FAQs

1. How do I find out what designs are available? Our team of designers are constantly coming up with new ideas and improvements on old ones.  Order our catalog to view our complete line of commercial and retail products. 2. How do I order an existing design? After you have ordered and received your Alloy Casting catalog call 1-800-527-1318 or go to the ordering page.  Give us the part number and Alloy will ship directly via UPS or common carrier.  Alloy Casting takes Visa, Mastercard, and American Express. 3. How do I create a new custom design for my application? Fax or mail Alloy Casting a sketch or drawing with complete dimensions and we can quote you pricing on making the pattern; fabricating any permanent tooling necessary and the cost to make the aluminum casting.  Alloy can turnkey your casting from inception to final product. 4. How do I replicate an existing or antique design? Send Alloy Casting a sketch or photograph with product dimensions and quantity needed.  We will quote you the most economical way to reproduce your piece.  Time and money can be saved by sending an original piece to the foundry. 5. Do you make cast iron, brass, or bronze castings? No.  Alloy Casting only works with aluminum alloy.  However, we can reproduce a cast iron, brass, or bronze piece in aluminum. 6. Can aluminum castings be attached to steel? Although aluminum cannot be directly welded to steel, Alloy Casting can cast and form a steel clip or bolt into the aluminum to provide a welding interface. 7. How do you make an aluminum casting? The answer to this question has several steps: Step 1 – Sand, clay, and water are blended together into a tacky mixture.  When pressed together like a snowball it sticks together into a coherent mass. Step 2 – This sand mixture is rammed and pressed against both sides of a designed pattern. Step 3 – The pattern is removed and the cavity remaining in the sand is the negative image of the pattern. Step 4 – Molten aluminum is poured into this cavity to give a raw casting that reproduces the original designed pattern. Step 5 – The sand mold, now hardened by the heat of the molten metal, is broken apart to release the raw casting. Step 6 – The raw casting is then sandblasted and cleaned to give a final casting ready for shipment. 8. What can aluminum alloy be used for? Aluminum alloy can be used for a multitude of different purposes ranging from ornamental or decorative pieces such as wall fixtures to commercial/industrial use in machines and tools. Other applications include functional retail items such as furniture and also architectural uses such as building restoration and refabrication. 9. Exactly what is aluminum alloy? Aluminum alloy is a combination of aluminum and certain other types of metals that form together to make a single metal alloy that possesses characteristics of all the various elements used. Depending on what the alloy is going to be used for, different metals will be mixed in with the aluminum. For example, high magnesium content for superior corrosion resistance. High copper or zinc for superior strength. 10. Do you use recycled aluminum cans? No. Aluminum cans are made from a different family of alloys than the aluminum we use for our products. 11.  At what temperature does aluminum melt? Aluminum has a melting point between 1050 to 1150 degrees Fahrenheit. The different temperatures are a function of varying alloy constituents. 12. How much aluminum do you use per month? In our factory, we use approximately 80,000 to 120,000 pounds or about 50 tons per month. 13. How durable is recycled aluminum? There is basically no difference between new aluminum and recycled aluminum. The properties inherent to this type of metal along with other metals mixed in for added strength allow it to be used many times without losing its natural durability.