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Advanced Manufacturing 36 MoldMaking Technology —— AUGUST 2016 By Cynthia Kustush Images courtesy of South Coast Mold. Combining what they know with what they have allows these makers of investment casting molds to optimize the cutting of complex contours. Strategic Machining M olds aren't always for plastic injection molding, although plastics figure prominently whenever the topic of building molds is raised. When companies require metal parts or components whose shapes are very complex, it can be impractical, if not impossible, to machine them efficiently and economically. This is where South Coast Mold Inc., a mold manufacturer based in Irvine, California, can use its machining strategies to offer a solution. The company, which was established in 1973 by Peter Novak, specializes in building and testing precision investment casting molds and tooling for alloy parts. According to his son Paul Novak, president and second-generation owner, investment casting, also known as lost-wax casting, is thought to have originated as long ago as 4500-3500 BC as a way to make jew- elry and metal sculptures. It wasn't until World War II that the process became a greatly sought-after answer for producing highly engineered, complex parts from special alloys that were not easily machined using traditional methods. (See sidebar on page 40 for an explanation of the investment casting process.) "Being able to cast around corners and blind holes, and cast pockets that cannot be machined is an advantage for our cus- tomers," he says. "We cannot typically do this with other pro- cesses, but using wax makes it possible. We're simply injecting wax instead of plastic, and, particularly with inside passages, there are no limitations on what the part can look like." South Coast Mold builds molds for items such as blades, vanes, impellers, turbines and diffusers used in the aero- space industry, which makes up about 70 percent of the company's customer base. Another 10 percent of the company's business is molds for the medical indus- try (knee or hip replacements, prosthet- ics, and medical instruments), about 15 percent is for the hardware industry (valve bodies, manifolds, housings and more), and the remaining 5 percent is for firearm parts (hammers, triggers, sup- pressors and so on). Most of the molds the company builds have between four and eight cavities. As with many prototype injection molds and some production mold tool- ing, the shop builds all of the invest- ment casting molds out of 7000-series aluminum, with rare exceptions when a customer wants a steel core or cav- ity for high-production molds that are more prone to wear or have high-wear South Coast Mold has exclusively used Mori Seiki CNC machining centers of various models for all of its 43 years of operation. This is by design, says company President Paul Novak, as it has enabled the shop's toolmakers to "master" the operation and run one or more of the machines simultaneously. It's seamless, simple and consistent, which saves both time and money, he says.