Custom Metal Castings

Custom castings are a lasting way to honor important milestones, events, achievements, or memorialize people and places. Ancient “lost-wax” bronze castings have withstood the centuries, visually telling the tale of past cultures, their religions, and their social structures. Castings can be used for indoor or outdoor applications and range in size from large statues to small coins. Castings are personalized to fit the occasion or setting. Whether they are the traditional recessed background with raised text or colorful enamel filled plaques and medallions. Small challenge coins are a time honored tradition among military, first responders, and clubs. They have been a well respected practice of signifying affiliation with a particular branch or unit. Today many police and fire departments as well as civic organizations use them to commemorate special events and milestones. These coins have become a long-lasting, highly collectible way to show your allegiance anytime and anyplace. Custom medals reward excellence in business as well as athletic prowess. Whether to honor a loved one, commemorate a new building, beautify or to challenge, there is no end to the application for custom castings. For more information Contact us.

Bronze is one of the oldest and most traditional of the metal casting materials. Bronze castings have been around for over 6,500 years. Castings have been prominently displayed in public areas since ancient times and this tradition is continued today. Bronze grows a natural beautiful patina. This patina can be both an advantage and a disadvantage. When patina is undesired, Bronze plaques are covered in an automotive grade clear UV protecting coating. This coating protects the metal from the elements and prohibits the oxidation that forms the patina. Bronze is most commonly used to cast memorial plaques, statues, and dedicatory monuments.

Due to its light weight (about ¼ of the weight of bronze) and its lower cost, aluminum is a great alternative to Bronze Castings. Additionally Aluminum does not discolor and patina the way that Bronze does making it a great choice for outdoor applications. Its silver look offers a more modern esthetic when casting dedicatory plaques while maintaining the traditional cast plaque design. Aluminum can be treated to give it the appearance of Bronze. However, this process is not durable and can’t be used outside.

Stainless Steel offers great longevity in outdoor and marine environments. It is typically not cast in the traditional methods, but is created by removing material. This is done either with the use of acid etching, sand carving, mechanical engraving, or laser etching.

Pewter, Gold, Silver, and other Precious Metals have an inherent quality and an intrinsic look to them. They can however be cost prohibitive for some projects. This cost can be minimized by plating (adding a thin layer to the outside) rather than casting the entire piece out of the precious metal. Pewter is a great metal for casting statuettes, pins, medals, challenge coins, and offers a great look as a belt buckle. It’s relatively low melting point allows it to be cast with a variety of techniques. Gold, there is no substitute for gold. The Bling factor is second to none. The color and brilliance literally outshine brass or other gold materials. Gold will never rust, tarnish, or fade. It excels as material to cast high value items such as pins, jewelry, and coins. Its high cost makes plating a more economical option. Silver, like gold has a high material cost. Silver has a better feel and weight in your hand than other silver material and is one of the shiniest elements. It has a brilliant white metallic luster and does tarnish. Cost wise, silver is less expensive than Gold, but its high cost makes plating a more economical option. Silver is most commonly used on pins, jewelry, coins, medallions, belt buckles, and medals.

This category encompasses what is known as “pot metal” usually zinc alloys that are inexpensive and easy to cast. Pot metal can be plated and treated with a variety of finishes to give it the desired look. These attributes make it an ideal material for custom medals, medallions, belt buckles, and challenge coins.

An artist will sculpt the 3-Dimensional likeness out of clay to be cast typical as “lost wax”. This process takes several months as the artist collaborates with the design team and client to ensure that the image is true to the original. Due to the cost and length of time necessary to complete, Bas Relief is less commonly used.

A 2-Dimensional precision tooled image that is a highly durable alternative to expense and time consuming process of creating a Bas Relief.

Acid or Laser Etching allows for photographs and artwork to be digitally etched into the metal. Although not as rich as a Bas Relief, Etching is a much faster process and is more economical.