/4” or more, “for higher strength”. Greater wall thicknesses in die casting parts for greater strength is a misconception.

Here is how I helped MDI get good quality parts. First, I had my toolmaker fix the internal draft angle problems so the aluminum housing parts would no longer stick in the die casting tool. Secondly, I mounted the inserts into one of our many available mold bases so we could make good quality die casting production parts.

Then finally, we fought the production process to make good parts in spite of the problems and complications from the ¼” or greater wall thicknesses. There were many complications, such as, several sink marks or surface porosity from the metal wicking from thinner areas of the casting to the thicker areas. The casting would deform easily in the cooling process. The internal porosity from the thicker sections would also cause the paint and powder coating to bubble.

MDI was very pleased with the results we provided them. Their purchasing manager sent me a letter of appreciation. MDI is now known as Ameritron, Incorporated. You can read a copy of the letter of appreciation from the purchasing manager here..

“In the 12 years, Kinetic Die Casting has been an excellent supplier providing good pricing, excellent product and on time delivery. If you have a need for die casting products I would highly recommend Kinetic Die Casting”

……. Read letter HERE

Kinetic Die Casting Company makes die casting parts from die casting molds that other die casting companies will not use. If you have a tool that “needs” replacement, call us and we can make your old die casting tool work in our die casting machines.

In 1995, a medical device manufacturing engineer brought over a die casting mold that he made overseas. He had saved over $20,000 making this tool overseas instead of a local die casting company. He had taken this mold to several other die casting companies to get a price for production parts. The tool was made of a material that was not tool steel. The material was soft. The size of the mold was half the size it should have been to produce the parts. The mold had slides that were “pinned” together with soft wire pins. And the mold base was damaged.

I took the die casting mold to a local die casting competitor, who I knew had experience running these types of jobs. He told me he would not touch the job because it would more likely be problems than rewards. He suggested I send the tool back to the customer and say “thanks but, no thanks”.

I decided to try to run this job because I did not really know what to expect. I was surprised at how many problems could occur. Every time a part stuck in the die, the cavity could be damaged by our die casting machine operator from using hardened removal tools. The mold base being under sized caused thermal transfer problems. The slides pulled apart because they stuck in the casting. The gate and runner system washed out because the steel was too soft to maintain the gates. The thermal problems and the gate washout caused porosity in the castings.

Over the years I have re-welded the parting line with H13 tool steel to harden the surfaces. I have replaced the wire pins that were used to hold the slides in the mold with hard steel pins. I have replaced or rather installed pins and bushings in the mold base. I have re-gated the tool three or four times. While making over 30,000 parts on this die casting mold, I have learned several valuable lessons.

Over the past 15 years, Kinetic Die Casting Company has taken on several more of these “problem die casting tool jobs”. I am happy to say that these jobs are only a challenge to my people. All I can say is if you have a difficult die casting mold or die casting tool, bring it to us for great quality parts.

There are many forms of Die Casting Porosity, many are caused by these die casting variables:

• Metal Temperatures and Mold Temperatures.
• Material Cleanliness.
• Die Casting Mold Design.
• Die Casting Part Design.
• Die Casting Machine Pressures.
• Die Casting Machine Shot Speed.
• Die Casting Spray or Die Casting Mold Release.
• Other forms of porosity can be from “shrinkage” or wall thickness.

What is Die Casting Porosity? In order for you to know what die casting porosity is, you need to know the die casting basics. The most common form of Die Casting Porosity is a kind of factory defect in which die cast parts contain small pockets of void space and air within the metal, causing it to become porous.

Porosity in Die Casting is the air trapped by the metal inside the die casting parts. To know more, a basic knowledge of the die casting process is necessary. Die casting is a process wherein a particular amount of molten metal is put inside a shot cylinder, then it is applied (plunged) with great force with a piston so as to force the metal into a die cast mold or die cast die. During this “plunging process”, air inside the cylinder is forced along with the metal into the die casting mold. It is a very fluid turbulent process. The air forced into the mold with the metal and the metal already inside the mold is forced out of the mold through a series of gates, vents and overflows.

After this, the metal is left to cool down and harden or freeze inside the mold. The metal is then removed as a die cast part. The same process is repeated over again.

Die casting companies use metals which are non-ferrous, or do not contain Iron, as this is the highest factor for oxidation and rusting. Several examples of non-ferrous metals include zinc, aluminum, lead, magnesium, tin and copper. Kinetic Die Casting only uses aluminum and zinc.

In the worst case, porosity in die casting parts, weakens die casting parts, if the voids or pockets are very large. Porosity typically matters most in pressure tight die casting parts. When the air escapes through a die casting part, it is typically caused by porosity.

Employees of Kinetic Die Casting are POROSITY EXPERTS in die casting parts that need to be free of porosity. http://www.kineticdiecasting.com/porosity.html

Die Casting Porosity Causes – Die casting is a method of forcing molten metallic materials, plastics and resins inside a molding machine and allowing it to cool down until it solidifies. The materials eventually acquire the shape of the mold. However, there are unsolicited finished products wherein the material contains air bubbles and void space inside the molded material. When this happens, the material becomes weaker and easier to break. This is why porous casts are often categorized as poorly made and of low quality. Die Casting Porosity causes the material to develop cracks, chinks and notches because of its unstable density. Porous materials are also usually made of low-class materials such as less cohesive and less pure resin and metal materials. Materials with thinner consistency tend to develop bubbles and air pockets within them when they harden. Fortunately, by following simple tips, you can avoid having air bubbles in your molded materials.

Have your molding machines checked up regularly for any cracks on the surface as these cracks can permit air to seep through the machine and cause bubbles within the material. Covering the molding surface with a sealant effectively reduces the occurrences of air bubbles. Try to use high-grade materials such as pure aluminum to assure that it is more dense compared to substandard and less-stable metallic substances. You can also opt to use vacuum devices to suck out the air as soon as the machine compresses the molten metal to remove any excess air which may cause bubbles inside. However, it is a bit more expensive than other machines, but investing on it will greatly reduce casting porosity.

How to remove diecast porosity – Die casting is a process in which a metal or resin of some sort is forced into a mold to take its shape. The amount of force it takes for the machine to push the molten substance is so great that the material becomes compact until it cools down and solidifies. This is usually used for toys, models, and other purposes such as costumes. However, one of the problems that die cast factory owners have to face is the occurrence of die cast porosity. This is an unwanted incident wherein the material becomes porous and has small pockets of air and space inside the material. This causes the material to become weak and frail. Studies show that porosity in diecasted materials is the leading cause of early deterioration.

Fortunately, there are several ways to reduce the incidence of die cast porosity in your product. If you are interested to know how to remove die cast porosity in your materials, here are a few tips you can follow.

First, you need to regularly check the die cast machine you are using to make sure that there are no crevices and cracks where air might come through during the molding. You can also smoothen out the surfaces of your mold and seal any chinks you can see. It is advised to use only substances of high quality, because substandard resins and metals tend to become bubbly and loose in consistency. Vacuum generating devices will also help to reduce air bubbles because the negative pressure will suck out all the air left inside the machine.