Design Nomenclature / Physical Model Making
Investment casting
Also called lost-wax, lost wax casting, cire perdue, precision casting
This entry has not been translated yet and is shown in English.
A wax original is invested in ceramic slurry, the wax burned out, and metal poured into the void it left. The mould is destroyed to release the part and the pattern was destroyed to make the mould, so every casting needs a fresh wax — which is also why it reproduces undercuts and detail nothing else can reach.
Not to be confused with
Origin
"Lost" is literal: the wax is melted and burned out, never recovered. "Investment" is the old sense of clothing something — the slurry is invested around the wax the way a coat invests a body.