Trushape is a no-bake sand casting foundry in India making steel, iron, copper alloy and aluminium castings from 3 to 40 kg (6.6 to 88 lb) in chemically bonded sand moulds that set at room temperature, held to ISO 8062-3 DCTG 11 to 14 and machined and tested under one roof for buyers across North America and Europe.
No-bake sand casting, also called air-set, self-setting or chemically bonded sand casting (the No-Bake-Verfahren, with kaltharzgebundener Formsand, in German, and moulage en sable autodurcissant, or sable à prise chimique, in French), is a sand casting process in which dry sand is mixed with a liquid resin binder and a catalyst that make it harden on its own at room temperature. The mould sets rigid around the pattern in minutes, with no oven and no clay, so it holds its shape as the metal is poured.
Trushape Precision Castings is an ISO 9001, ISO 14001, ISO 45001 and ISO 13485 certified no-bake sand casting foundry in Bhavnagar, Gujarat, India. We cast parts from 3 to 40 kg (6.6 to 88 lb) in carbon, low-alloy and stainless steels, grey and ductile irons, copper alloys and aluminium, hold ISO 8062-3 DCTG 11 to 14, and heat-treat, CNC machine and test them under one roof for buyers across the United States, Canada, Mexico, the United Kingdom and the European Union.
Follow one pump casing from pattern to finished part. The sand sets itself around the pattern, the mould is stripped, cored and closed, and the metal is poured, all under one roof in Bhavnagar.
A split pattern of the part, in wood, resin or composite, carries allowances for shrinkage, draft and machining, plus core prints that will hold the core. A core box forms the sand core for the passages the pattern cannot.
Dry silica sand runs through a continuous mixer, where a liquid resin binder and a catalyst are added in measured doses. From the moment they meet, the chemical cure clock is running.
The mixed sand pours into a moulding box on the pattern while the table vibrates to pack it tight, and the top is struck off level. It all happens inside the work time, before the sand starts to set.
At room temperature the binder hardens and the sand becomes a rigid, self-supporting mould. At the strip time the mould is rolled over, the pattern is drawn out and the moulding box lifts off.
The cavity is sprayed with a refractory coating that gives a smoother cast surface and protects the sand from the metal. The core is then lowered into its prints, which hold it exactly in place.
The cope is closed onto the drag and weighted, then molten metal from our induction furnaces is poured through the cup and sprue. It rises around the core from the bottom up, and the feeder keeps the casting sound as it solidifies.
Once the casting has cooled, the mould is broken up on a vibrating knockout grid and the casting is freed. The spent sand falls through into a skip; it does not go back into our moulds, but leaves the foundry to be reused in brick making.
The feeder and gating are cut off and the parting line is ground smooth, then castings are heat-treated, CNC machined and inspected to your drawing, all in-house, so parts leave ready to assemble.
No-bake sand hardens by chemistry, at room temperature. The clock starts when the resin and catalyst meet the sand: first a work time to fill and pack the mould, then the strip time, when the pattern can be drawn. Pick a catalyst, drag the clock, or press play.
Dry sand, a liquid resin binder and a catalyst are mixed in a continuous mixer and poured straight into the moulding box around the pattern. The cure clock starts at once.
Times are indicative, for a standard catalyst at normal room temperature. We set the binder, the catalyst and the times for each mould: a slower catalyst for large moulds that take longer to fill, a faster one for small moulds.
A no-bake mould is two halves of rigid sand, the cope on top and the drag below, with a sand core for the passages the pattern cannot form. Pull the halves apart, cut the mould open, and show the parting line and the draft that lets the pattern lift out cleanly.
At 2° of draft, a wall 100 mm (3.94 in) deep narrows by 3.5 mm (0.14 in) from base to top.
No-bake sand casting typically holds ISO 8062-3 grades DCTG 11 to 14, and the rigid mould keeps its size under the metal. Slide to your nominal dimension and pick a grade to see the total tolerance it allows as-cast.
