The investment casting process, known also as lost wax process, dates back many thousands of years and it is the most ancient of metal casting arts. In fact the sculptors of ancient Mesopotamia and Egypt, the Han Dynasty in China, and the Benin civilization in Africa used this method of casting to produce their intricately detailed artwork of gold, copper and bronze.

The Aztec gold-smiths of pre-Columbian Mexico used the lost wax process to create much of their elaborate jewelry, and some very nice examples of these works are from the tribe of Quimbaya, who lived in a little area between the Cauca river and the Micos and Gauiaya rivers.

In Europe we find our technology during the sixteenth century, when Benvenuto Cellini describes in his autobiography the method he used to create the Perseo, a great masterwork of italian renaissance sculpture.

To cast this 3 ½ tons statue Cellini indeed uses the lost wax process. Only at the beginning of 1900 pepole start using this technology for industrial applications.

We may quote Dr. Taggart of Chicago, who wrote a detailed study on the investment casting process in 1907, and who developed a new wax and an investment material.

The technology had a great evolution in the United States during World War II, due to the need of precision components with complex geometry (i.e. turbine blades for aircraft engines).

During the fifties the lost wax process started to spread over Europe, specially in those fields where complex shaped components and tight tolerances are required.

The very first industrial applications of the investment casting process in Italy took place in Gardone Val Trompia, for the production of firearms components.

Since then Metrocast Italiana has gained credibility all over Europe as a qualitymanufacturer of a large range of castings.