Design
How to make your part castable: seven moves that decide the price
Seven changes that recur when a drawing is made ready for casting. Most of them make the part cheaper, and several make it stronger as well.
19 August 2026 · 7 min
Process
Cast components in Norway: how to choose a Norwegian manufacturing partner
A checklist for choosing a Norwegian manufacturer of cast aluminium and zinc parts, and how to compare a Norwegian quotation with import on the same finished part.
5 min read
Design
Threads in castings: cast, cut or threaded insert?
Two figures decide the choice: how many times the screw comes out again, and at what torque. Here are the three methods, when each is right, and what has to be correct in the hole before the thread can be made.
6 min read
Quality
Casting tolerances: ISO 8062, tolerance grades and what you can demand
A tolerance class is not a single number but a table. Here is how ISO 8062 and ISO 2768 fit together, why the parting line changes everything, and the four mistakes that make a drawing needlessly expensive.
5 min read
Design
How to make your part castable: seven moves that decide the price
Seven changes that recur when a drawing is made ready for casting. Most of them make the part cheaper, and several make it stronger as well.
7 min read
Economics
Cast or machined from billet? How to find the break-even point
A clearly labelled worked example shows how tooling cost, part price and quantity decide whether casting pays off, which three things often get forgotten, and when to keep machining.
6 min read
Regulation
CBAM from 2027: what Norwegian buyers of imported castings need to know
Norway plans to introduce the carbon border mechanism from 1 January 2027. The biggest task is not the certificate price but the reporting you need in place. Status as of September 2026, without exaggeration.
7 min read
Process
From drawing to assembly-ready part: who does what along the chain?
A casting is not finished when it leaves the tool. Here are the steps to an assembly-ready part, who carries them out, including finishing at a sub-supplier, and where the responsibility lies.
5 min read
Process
High pressure or gravity die casting: a decision guide for design engineers
One question settles the choice in most cases, and it is not about quantity. Here is the decision tree, the technical reason behind it, and the information that decides which method we recommend.
6 min read
Economics
What does a casting tool cost — and why do the figures vary so much?
The tool, the sample parts and the part price are three different bills. Here is what drives tooling cost, the arithmetic for when the tool has paid for itself, and what we need to quote.
5 min read
Material selection
Zinc vs aluminium die casting: how to choose the material
Zinc vs aluminium die casting comes down to six questions, and weight is only the first. Here is the decision table, the three most common wrong turns, and why the heavier metal is sometimes the right one.
6 min read
Material selection
Zinc die casting in Norway: when zinc is the right choice — and when it is not
When does zinc make a better part than aluminium? Five technical reasons to choose zinc, what tool life means when you own the tool, and four cases where aluminium is the better choice.
6 min read
Knowledge
The answers before you ask
We write about what customers ask us: choice of material, method, price and design.
How it fits together
The order the questions arrive in
The knowledge base is written for someone buying a cast component who does not do it every week. The articles answer the questions we actually get in an enquiry, in the order they arrive.
Looking for a manufacturer? Cast components in Norway has a checklist for choosing a supplier and comparing quotes, including against imports.
Material first. Zinc or aluminium is the first fork: one is lighter, the other gives thinner walls, sharper detail and longer die life. Once the metal is settled, high pressure or gravity die casting decides what the part will take afterwards — only gravity cast parts are normally heat treated.
Then method and economics. Cast or machined from billet is the arithmetic that decides whether casting pays at your volume at all, and what a casting tool costs explains the investment that makes that arithmetic hard the first time.
Then design. Seven moves that make a part castable is the shortest route from a drawing made for machining to a drawing made for casting. Casting tolerances to ISO 8062 sets out what holds as cast and what has to be machined, and threads in cast parts takes the question that arrives in almost every enquiry. From drawing to assembly-ready part shows who does what along the way, including the work done by subcontractors.
Finally regulation. CBAM from 2027 is the one change that moves the arithmetic on imported castings over the next few years.
The terms that recur through all of this are explained in the glossary. Every term has a stable link you can cite, and a definition precise enough to use in a specification.
The articles use no figures we cannot stand behind. Where an industry figure is used instead of our own, the article says where it comes from and what it covers.
Articles
Process AI-assisted
Cast components in Norway: how to choose a Norwegian manufacturing partner
A checklist for choosing a Norwegian manufacturer of cast aluminium and zinc parts, and how to compare a Norwegian quotation with import on the same finished part.
5 min
Design
Threads in castings: cast, cut or threaded insert?
Two figures decide the choice: how many times the screw comes out again, and at what torque. Here are the three methods, when each is right, and what has to be correct in the hole before the thread can be made.
6 min
Quality
Casting tolerances: ISO 8062, tolerance grades and what you can demand
A tolerance class is not a single number but a table. Here is how ISO 8062 and ISO 2768 fit together, why the parting line changes everything, and the four mistakes that make a drawing needlessly expensive.
5 min
Design
How to make your part castable: seven moves that decide the price
Seven changes that recur when a drawing is made ready for casting. Most of them make the part cheaper, and several make it stronger as well.
7 min
Economics
Cast or machined from billet? How to find the break-even point
A clearly labelled worked example shows how tooling cost, part price and quantity decide whether casting pays off, which three things often get forgotten, and when to keep machining.
6 min
Regulation
CBAM from 2027: what Norwegian buyers of imported castings need to know
Norway plans to introduce the carbon border mechanism from 1 January 2027. The biggest task is not the certificate price but the reporting you need in place. Status as of September 2026, without exaggeration.
7 min
Process
From drawing to assembly-ready part: who does what along the chain?
A casting is not finished when it leaves the tool. Here are the steps to an assembly-ready part, who carries them out, including finishing at a sub-supplier, and where the responsibility lies.
5 min
Process
High pressure or gravity die casting: a decision guide for design engineers
One question settles the choice in most cases, and it is not about quantity. Here is the decision tree, the technical reason behind it, and the information that decides which method we recommend.
6 min
Economics
What does a casting tool cost — and why do the figures vary so much?
The tool, the sample parts and the part price are three different bills. Here is what drives tooling cost, the arithmetic for when the tool has paid for itself, and what we need to quote.
5 min
Material selection
Zinc vs aluminium die casting: how to choose the material
Zinc vs aluminium die casting comes down to six questions, and weight is only the first. Here is the decision table, the three most common wrong turns, and why the heavier metal is sometimes the right one.
6 min
Material selection
Zinc die casting in Norway: when zinc is the right choice — and when it is not
When does zinc make a better part than aluminium? Five technical reasons to choose zinc, what tool life means when you own the tool, and four cases where aluminium is the better choice.
6 min
Glossary
The terms used in a casting enquiry, explained briefly.
- High pressure die casting
- A casting process in which molten metal is injected into a steel die under high pressure and solidifies within seconds.
- Gravity die casting
- A casting process in which molten metal runs into a permanent metal mould under gravity, without applied pressure.
- Sand casting
- Casting into a single-use mould of bonded sand, broken up after each pour.
- Injection moulding
- Injecting molten plastic into a tool — the most common competitor to metal casting for volume parts.
- MIM — metal injection moulding
- Metal powder mixed with a binder is injection moulded, debound and sintered into a dense metal part.
- Metal 3D printing
- Additive manufacturing in which the part is built up layer by layer from metal powder, with no tooling.