| Nominal size (mm) | Nominal size (in) | DCTG 11 | DCTG 12 | DCTG 13 | DCTG 14 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Up to 10 | Up to 0.39 | 2.8 | 4.2 | n/a | n/a |
| 10 to 16 | 0.39 to 0.63 | 3.0 | 4.4 | n/a | n/a |
| 16 to 25 | 0.63 to 0.98 | 3.2 | 4.6 | 6.0 | 8.0 |
| 25 to 40 | 0.98 to 1.57 | 3.6 | 5.0 | 7.0 | 9.0 |
| 40 to 63 | 1.57 to 2.48 | 4.0 | 5.6 | 8.0 | 10.0 |
| 63 to 100 | 2.48 to 3.94 | 4.4 | 6.0 | 9.0 | 11.0 |
| 100 to 160 | 3.94 to 6.30 | 5.0 | 7.0 | 10.0 | 12.0 |
| 160 to 250 | 6.30 to 9.84 | 5.6 | 8.0 | 11.0 | 14.0 |
| 250 to 400 | 9.84 to 15.75 | 6.2 | 9.0 | 12.0 | 16.0 |
| 400 to 630 | 15.75 to 24.80 | 7.0 | 10.0 | 14.0 | 18.0 |
| 630 to 1,000 | 24.80 to 39.37 | 8.0 | 11.0 | 16.0 | 20.0 |
Total casting tolerance in millimetres to ISO 8062-3. When the tolerance is symmetric, half of it applies either side of the nominal dimension, so DCTG 12 at 100 to 160 mm means ±3.5 mm. n/a: ISO 8062-3 gives no general value for that grade at that size, so the dimension needs its own tolerance on the drawing. The grade for each part is agreed at drawing review, and tighter tolerances on critical features are reached by CNC machining.
Full ISO 8062-3 and VDG P690 tolerance tablesEvery route has a sweet spot. Pick a process to raise its profile in 3D and drag to turn the chart. The scores are relative and indicative; the right choice always depends on shape, size, volume, alloy and tolerance.
Sand bonded by a resin that sets at room temperature makes a rigid mould around a simple wood, resin or composite pattern. Tooling stays cheap, larger moulds keep their size, and sand cores form the passages.
Sand bonded with clay and water is squeezed or rammed around a pattern, often on automated lines. Moulds are cheap and fast, but softer, so large moulds can move under the metal. It is a common alternative we compare against, not a line we run.
A thin, rigid resin sand shell made on a heated metal pattern gives smoother, more accurate castings, with cores for passages and fast cycles for medium to high volumes.
A foam pattern in loose, unbonded sand forms internal passages, undercuts and curves with no cores and no parting line, so assemblies become single castings and machining falls.
A ceramic mould around an expendable wax pattern gives the finest detail and the tightest tolerances of any casting process, near net shape, in almost any alloy.
| Criterion | No-bake sand | Green sand | Shell molding | Lost foam | Investment casting |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Typical tolerance | ISO 8062-3 DCTG 11 to 14 | Wide, depends on moulding method | DCTG 8 to 12 | DCTG 11 to 14 | CT5 to CT7 |
| Mould | Resin-bonded sand, set at room temperature | Clay-bonded sand, kept moist | Resin-coated sand shell, cured on a hot pattern | Loose, unbonded sand around a coated foam pattern | Ceramic shell around a wax pattern |
| Internal passages | Resin sand cores | Sand cores | Resin sand cores | Formed by the foam, no cores | Usually no cores; ceramic cores for deep passages |
| Mould parting line | Yes | Yes | Yes | None | None |
| Weight at Trushape | 3 to 40 kg | Not offered | 5 to 60 kg | 3.5 to 90 kg | 0.003 to 30 kg |
| Alloys | Steels, irons, copper alloys, aluminium | Most ferrous and non-ferrous | Carbon, low-alloy, stainless and tool steels, copper alloys | Almost any, except low-carbon grades | Almost any |
| Tooling | Low: wood, resin or composite patterns | Low | Metal patterns, moderate cost | Foam pattern tool, moderate cost | Moderate; none with 3D-printed patterns |
| Best volumes | Low to medium | Low to very high | Medium to high | Medium to high; samples from cut patterns | Prototypes to high volume |
Pick what your part needs most. The deck turns to the alloy we would start with, with ASTM and EN equivalents, relative ratings and the parts it usually goes into.
Need: Economical strength
Typical parts: brackets, levers, base plates and general machine parts.
Economical and easy to machine, with good strength after normalising.
Need: Pressure-containing bodies
Typical parts: valve bodies, pump casings and flanged fittings.
The standard cast carbon steel for pressure-containing parts at moderate temperatures, weldable and easy to machine.
Need: High strength
Typical parts: levers, couplings, hubs and drive parts.
Through-hardening strength, quenched and tempered in-house to your specification.
Need: Toughness under load
Typical parts: heavy-duty housings, off-highway and mining parts.
High strength with toughness in heavier sections, for parts that take shock loads.
Need: General corrosion
Typical parts: pump casings, valve bodies, food and chemical parts.
