There are mainly two major categories: sand casting and special casting.

It uses sand as the molding material, also known as sand founding. It includes three types: green sand mold, dry sand mold and chemically hardened sand mold. Not all types of sand are suitable for casting.

Its advantage is low cost, since the sand for molds can be recycled.

Its disadvantages: mold making is time-consuming; the sand mold itself is non-reusable and must be broken to take out the finished casting.

Green sand molding, resin self-hardening sand mold, water glass sand mold, dry mold & surface dry mold, full mold casting, vacuum molding.

The method is selected according to the size, shape, production batch of sand cores and actual production conditions.

In production, it is generally divided into manual core making and machine core making.

By molding materials, it is divided into two types:

Molds are made of metal with a higher melting point than the casting material.

It is subdivided into gravity die casting, low-pressure die casting and high-pressure die casting.

Restricted by the melting point of the mold material, the types of castable metals are limited.

This process includes shell mold casting and solid casting.

First, replicate the required part with wax, then immerse the wax pattern into a ceramic (or silica sol) slurry and let it dry, forming a ceramic shell over the wax replica.

Repeat the process until the shell reaches a sufficient thickness (about 1/4 to 1/8 inch).

After that, melt out the internal wax and drain it from the mold.

The mold is then subjected to multiple high-temperature firing to increase hardness before pouring.

This method features high dimensional accuracy and is applicable for casting high-melting-point metals such as titanium.

However, due to the high cost of ceramic materials, repeated heating and complex manufacturing procedures, the overall production cost is relatively high.