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Parts to your drawing · aluminium and zinc

Contract manufacturing of metal components in Norway

Contract manufacturing of metal components in Norway, the way we do it: we make cast aluminium and zinc parts to your drawing, in series. You own the drawing and the die. We cast, machine and deliver the parts, and coordinate the surface finishing.

Send a drawing How many parts does it take?

The starting point

Come in early. Preferably before the drawing is locked.

Contract manufacturing here means we produce your parts in a die that you own. We have no products of our own. Everything we make was designed by a customer, and we make it in series.

The important work starts while you are weighing up whether the part should be cast at all. You know what the part has to withstand, where it sits and what it is specified to do. We know what a steel die and a melt will actually give you. Those two things have to meet before anyone can quote a price.

Many drawings are already adapted for casting, wholly or in part. That is good. But there is usually something: a wall twice as thick as the one next to it, a hole with no draft, an internal corner with no radius, a tolerance that cannot be held without machining. The earlier we see it, the cheaper it is to fix.

If your design is already frozen, we will still take the enquiry. But the die may then cost more and the part weigh more than it needed to, and you pay for that in every series.

What to send

A drawing or STEP file, the quantity per order and a rough annual volume, the material if you know it, and what the part is for. If you only have a sketch, that is enough for a first estimate. A formal quotation follows once the drawing basis is in place. Send an enquiry.

Ten steps

From enquiry to running series

The first two steps happen before anything is cast, and that is where much of the value lies. Steps 3 to 8 take place in our plant in Råde. In step 9 we do the blasting ourselves, while anodising and powder coating are done by a subcontractor and coordinated by us. We have not yet described the inspection in step 10 in detail here. If you have documentation requirements, say so in your enquiry.

Start at step 1 — send the drawing

  1. Step 01

    Drawing in and castability review

    You send a drawing, a STEP file or a sketch. We work through whether the part can be cast as drawn — and what should change.

    First response after a technical review

    What you receive

    A concrete list of what should change in the part, with reasons — and a recommendation on metal and process. Not just a price.

  2. Step 02

    Tooling

    The die is procured through our preferred toolmakers, designed and gated for our machines. You own the finished tool.

    What you receive

    A product-specific die that you own, sample parts for approval and a part price for the series.

  3. Step 03

    Raw material in

    Aluminium and zinc arrive as ingot from established suppliers. The aluminium is secondary metal — remelted, not newly extracted.

    What you receive

    Aluminium from a named Norwegian remelter, based on recycled metal, and a part price built on metal weight.

  4. Step 04

    Melting

    The metal is melted in a furnace. Aluminium melts at 660 °C and is cast at 680–700 °C. Zinc melts at around 385 °C.

    What you receive

    The right alloy at the right temperature, with part of the energy in the process reused for heating.

  5. Step 05

    Casting

    The melt fills the steel die, under high pressure in die casting and under its own weight in gravity die casting. A die cast part freezes in seconds; in gravity die casting the cycle takes minutes.

    Seconds per shot in die casting, minutes in gravity

    What you receive

    A part with the geometry from the drawing, consistent from shot to shot throughout the series.

  6. Step 06

    Ejection and degating

    The part is pushed out of the die by ejector pins. Runner, overflows and flash are removed.

    What you receive

    A part with no runner, overflows or flash — and metal that does not end up in the part going back into the melt rather than into waste.

  7. Step 07

    Heat treatment

    Gravity cast aluminium parts that need more strength are heat treated. Pressure die cast parts normally are not.

    What you receive

    A part with higher tensile and ultimate strength than it would have had as cast, without making the geometry heavier.

  8. Step 08

    Machining

    Faces and holes needing tighter tolerances than casting delivers are milled, turned, drilled and tapped, on our own CNC machines in the same building as the casting.

    What you receive

    An assembly-ready part with threads, holes and seating faces finished — and one supplier to deal with for both the casting tolerance and the machining tolerance.

  9. Step 09

    Surface finishing

    Blasting we do ourselves. Anodising and powder coating are done by a sub-supplier, coordinated by us.

    What you receive

    The part fully finished, delivered from us — including when the treatment itself happened at a subcontractor. One point of accountability, for that link too.

  10. Step 10

    Inspection and dispatch

    Parts are inspected and packed before dispatch. What is documented for your part is agreed in the enquiry.

    What you receive

    Finished, assembly-ready parts packed for your assembly line, and a straight answer on what we can document, rather than a claim we cannot stand behind.

Data sheet

How many parts does it take?

It is the first thing we look at when an enquiry comes in, because the die has to pay for itself. The figures below are indicative, not absolute. A customer with several parts or a clear plan for volume is assessed differently from a single part, and smaller series are assessed case by case.