The default choice for corrosion resistance, with low-carbon CF3M for welded parts.
Need: Abrasion and wear
Typical parts: liners, wear plates, teeth and chute parts.
Hard, abrasion-resistant steel for mining, earthmoving and handling parts that wear in service.
Need: Damping and machinability
Typical parts: gearbox and bearing housings, base plates and machine frames.
Casts freely, machines well and damps vibration, ideal for rigid frames and housings.
Need: Strength with ductility
Typical parts: pump bodies, valve bodies, brackets and agricultural parts.
Spheroidal graphite gives toughness close to steel with the castability of iron.
Need: Water service and bearings
Typical parts: pump impellers, valve bodies, bushings and water fittings.
Pressure-tight and corrosion resistant in water, and easy to machine.
Need: Light weight
Typical parts: housings, covers, fan and blower parts.
Heat-treatable for strength at about a third of the weight of iron.
A starting point for engineers comparing cast grades across North American and European specifications. Final selection always follows your drawing, service conditions and governing standard.
| Alloy family | Common grades | Equivalents | Why it is chosen | Typical parts |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Carbon steel | EN8, C45 | AISI 1040, 1045; 1.0503 | Economical strength, easy machining | Brackets, levers, base plates |
| Carbon steel, pressure service | WCB (ASTM A216) | 1.0619 (GP240GH), UNS J03002 | Pressure-containing parts, weldable | Valve bodies, pump casings, fittings |
| Chromium-molybdenum steel | 4140, 42CrMo4 | 1.7225, UNS G41400 | Through-hardening strength after quench and temper | Levers, couplings, hubs |
| Nickel-chromium-molybdenum steel | 4340, EN24 | 34CrNiMo6, 1.6582 | Strength with toughness in heavy sections | Off-highway and mining parts |
| Case hardening steel | 8620, 16MnCr5 | 1.7131, UNS G86200 | Hard-wearing surface over a tough core | Gear blanks, cams, wear parts |
| Austenitic stainless | 304, 316, 316L (CF8, CF8M, CF3M) | 1.4308, 1.4408, 1.4409 | Corrosion resistance and toughness | Pump casings, valve bodies, chemical parts |
| Wear steel | 400 HB class | Cast to your chemistry and hardness | Abrasion resistance | Liners, wear plates, teeth |
| Grey cast iron | EN-GJL-250 (GG25) | ASTM A48 Class 35 to 40 | Castability, damping and machinability | Gearbox and bearing housings, frames |
| Ductile (SG) iron | EN-GJS-400-15 (GGG40) | ASTM A536 60-40-18 | Strength and ductility with iron's castability | Pump and valve bodies, brackets |
| Gunmetal and bronze | C83600 (LG2), CuSn11P type | CC491K, CC481K type | Pressure-tight, corrosion and wear resistant | Impellers, bushings, water fittings |
| Aluminium-silicon-magnesium | A356, LM25 | EN AC-42100, EN AC-42000 | Light and heat-treatable | Housings, covers, fan parts |
Equivalents are the closest common matches, shown for comparison. We cast to the ASTM, EN, ISO or customer specification on your drawing and verify the chemistry of every heat by spectrometer.
See all 50+ alloy gradesSand, a little resin and a catalyst. No oven, no baking. The chemistry sets the mould rigid at room temperature, the pattern lifts out clean, and the metal takes the exact shape it left, from 3 to 40 kg (6.6 to 88 lb), in steel, iron, copper alloys and aluminium.
We check what matters on site: the chemistry of every heat, the soundness of critical sections, pressure tightness where your plan calls for it, and every critical dimension against your drawing.
Every heat checked on Spectromaxx and Bruker spectrometers against your grade before it is poured.
Mechanical properties tested to your material specification, after heat treatment.
Internal soundness of critical sections, to the acceptance level you specify.
Internal flaws and wall thickness in heavier sections.
Surface and near-surface flaws on steels and irons.
Surface-breaking cracks and porosity on stainless, copper alloys and aluminium.
Dimensional reports on bores, faces and datums against your drawing.
Leak and pressure checks on pump casings and valve bodies where your plan requires them.
One record from melt to dispatch, ready for your incoming inspection and your customers' audits. Material certificates are issued to EN 10204 3.1 as standard, and to 3.2 when your order calls for independent inspection.
Good castings start on the drawing board. These are the guidelines our engineers use when they review a new no-bake part. Hover or tap a card to turn it over.
Draft. Walls square to the parting line need a slight taper, often a degree or two, so the pattern lifts out of the set sand without tearing it. We add it at pattern design if your drawing does not show it.
