First determine if Texcast is a good fit for your investment casting application.

1. What material do you want investment casting made of?  At Texcast we pour steel, stainless steel, cobalt base and nickel base alloys. We currently do not pour aluminum, copper base, or vacuum melt alloys such as titanium.

2. How much does your investment casting weigh.  If it is over 35# it will be too heavy for Texcast .  Our weight limit maybe less for some part configurations. Some configurations require extra gating to fill properly. At this point if your part is under 35# it is still a candidate. We will review your investment casting and advise if your part is too heavy for us due to extra gating requirements.

3. What is the longest dimension on part? If under 18” it should fit us. Some part configurations can be as long as 24”.  But if over 24" it will be too large for us

4. If foreign investment castings are acceptable for your application then we are not the correct foundry for you. We do not compete with China. All our investment castings are made in Houston Texas, USA. We do not import castings.

If your part fits within these constraints or if you are not sure if they fit, please send us the information outlined below and we will be glad to review your requirements. These guidelines are not meant to prevent you from requesting a quote but only to help you determine from a broad perspective if Texcast maybe a suitable vendor for your parts.

Here is the information we will need to quote:

1. What material do you want part cast out of?

2. Is the part to be heat treated? If so, is there a hardness requirement? Are there mechanical testing requirements?

3. What lot quantities of investment castings would you like us to quote? Is this a one time job or a recurring job? We like both types. But for us to quote you the best alternative we need some idea of what you are looking for.  If it is a new product line and you do not have any idea how many parts you may need in the future, that is ok, tell us how many you need for your immediate needs. Go to  Rapid Prototype page for more information on how patterns are produced if interested.

4. We need as much information about the part as possible. This is a new part? If it is an existing job, how is it currently being made? If it is currently being investment cast why are you looking for new foundry? Is to get better quality, delivery or price?  Our on-time quoted delivery has been 96-99% every year since 2001. Note if you are happy with the quality and delivery of your current vendor, we may not be the place to find a cheaper price.

5. If this is an existing part, does investment casting tooling currently exist for part. If so we will need pictures of tooling. Any pricing we give shall be subject to review after tooling is actually run at Texcast. Any tooling rework or modification will be at customer's expense.

6. We need drawings and or CAD files or samples or hand drawn sketches on napkins. The more information we receive the fewer questions we will have to ask before we can quote. Ideally we would like to have:

• 3D CAD files.  We would prefer SolidWorks native CAD files. If these are not available then this is the desired order.

                    1. SolidWorks format

                    2. STEP format

                    3. X_T format

                    4. IGES format

                    5. STL format

• 2D drawings. We need these for tolerances. We do make many rapid prototype parts without 2D drawings. But if tolerances are important 2D drawings are a necessity. Note if you only send us a 2D drawing and the dimensions and or tolerances are not legible we will not be able to quote.

• Samples if available. This is not a necessity, unless that is all you have, but they can be very helpful during our quoting process

To Send Files:
Email garyhinds@texcast.com

7. Unless critical dimensions are called out on 2D drawings we will need to know what dimensions are critical and what are not critical.

8. Is any NDT (non-destructive testing) required? If yes, to what specification? If it is to a company's specification, we will need copies. We do not need copies of ASTM, AMS, MIL or other industry wide specifications.

9. Are chemical analyses required? We offer master heat chemical analysis at no charge. If actual chemical analysis of each batch or individual pour is required there is an extra charge.