Series and lead time

Response to an enquiry
After a technical review
Formal quotation with final files
After a technical review
Indicative minimum series, pressure die casting
A few thousand parts per year or per order
Indicative minimum series, gravity
A fifth to a tenth of the pressure die casting volume
Typical series size in production
Available on request
Lead time from tool order to first sample
Available on request
Time from sample to approved series start
Available on request
Lead time in running series
Available on request
Annual capacity
Available on request
Available capacity
Available on request
Call-off and stock holding
Available on request
Added lead time for external finishing
Available on request
Prototypes and pre-series
Available on request

Got the volume but unsure which process fits? Then the review decides it, not the table. Send the drawing.

Pricing

Five things decide what the part costs

The price per part is built on calculated metal weight and cycle time, plus any machining and finishing. We have no price list, because these are the things that decide it. You can influence four of them while the part is being designed.

Metal weight

Not just the finished part — the runner and overflows too. All the metal that has to be melted to produce one part is metal you pay for. Which is why designing away unnecessary section pays.

Cycle time

How many seconds the machine is occupied per part. Thick section solidifies slowly and costs machine time. Thinner, more even walls shorten the cycle — the same change that lowers metal weight.

Secondary operations

Every time the part is picked up it costs. Degating and deflashing, machining, tapping, blasting, packing. One operation saved in design is one operation saved on every single part, for the life of the series.

Series size

Machine changeover and die changes are a fixed cost per run. Small runs carry it badly. Fewer, larger call-offs therefore usually give a lower price per part than many small ones.

Tooling cost

Paid by you up front, not spread over the part price. That way you can see what the die costs, but it also means it has to pay for itself over a real number of parts. Undercuts that need slides are among the things that drive this cost most.

And one you do not control: the metal price

Since the price is built on metal weight, changes in the metal price feed straight into the quotation. Ask how price changes are handled when you request a quote for a series that will run over several years.

The tooling

You own the die. We look after it.

The tool is the economic pivot of the entire model, and the ownership is clean: you pay for the die, you own it, and you can move it.

That is worth saying clearly. What ties us together is practical: a die is heavy, it is adapted to our machines, and moving it means a new run-in somewhere else. But it is not written into a contract. We want to keep customers by producing well, not by sitting on their tooling.

We do not make dies ourselves. We procure them through our preferred toolmakers, and we take part in the design and gating so that the die suits our machines.

Then we maintain them continuously through the life of the series. A steel die is gradually broken down by thermal shock. It is a wear part, not a permanent asset. Without maintenance the flash on the parting line comes first, then more manual finishing, then parts you cannot use.

Read more about tooling

Scope

What we turn down

We receive enquiries for one-off orders, meaning parts that will be made once, or that have very little volume per order and per year. Then it is usually not sensible for you to buy a die, and not viable for us to offer one.

The reason is not reluctance. Establishing a new product takes time: follow-up, sampling, measurement and quality assurance before regular production can start. If the volume is low, there is little left in it for either of us. It is better to say so straight away than to spend time on a quotation that does not fit.

Specifically, we say no to:

  • One-offs and prototypes without tooling. Our model assumes a series. For a single part, additive manufacturing or machining from solid is the right answer, and we will say so.
  • Large, heavy structural parts. We have no sand casting, and such parts belong with someone who does.
  • Products of our own, and product development on our own account. We make what you have drawn; we launch nothing ourselves.
  • Toolmaking as a standalone service. We buy and maintain dies; we do not make them.
  • Anodising and powder coating in house. That is done by a subcontractor, coordinated by us, and we tell you about the extra lead time.
  • Metals other than aluminium and zinc. No steel, no brass, no bronze.
  • Direct supply into a car maker’s own production line. That normally requires IATF 16949, and we do not hold it.

At the same time, we look at the overall potential. If you have more parts in the pipeline than the one in the enquiry, or a product that needs time to establish itself in a new market, we take that into account. Call, and we will talk it through.

Questions and answers

Questions we get often

You do. You pay for the die, it is your property, and it can be moved. We procure it through our preferred toolmakers, specify it for our machines and maintain it continuously through the life of the series.

On calculated metal volume — weight including runner and overflows — plus cycle time in the machine, and any machining or other secondary work. The tool is priced separately and paid up front.

After a technical review. If all you have is a sketch, you get an estimate so you have something to work with. If you have final files, you get a formal quotation once the production basis is sufficient if you want one.

Yes. Confidentiality is one of three words in our values, and it is why every product example on this site is anonymised. We do not name customers without written consent, and we do not show parts that could identify a product without an agreement.

Get in touch at firmapost@rmetall.no or +47 69 39 20 50 before you send the files, and we will sort it out. Drawings and files you send us are treated in confidence.

Available on request.

Available on request.

Yes, please do. We are at exit 10 on the E6, one hour south of Oslo. Call ahead so someone is free when you arrive.

Does your part fit the model?

Send a drawing or a STEP file with an estimate of annual volume. You get an answer after a technical review — and a straight one if the volume does not carry.

Send an enquiry Read about the design review

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