Parting line. A flat parting line through the widest section keeps the pattern simple. Keep critical features in one half of the mould, so a small shift between cope and drag cannot move them.
Cores. Cores need prints to locate them and to let their gas escape. Short, well-supported cores hold their place best; long, thin ones may need extra support.
Walls. Even walls cool evenly and can be fed from one feeder. Blend thick to thin gradually so heavy sections do not shrink or tear.
Corners. Generous fillets help the metal flow, stop sand eroding at sharp edges of the mould and reduce hot tears in steel.
Tolerances. Mark machined faces and datums on the drawing. We add machining stock there and hold the rest to ISO 8062-3 DCTG 11 to 14.
Size. No-bake covers 3 to 40 kg (6.6 to 88 lb) at Trushape. Complex one-piece parts up to 90 kg may suit lost foam, and small, detailed parts investment casting.
Patterns. Wood suits prototypes and spares, while resin and composite patterns last longer for repeat orders, so tooling cost follows your volume.
We work to the steel, iron, copper alloy, aluminium, tolerance and inspection standards common on North American and European drawings, and to your own specification and inspection plan.
Trushape holds ISO 9001, ISO 14001, ISO 45001 and ISO 13485. We do not hold AS9100, IATF 16949 or ASME approvals, so aerospace, automotive, pressure-equipment and code parts are cast to your drawing, specification and inspection plan, and product approvals stay with you. We support them with samples, test data and full records. PED certification is in process.
Download our certificatesAn export-focused foundry with a dedicated export desk, already shipping castings to Germany, the UK, Belgium, Denmark, Spain and Italy. Pick a region to trace the lane from Bhavnagar.
Pump, valve and flow-control makers on the Gulf Coast, and machinery builders across the Midwest.
Machinery and pump builders in Ontario, and oil sands and mining equipment makers in Alberta.
Nearshore machinery, pump and heavy-equipment assemblers that need machined castings on schedule.
Pump, valve and engineering firms across Yorkshire and central Scotland.
Pump, valve and machinery suppliers in the Ruhr and the Rhine-Neckar region.
Pump, valve and process equipment makers in the Netherlands, Belgium and France.
Pump makers in Denmark, and valve and machinery suppliers in Lombardy.
Series parts travel by sea freight in export packing, and urgent samples by air. Delivery terms and documentation are agreed with our export desk for each order, and every shipment carries English certificates and reports.
Drag the ring or let it turn. Each part family is a classic no-bake shape, with the alloys we typically use for castings from 3 to 40 kg (6.6 to 88 lb).
AlloysWCB, CF8M, grey iron
IndustryPumps and water
Volutes cored in one piece, bores machined in-house.
AlloysWCB, CF8M, gunmetal
IndustryFlow control
Seats, bores and flanges machined to drawing.
AlloysGrey iron, A356
IndustryMachinery and drives
Bearing bores checked on the CMM.
AlloysGrey iron, carbon steel
IndustryPower transmission
Rigid, stable housings for series machining.
AlloysGrey iron, carbon steel
IndustryMachinery
Flat, stable bases that keep their size.
AlloysEN8, 4140
IndustryGeneral engineering
Economical parts, quenched and tempered when needed.
AlloysCF8M, gunmetal
IndustryPumps
Cored vane passages, finished in-house.
AlloysGunmetal, phosphor bronze
IndustryMachinery and marine
Wear surfaces machined to size.
AlloysWear steel, 400 HB class
IndustryMining and earthmoving
Hardened in-house for abrasion.
AlloysDuctile iron, carbon steel
IndustryAgriculture
Tough parts for hard-working equipment.
AlloysMatched to the original
IndustryMaintenance and legacy machines
Reverse-engineered from a sample when no drawing exists.
AlloysA356, grey iron
IndustryAir handling
Light, rigid housings with smooth passages.
Buyers in North America and Europe move no-bake work to us for the same six reasons.
Pattern, mould, melt, heat treatment, CNC machining, finishing and testing in one 100,000 sq ft facility cuts lead times by 30 to 40%, with one purchase order and one quality record.
IntegratedNo-bake, investment casting, shell molding, lost foam and gravity die casting under one roof, so every part gets the route that suits its shape, size and volume.
6 processesCarbon, low-alloy and stainless steels, grey and ductile cast irons, copper alloys and aluminium, melted in induction furnaces and verified by spectrometer every heat.
50+ gradesISO 8062-3 DCTG 11 to 14 as-cast from a rigid mould, critical features machined, and every critical dimension verified on a Zeiss CMM.
