Boat Rail Base Fittings are the important fittings that connect the tubing to the deck of a boat. There are a load of variables when picking handrail bases; the challenge is finding the right one. To help, they are designed with square and round bases in many angles, from 30° to 90°, thus to match existing handrail bases, meet any space restrictions or create a look for new installations.
One of the key features of boat rail base fittings is that they are normally investment cast in 316 stainless steel for superior corrosion resistance, and then polished for shining and smooth surface finish. Stainless steel investment casting manufacturing method can offer boat rail bases in different sizes. Besides, there are a selection of angles available to match stanchion angles or compensate for mounting surface.
You may ask how stainless steel investment casting can creat boat rail base fittings? Stainless steel investment casting, is actually an investment casting process for stainless steel components. Before casting, a metal tool or mould is firstly designed and manufactured whose cavity is the exact shape as the boat rail base. Normally, the tool or mold is high precision machined from aluminum. Compared with other stainless steel investment castings, all the molds material to produce stainless steel castings is aviation aluminum, while most investment casting foundries only select normal aluminum to save cost. The main difference between aviation aluminum and normal aluminum is that aviation aluminum mold can be used to make more stainless steel investment castings. So, the tooling cost in CFS Foundry seems higher than other companies, but actually more cost effective.
The fuction of the aluminum mold is the make the wax patterns. When mold is ready, it is injected with wax, then wax patterns are formed whose dimensions are the same as final boat rail base fittings. Next, dip the wax patterns into a slurry of fine ceramic particles, coated with more coarse particles, and then dried to form a ceramic shell around the patterns and gating system. This process is repeated until the shell is thick enough to withstand the molten metal it will encounter. The shell is then placed into an oven and the wax is melted out leaving a hollow ceramic shell that acts as a one-piece mold, hence stainless steel investment casting process is also named as stainless steel lost wax casting.
Thirdly, melting 316 stainless steel ingots under high temperature, and pouring liquid stainless steel into the gating system of the mold until the mold cavity is fully filled. Then, cooling under room temperature for solidification. In this step, the casting process is finished. Then cutting the boat rail base fittings from the gating system one by one, and shot blasted to remove scales.
After investment casting, to improve the surface finish, boat rail base fittings are usually mirror polished until they look shining like a mirror. In CFS Foundry, we can supply both investment casting and mirror polishing services for stainless steel products. So, if ordering boat rail base fittings or other marine fittings from our company, our customers can enjoy full services with competitive prices. Any inquiry on boat rail base fittings or other stainless steel investment cast products, pls contact us now!
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