Considered a black art historically, yet today there are few companies left in the UK that offer a complete package for designers and the retailer. Devanet provides an integrated package of design to completion for specialised products which can be cast in solid brass, sterling silver or gold. Working with partners in the trade we can offer casting for small and large buckles, jewllery and components, some of which may involve machining in assocation with the castings.
There are advantages and disadvantages to casting when it comes to large flat surface areas, casting cannot compete with precision machining that a good quality CNC can achieve and Devanet is a speclialist in that area. Casting shrinks as it is cooling and special care needs to be applied when two components have to fit together, depending upon the type of metal shrinkages will vary from 2% to 6%. Devanet provide a design service which will take into account the relevant factors and allowances when the rapid prototypes are made. in this regard high resolution photpolymer laser light technology is used to produce resin models of the designs before waxes are made so the customer can check the design and dimensions before incurring expensive mould costs.
Customers looking for castings must be careful of the charges that are made as very often the cost of the raw material is not included inthe casting price, advise should be sought before embarking on any casting project and obtain visuals and quotataions for each part of the process.
When a cast part is made it is attached to a sprue, this sprue has to be designed so that iot does not impact on the design and careless application during the production of the wax tree can seriously affect the qaulityh of the part. All sprues have to be removed and are usually offered by the caster for a small fee. The next process concerns the finishing which is labour intensive and involves, fettling, tumbling, polishing to prepare the products for plating. These processes are costly but necessary as poor preparation will mean that plating will not take as designed and poor quality finishes will result. Devanet provides a complete finishing service, including the final electroplating or coating application inhouse, thus saving the customer mikney by shipping from one supplier to another.