DCTG 11 to 14ISO 9001, 14001, 45001 and 13485 systems, in-house NDT and an EN 10204 3.1 certificate with every batch.
Audit readyA dedicated export desk, English documentation and export packing for sea or air freight, plus a proven China-plus-one option.
NA and EuropeHow foundries learned to harden sand with chemistry instead of heat, and made rigid moulds a routine.
Sand moulds were bonded with clay and water, as green sand, and sand cores were bound with oils that had to be baked in an oven before use.
Foundries found that sand could be hardened by a chemical reaction instead of baking: the start of chemically bonded sand.
Resin binders with a catalyst made sand that sets on its own at room temperature, and the no-bake process was born.
New resin binders gave fast, controllable strip times, and no-bake spread to steel and iron moulds.
Continuous mixers and better binders made no-bake a standard way to make medium and large moulds and cores.
Trushape casts no-bake parts from 3 to 40 kg in steel, iron, copper alloys and aluminium, then machines and inspects them under one roof.
No-bake sand casting, also called air-set, self-setting or chemically bonded sand casting, is a sand casting process in which dry sand is mixed with a liquid resin binder and a catalyst that harden it at room temperature. The mould sets rigid around the pattern with no oven or baking. In German it is the No-Bake-Verfahren, and in French moulage en sable autodurcissant.
Sand, resin and catalyst are mixed continuously and packed around a split pattern within the work time. At the strip time the mould is rolled over and the pattern drawn. The cavity is coated, cores are set in their prints, the cope is closed on the drag and metal is poured. Once solid, the mould is knocked out, the casting is freed and the spent sand is collected.
Medium and larger parts at low to medium volumes, such as pump casings, valve bodies, gearbox and bearing housings, base plates, frames, brackets, wear parts and machinery spares. At Trushape it covers castings from 3 to 40 kg (6.6 to 88 lb).
No-bake casting typically holds ISO 8062-3 grades DCTG 11 to 14, depending on size, shape and alloy. For a 100 to 160 mm (3.9 to 6.3 in) dimension that is a total tolerance of 5 to 12 mm, or ±2.5 to ±6 mm (±0.10 to ±0.24 in). Critical features are machined on our CNC machines.
Our no-bake line casts parts from 3 to 40 kg (6.6 to 88 lb). Larger complex one-piece parts can move to lost foam casting, up to 90 kg, and small, detailed parts from 0.003 kg to investment casting, so one supplier covers the whole range.
We cast carbon steels such as EN8, C45 and WCB, low-alloy steels such as 4140 and 4340, stainless steels such as 304, 316 and 316L (CF8, CF8M and CF3M), cast irons, both grey and ductile, such as EN-GJL-250 and EN-GJS-400-15, gunmetal and bronze, and aluminium alloys such as A356 and LM25, and check every heat by spectrometer.
A chemical binder: a liquid resin and a catalyst that react at room temperature and lock the sand grains together, so the mould sets rigid with no oven. The binder and catalyst are chosen for the alloy, the part and the strip time the mould needs.
Green sand moulds are bonded with clay and water and stay slightly soft, which suits high-volume moulding lines. No-bake moulds are bonded by a resin that sets hard at room temperature, so they are rigid and self-supporting, hold their size better on larger castings and need only simple, low-cost patterns.
Choose no-bake for medium to large parts at low to medium volumes with economical tooling. Shell molding suits accurate steel parts at volume, lost foam suits complex one-piece parts up to 90 kg with no cores, and investment casting suits small, detailed parts from 0.003 to 30 kg (0.1 oz to 66 lb) at CT5 to CT7.
After the casting has cooled, the mould is broken up on a vibrating knockout grid, the casting is freed and the spent sand is collected. It does not go back into our moulds: it leaves the foundry and is reused in brick making.
No single inventor: no-bake grew out of chemically bonded sands. In the 1950s foundries found that sand could be hardened by a chemical reaction instead of baking, and resin binders that set at room temperature followed in the late 1950s. Faster binders and continuous mixers then made no-bake a standard way to make medium and large moulds.
Yes. Trushape exports castings to Germany, the UK, Belgium, Denmark, Spain and Italy and serves buyers across North America and Europe, including the United States, Canada and Mexico. Parts ship by sea or air freight with English documentation, and delivery terms are agreed per order.
The sand sets itself, the mould holds its shape and the part comes out true. Trushape casts, heat-treats, machines and verifies no-bake parts under one roof for manufacturers across North America and Europe.