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Shell Mold Casting
Kormax provides shell mold casting (also known as shell sand casting) for customers requiring smaller, precision components with excellent dimensional accuracy and a very good surface finish. Unlike green sand and no-bake casting, which form a mold in bulk sand around a pattern, shell mold casting cures resin-coated sand against a heated metal pattern to produce a thin, rigid shell that repeats accurately from part to part. As part of our comprehensive sand casting services, we help customers select the most suitable sand casting process for their application.
What is Shell Mold Casting?
Shell mold casting is a sand casting process in which resin-coated sand is cured against a heated metal pattern to form a thin, rigid shell. Two shell halves are joined to create the mold cavity, supported in backing material, and poured. Because the pattern is machined metal and the shell is chemically cured rather than compacted, the process holds tighter tolerances and produces a smoother as-cast surface than green sand or no-bake casting. It suits smaller components made in medium to high volumes, where repeatable accuracy and finish reduce or remove downstream machining.
Kormax supports customers throughout the shell mold casting process, covering alloy selection and design-for-manufacturing advice to manufacturing of components, machining, inspection, and ongoing supply. Our global network of foundries allows us to match each project to the facility best suited to its technical and commercial requirements.
Kormax Shell Mold Casting Foundry Network
Kormax partners with specialized foundries globally to deliver sand casting solutions for precision components produced in repeat volumes. Each foundry is vetted for capacity, material capability, and process reliability. By matching your requirements to the most suitable foundry, we ensure the right fit for demanding industrial applications while reducing supply risk.
Kormax aligns your casting requirements with the right foundry partner, managing sourcing, production, and delivery end-to-end. This approach reduces variability and ensures reliable, high-quality outcomes.
Kormax’s Shell Mold Casting Capabilities
Kormax delivers shell mold cast parts for smaller, detailed components where dimensional accuracy, surface finish, and repeatability matter more than raw casting size. By combining experienced engineering support with our foundries in Turkey and India, we help customers select the right manufacturing approach based on component size, application, performance requirements, and production volume.
| Shell Mold | |
| Size Range | 0.2 – 220 lbs (0.1 – 100 kg) |
| Cost | Medium |
| Design Freedom | Good |
| Casting Soundness | Average |
| Surface Finish | Very Good |
| Development Time | 4 weeks + |
| Production Time | 3 – 8 weeks |
| Foundry Locations | Turkey and India |
Castings from 0.2 – 220 lbs (0.1 kg to 100 kg)
Kormax’s shell mold casting capabilities cover components from 0.2 – 220 lbs (0.1 kg to 100 kg), suiting small and medium parts that need consistent dimensions across a production run. Where a component is heavier or larger than this, our no-bake sand casting process covers heavy-section castings up to 50,000 kg, and our engineering team will point you to the right one.
Very Good Surface Finish and Dimensional Accuracy
Resin-coated sand cured against a machined metal pattern produces a fine, stable mold surface, giving a very good as-cast finish and closer dimensional control than green sand or no-bake casting. For many components this reduces fettling and secondary machining, which lowers the finished cost of the part rather than just the cost of the casting.
Repeatability for Production Volumes
Shell mold casting uses a durable metal pattern, so mold quality holds across long runs and part-to-part variation stays low. Tooling is a larger upfront commitment than green sand or no-bake patterns, so the process earns its cost in medium- to high-volume production — and where volumes do not justify the tooling, we will tell you so and quote the alternative.
Download Our Sand Casting Process Steps
Learn more about the Sand Casting process with this diagram.