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Foundry since 1945 · Råde, south-east Norway

You draw the part. We cast, machine and deliver it finished, in aluminium and zinc.

Do you have a part that needs to go into production? At our plant in Råde we cast and machine components in aluminium and zinc. Send us the drawing and a rough idea of how many you need, and we will look at which solution fits.

Die casting, gravity die casting, heat treatment and CNC machining we do ourselves. Anodising and powder coating are done by a subcontractor and coordinated by us, so you deal with one supplier. If the part would be better made another way, we will tell you.
Send a drawing Not sure which process fits?
Editorial illustration of cast and machined aluminium and zinc components
Editorial illustration

In short

What is shown here we can document. Figures we have not verified are marked “Available on request” in the tables further down. Ask us for what you need to assess your part.

1945

Casting in Østfold since

30+ years

of CNC machining in our own shop

Al + Zn

Aluminium and zinc in the same plant

You own

the die. We procure and maintain it.

What we make

Finished parts, not raw castings

The difference is what you get in your hand. A raw casting usually has to be degated, machined or finished before it can be used. With us, the part goes through the steps it needs before it is delivered, ready for assembly.

Our parts weigh from a few grams to several kilos. They sit in wheelchairs and walking aids, in garden tools, in loudspeakers, in furniture and in fittings on board ferries. One of the brackets is cast to critical tolerances for a bearing fit and for pressure tightness, with no machining afterwards. Another is gravity die cast and heat treated for strength. We choose the process from what the part has to withstand.

We have no products of our own. Every part we make was designed by a customer and is treated as the customer’s property. That is why our product examples are anonymised.

Where are you with your project?

I have a drawing. Then the simplest thing is to send it. We make metal parts to your drawing in series: you own the drawing and the die, we cast, machine and deliver. Send the drawing, ideally with a rough idea of quantities.

I need a bracket, a housing or a fitting. Start with the part. The pages on brackets, housings and covers and fittings and threaded parts say what is critical in each of them, and what we have made before. We work out the process and the metal together.

I know the part will be cast. Then the question is aluminium or zinc, and die casting or gravity die casting. Start with aluminium casting or zinc die casting.

Four functions

What your part has to do decides how it gets made

We do not sort components by material or process, but by what they have to do. The function decides which requirements are critical, and so which process and which metal fits.

Cast brackets made to drawing

Cast brackets and other load-bearing parts made to the customer’s drawing and supplied in series. Die cast in aluminium or zinc, or gravity die cast and heat treated when strength decides. Here strength, freedom from porosity and hole position matter more than the surface.

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Cast housings and covers in aluminium and zinc

Housings, covers and enclosures made to drawing, for electronics, audio equipment and anything else that needs protecting. Here thin, even walls, dimensional accuracy and flat sealing faces decide.

View component type

Fittings and threaded parts made to drawing

Fittings and other parts that hold two things together, cast in zinc or aluminium and threaded in house. The value sits in the interfaces: the threads, the holes and the seating faces.

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Visible parts

Cast parts the end user actually sees, such as furniture fittings. Appearance then becomes a specification on a par with the dimensions: parting line and ejector marks outside the field of view, an even surface and the correct colour.

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The whole chain

Six steps. Five of them happen here.

Casting and machining happen in Råde. We cast the bracket, heat treat it when the strength calls for it, machine the mounting points and blast it. If it is to be anodised or powder coated, it goes to a subcontractor. We coordinate that step, and it means one extra transport and a few more days of lead time. We would rather tell you up front.

Design review

We go through wall thickness, draft angles, radii, undercuts, parting line and tolerance requirements before you get a price. We call it positive product criticism.

Pressure die casting

Aluminium and zinc forced into a steel die under high pressure. Thin walls, complex geometry and seconds per shot. The process behind most of our parts.

Gravity die casting

The melt runs into a permanent metal mould under gravity. Heavier sections, lower tooling cost and parts that can be heat treated afterwards.

Heat treatment

Gravity die cast aluminium parts that need more strength are heat treated here. Pressure die cast parts normally are not, because entrapped gas causes blistering.

CNC machining

Turning, milling, boring and threading on our own machines, programmed in Fusion 360. Faces and holes needing tighter tolerances than casting gives are done here.

Surface finishing

Blasting we do ourselves. Anodising and powder coating are done by a subcontractor and coordinated by us. This is the step that does not happen here.

Zinc

Zinc die casting: very few in Norway offer it

Four of the eight parts we show are cast in zinc. Zinc suits a part that needs fine detail, thin walls and good dimensional accuracy, or where the weight actually does a job.

Zinc melts at around 385 °C. Aluminium melts at 660 °C and is cast at 680–700 °C. That difference matters: the lower metal temperature is easier on the steel die, so a zinc die takes far more shots than a comparable aluminium die. And since you own the die, that is your economics.

The low melting point also allows thinner walls, sharper detail and better dimensional accuracy. Zinc is heavier, 6.6 against 2.7 g/cm³. In a loudspeaker housing the weight is an advantage, because the mass damps vibration.

Aluminium is the right choice when weight counts, when the part is to be anodised, or when it has to be heat treated to be strong enough. That is why we cast both metals, and choose with you from what the part has to do.

Read about zinc die casting

Decision helper

Should your part be cast?

Six questions decide it — the same six we work through when a drawing comes in.

