Casting & Die Casting
Separate casting route, tooling, machining and inspection when requesting aluminum components.
Start with the delivered scope
Casting forms a part from molten metal in a mold. Sand, permanent-mold and die-casting routes use different mold and production arrangements.
AlumHome buyer checklist · Updated 2 October 2026. Use this to prepare questions; confirm the actual engineering and acceptance requirements with the responsible parties.
Build the requirement
- Part definition
- Provide the current drawing, required material designation and the surfaces or interfaces that drive acceptance. Mark what is as-cast and what is to be machined.
- Proposed route
- Ask the producer to name the casting method and explain its proposed process plan. Product appearance alone is not enough to identify the route.
- Tooling and samples
- Separate pattern, die or mold charges from part charges. Record ownership, expected sample stages, revision handling and the process for approving production.
- Secondary operations
- List trimming, machining, cleaning, surface finishing and assembly. Identify which operations are included and which are subcontracted.
- Inspection scope
- Agree how dimensions and any specified internal-quality or leak requirements will be checked. State the required sampling and documentation rather than assuming a universal test package.
Questions for the supplier
- Question 1Will the supplier deliver a raw casting or a finished inspected component?
- Question 2Which sample checks must be approved before production is released?
- Question 3Who controls the drawing and tooling revision when the design changes?
Avoid these comparison gaps
- Casting method, tooling cost and unit price need to be compared as one scope.
- Do not assume every casting can use the same heat-treatment or finishing route.
- A visually clean casting is not evidence that hidden-quality requirements have been met.
Your next step
Prepare a sourcing brief
Download a structured draft locally; no information is sent.
Read the checklist →Compare supplier responses
Check differences in delivered scope before comparing price.
Read the checklist →Explore the relevant product form
Connect the process to material and dimensional fields.
Read the checklist →
Technical background & source boundaries
- The Aluminum Association — Processing 101Official background reference. This checklist is AlumHome editorial guidance, not a supplier endorsement or a replacement for the applicable specification.