Rapid Prototyping

Prototyping is an important phase in the development of your casting application. We offer a variety of methods to meet your quick turn needs for one to one hundred pieces.

• Stereolithography (SLA/SLS): Thermojet™ and Quickcast™ methods generate accurate, castable patterns for low volume prototype needs.
• Machined Wax: Use our 3 and 5 axis CNC’s to create accurate patterns for complex, medium run prototype castings.
• Rapid Tool: Our tooling center can generate affordable temporary wax injection molds with a variety of methods for prototypes with higher volume requirements.

Wax Injection Tooling

Our corporate tooling center in Taipei, Taiwan produces CNC’d aluminum tooling for a number of our production and prototyping needs. Lead times are fast and expense is 30% - 40% lower than US toolmaking options. Complex injection molds, and programs which require onshore manufacture are produced in house at the Los Angeles facility, or subcontracted to our strategic partners.

Wax Injection

Wax injection molding is performed on a variety of manual, semi-automated, and fully automated wax injection machines. Controlled environments and wax handling apparatus assure dimensional stability.

Robotic Shell Dip Systems

Six axis robotic shell dipping is the standard for our volume production lines. Robotic shell dipping and conveyorized dry tunnels ensure the highest degree of product repeatability and process capability.

Vacuum Induction Melting

An alternate melting method for reactive alloys, VIM uses an electric current passed through an induction coil surrounding the crucible. The electromagnetic field produced in the feed stock generates sufficient heat to melt the charge. This method is often preferred for custom alloy applications, and is available at our FS Precision Asia facility.

Vacuum Arc Melting

Our standard titanium and zirconium melting method, VAR uses an electric arc between the feed stock electrode and a water cooled copper crucible to melt the charge in a high vacuum environment.

Gravity Fed Casting

Used with VAR, VIM, and air melt techniques, most applications use gravity and hydraulic pressure to feed molten metal to your parts.

Centrifugal Casting

Often desirable for thin wall or hard to fill parts, centrifugal casting techniques are regularly used with our VAR, VIM, and air melting techniques. The casting tree is rotated at a predetermined angular velocity while the molten metal is fed through the axis of rotation. The centrifugal force acting on the metal as it feeds radially outward forces it into hard to fill regions of the part.

SPAL™

Our air melt steel and stainless steel foundry technologies use SPAL casting to achieve clean and stable alloy chemistries. The SPAL process is a licensed technology that employs a liquid argon ‘blanket’ over the surface of the molten metal during melting to prevent alloy oxidation and slag formation. The process, commonly used for surgical implant casting, also prevents alloy fade – the vaporization of certain alloy elements, and ‘pickup’ – the addition of unwanted contaminants to the alloy chemistry.

Welding

FS Precision is a certified Nadcap welding facility. Simply put, we can weld anything we can cast.

Hot Isostaic Pressing (HIP)

More demanding applications of our titanium, cobalt, and stainless steel castings require hot isostatic pressing (HIP) to improve fatigue endurance limits. We provide a full range of HIP options to 30,000 psi and 2300F to meet your engineering needs.

Heat Treatment

A full range of heat treatment services are available to engineer your casting properties. We offer vacuum, and special atmosphere heat treatment processes in accordance with Aerospace Material Specifications, MIL-SPEC, and ASTM specifications.

5 Axis CNC Machining

There are times when your short run production needs may not justify non-recurring tooling expense. We use 5 axis CNC machined wax for single-setup, automated manufacture of your complex patterns.

Chemical Milling

Our state of the art chemical milling operation was installed in our Los Angeles facility in 2007. It offers fully automated chemical milling of titanium alloy castings for unmatched dimensional control.

Passivation

Passivation is a chemical surface conversion process that imparts corrosion resistance to stainless steel components. We can passivate your stainless parts regardless of size after the last material removal process.

Final Finishing

We offer grinding, polishing, manual or CNC milling (3, 4, and 5 axis), CNC turning, and a variety of customized assembly and finishing operations to deliver your finished product.

Non Destructive Testing

FS Precision is a certified Level III facility for fluorescent dye penetrant inspection (FPI) and offers in-line, real time digital x-ray inspection for all your casting needs. We can accommodate any level and sensitivity of FPI, x-ray, and magnetic particle inspection in accordance with aerospace and military specifications.

Final Inspection

Coordinate measuring systems and a variety of standard and custom inspection techniques are in place for automated inspection and data collection.