6 questions · under one minute

0/6

01 How many parts do you need per year?

Volume decides whether the tool can pay for itself. Pressure die casting typically needs a few thousand parts per year or per order. Gravity die casting often works at a fifth to a tenth of that, because the tool costs less. A clear plan for volume counts too: we look at the overall potential, not just the one part in the enquiry.

02 How complex is the geometry?

If the part can be folded from flat sheet, laser cutting and bending is usually cheaper, and you avoid a dedicated casting tool. Casting fits when the form is genuinely three-dimensional, wall thickness varies, or several functions such as ribs, mounting lugs, bosses and cable routes have to be combined in one part instead of welded up from several pieces.

03 Is the wall thickness even through the part?

Metal shrinks as it solidifies. If one section is twice as thick as the next, it freezes last and draws metal from its surroundings — that gives shrinkage porosity inside and distortion outside. The fix is usually to core out thick sections, or replace solid section with ribs. Ribs give stiffness without mass.

04 Does the part have draft angles?

The part has to come out of the die. Without draft it sticks, tears on ejection and wears the tool faster. Draft belongs on every face across the direction the die opens — including internal faces, holes and cut-outs. This is rarely what stops a part, but it is nearly always something that has to change, and we add it during the review.

05 Are there faces where a parting line and a few ejector marks can sit?

Where the die splits there is a thin line of flash. Where the ejector pins push there are marks. Both are physically unavoidable — the only question is where they land. Mark on the drawing which faces are visible or functionally critical and we will put the parting line elsewhere. If the whole part is visible and every face is a sealing or seating face, the parting line has to be bought back with machining.

06 How many dimensions carry tight tolerances?

Casting gives you a tolerance. If the requirement is tighter, the face has to be machined — which means machining allowance, which is metal you pay for and machine time you pay for. Put tight tolerances only where the function actually needs them. Five critical dimensions on a bracket is normal; fifty is usually inherited from a drawing made for machining from solid. We have not published our tolerance grade yet — state your requirement and we will tell you whether it holds as cast or has to be machined.

1/6

Likely next step

Your part should probably be cast

The volume carries, the geometry is too complex for sheet, and the tolerances are realistic. This is exactly the kind of part we make.

Send a drawing or STEP file with an estimate of annual volume. We will return a technical assessment and next step.

See the full castability checklist Send an enquiry

Likely next step

Probably — but the part needs adapting first

Most drawings that reach us are not adapted for casting when they arrive. That is exactly where the review pays for itself: every change points at less metal or a shorter cycle, and those are two of the five things you pay for on every single part.

Send it anyway — preferably before the design is frozen. Then we can influence the part while it can still be changed.

See the full castability checklist Read about the design review

Likely next step

The part should probably be made some other way

If the volume is low or the geometry simple, the tool does not pay for itself — for you or for us. Then folded sheet, machining from solid or additive manufacturing is the better answer, and we would rather say so than sell you a tool that never pays off.

Call anyway if you are unsure. Five minutes on the phone is cheaper than a wrong investment, and we are happy to answer even when the answer is no.

See the full castability checklist Call +47 69 39 20 50

This is a pointer, not a quote. We make the final assessment on your drawing, because the geometry decides.

The alternatives

Our competitor is rarely another foundry

When you need a bracket, the question is not which foundry should cast it. The question is how the bracket should be made at all.

Unsure? Send the drawing
Our competitor is rarely another foundry
Criterion Wins when Loses to casting when
CNC from solid The series is small, the geometry simple, or you want to avoid tooling cost entirely. The series grows. Every part costs machine time; a casting shot costs seconds. And you buy away most of the material as chips.
Sheet metal (laser, bending, welding) The bracket can be folded from flat sheet. Very low tooling cost, short lead time. The part has a complex 3D form, varying wall thickness, or several functions that would otherwise be welded up from multiple pieces.
Glass-filled injection moulded plastic Volume is high, weight has to come down, and strength and temperature requirements are moderate. The part has to take high load, heat, UV or fire — or has to be recyclable as metal at end of life.
Metal injection moulding (MIM) The part is small, intricate and made in high volume. The part weighs more than a few tens of grams.
Stamping and pressing The part is flat or simply formed and made in very high volume. The geometry is genuinely three-dimensional.
Metal additive manufacturing Prototypes, one-offs and very small series. No tooling cost at all. The part is to be made in series. Then the cost per part is high compared with a cast part.
Imported castings Volume is large, the part is standardised, and lead time is not critical. You need a short line to the manufacturer, flexibility when things change, one point of contact and a traceable supply chain.

Casting fits where the part is too complex for sheet, too big for MIM and too high in volume for machining from solid. Many brackets, housings and fittings end up exactly there. Whether it should be made by us or somewhere else comes down to volume, requirements and how closely you want to follow production. We are happy to talk it through.

“As a manufacturer of ferry and passenger seating sold worldwide, it is essential that our subcontractors deliver the best quality on competitive terms. For more than 10 years Rolvsøy Metallindustri AS has supplied cast aluminium parts to West Mekan Produksjon AS.”

Konrad Skibenes CEO, West Mekan Produksjon AS

Got a drawing?

Send a drawing or STEP file, the quantity per order and a rough annual volume, and a few words on what the part is for. If all you have is a sketch, we are happy to look at it while geometry and process can still change.

Send an enquiry Come and see the production

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