Enhancing Part Quality: Strategic Casting Adjustments Through Customer Collaboration

Collaborating with customers to improve part quality, performance, and cost.

Author: Reg Zeller

Date: January 29, 2026

After a customer finalizes their design and chooses us as the supplier, or while we are working with a customer (our preferred method) as they finalize their design, we sometimes suggest small changes to the part geometry. These tend to be minor adjustments that don’t impact the overall part. Typically they’ll require minimal to no substantial tooling updates. Normally we’ll propose these solutions to improve the quality and/or manufacturability of the casting while still providing the part as required.

The method(s) we use to make these recommendations depends on whether the casting is already existing, for instance when a part is moved into our facility from another domestic or international foundry, or whether it is brand new. In either case we use simulation software to verify our recommendations, and in the case of existing tooling many times we can 3D-print changes to the pattern to prove it works, with an ability to revert to the original design. We focus on “cast-friendly” shapes that aluminum flows and solidifies well in. Typically sections that aren’t too thin or too thick, as well as aspects like gating and proper draft to ensure the part won’t have misruns and can be easily pulled from the sand or die. We’ve done this with many customers, including the two below:

Example 1: A356 Aluminum Traffic Base
This bracket (~9” × 9” × 10”) holds traffic poles and faces wind, vibration, and weather. Thick areas in the original design would cause porosity during cooling as well as additional cost and weight. Our tweak was to suggest ribs and fins and larger fillet radii at corners. This led to better solidification, higher strength/stress resistance over time, and ultimately a lower cost part.

Example 2: 356 Tree Stand Platform
This tree stand (~12” × 10” × 1”) supports hunters when packing away for weeks in the woods. It needs to handle shifting weight, stay extremely lightweight, and be reliable over the long-term. Porosity from melt issues and the design can impair this functionality over time, especially in the areas near the anchor points and in the thin sections towards the ends. Our tweak working with the customer was to add ribs, increase radii/draft at contact points, and utilize external “fins”. This both increased strength and allowed for higher functionality for the hunter. This led to virtually no porosity in the casting while lowering stress in the loaded areas. Over time it also led to significant cost reductions as we increased molding and processing time.

 In short, these minor changes made while working with our customers improve quality, cut variability, and make production smoother. They benefit both us and our customers in demanding applications like traffic safety and outdoor recreation. Let’s talk if you have a casting project—we’re ready to collaborate.

At CaneKast, we specialize in non-ferrous castings using green sand, no-bake, and permanent mold methods. Our foundry network delivers quality parts, on-time of small to medium-volume parts for infrastructure, recreation, commercial/industrial, and much more.