Metal manufacturing professionals are a close-knit community, and just like any specialized group, we've developed our own way of speaking. To outsiders, many of whom are our friends, family and customers, metalcasting & machining lingo might seem like another language entirely. Here, we aim to demystify metalcasting & machining jargon so anyone can join the conversation.

If you're familiar with metalcasting processes, you probably already know a lot of these words. Feel free to skip to the next post if you're feeling confident. But if you ask me, the same credo that applies to metal casting applies to learning about metal casting: "Better safe than sorry."

On the other hand, if you're knee-deep in casting terminology and can't seem to tell your risers from your ejector pins, this is the post for you. Read on for a primer on the terms and ideas involved in shell mold casting. We'll cover all of these concepts in more detail in later posts from the Introduction to Shell Molding series. Or, click below to download our printable Shell Mold Process Whitepaper.