Casting Cost Per Piece and Quote Price Estimator
A casting quote lives or dies on yield, scrap and tooling spread. This estimator builds the price from the poured weight backwards, so you can see how much each decision costs per casting and per finished pound.
Your numbers
Weight of the finished casting including machining stock. Get it from the 3D model times density.
Casting weight divided by total poured weight. Sand iron work often runs 55 to 75 percent, steel lower, depending on risering.
Metal lost to oxidation, slag and spills as a share of the charged weight.
Blended charge cost (virgin, scrap, returns at remelt value) plus melting energy and alloy additions.
Sand, binder, core, labor and pouring cost per casting.
Share of poured castings rejected. The cost of rejects is carried by the good ones.
Margin on price, not markup on cost.
Your results
Planning estimate only. Overhead, outside processing, freight and heat treatment are not included; add them to the process inputs if you want a delivered price.
Cost and price per casting vs casting yield
Sweeps Casting yield from 35 to 85, holding your other inputs fixed.
Cost castings from your own heat and scrap data
Optional review of how foundry actuals could drive standard costs and quotes from your ERP.
Optional. The tool and every export work without this. No spam.
How to use the estimator
Start with as-cast weight, then enter yield from your gating and risering design. The calculator derives poured weight and metal melted after melt loss. Add a blended metal cost per melted pound, molding and coring cost, and finishing cost. Set the scrap rate you expect, then spread the pattern cost over the order quantity and choose a margin. For repeat orders, use a larger amortization quantity or set pattern cost to zero when the customer owns the pattern. The chart sweeps yield, which is usually the easiest number to improve with better rigging.
The formulas
Poured weight equals casting weight divided by yield. Melted weight equals poured weight divided by one minus melt loss. Metal cost is melted weight times cost per pound. Process cost is metal plus molding plus finishing, divided by one minus the scrap rate so that good parts carry the cost of rejects. Pattern cost is divided by the amortization quantity. Price equals cost divided by one minus target margin. Gates and risers are remelted in most foundries, so the metal cost per pound should reflect the value of returns, not virgin metal on all of the weight.
- Poured weight = casting weight / yield
- Cost per good casting = (metal + mold + finish) / (1 - scrap) + pattern / quantity
- Price = cost / (1 - margin)
Common mistakes and how to read the sweep
Quoting with the yield from a different casting is the most common error. Another is loading scrap only on metal, when mold, core and some labor are also lost on a reject. A third is charging pattern cost on a trial quantity and leaving it in the price of production lots. The sweep shows that a few yield points on a heavy casting is real money. If cost per pound is far above comparable castings, check the finishing cost and scrap assumption first, then the metal blend.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is casting yield?
Casting yield is the weight of the finished casting divided by the total metal poured, which includes gates, runners, sprue and risers. A higher yield means less metal is remelted per good part, which lowers melting cost, energy and handling.
Should scrap loading include pattern cost?
Normally not. A pattern is a fixed cost spread over the quantity ordered, while scrap consumes metal, molds and labor each time a reject is poured. The estimator loads scrap on process cost and adds the pattern separately.
How do I value gates and risers?
Most foundries remelt them, so they cost melting energy, losses and handling, not purchase price. Set the metal cost per melted pound as a blend that reflects returns at remelt value, and check that blend against your charge sheet.
Does this include overhead and freight?
No. It covers direct metal, molding, finishing, scrap and tooling, then applies a margin. Add overhead or freight into the molding and finishing inputs, or raise the margin, to approximate your delivered price.
If you want quotes costed from your actual heat records, scrap history and pattern files, we can connect that to your ERP on your own servers.
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Keep exploring
Free tools
- Casting Yield CalculatorCalculate casting yield from casting, gating and riser weights, then see the metal you must actually charge per good casting after scrap and melt loss.
- Casting Scrap by Defect Pareto WorksheetRecord scrap by defect type with quantity and unit cost, and see the cost and average value per scrapped casting.
- Tooling Cost Amortization Per Piece Price CalculatorCompare paying for tooling up front with amortizing it into the piece price, including interest, and find the volume at which the two options cost the same.
Guides
- Casting Quote Estimating for FoundriesHow foundries estimate casting quotes: pour weight, yield, melt loss, core and finishing cost, tooling amortization, and where AI speeds up the first draft.
- Casting Yield and Scrap Cost: Getting Them Right in Your QuoteHow casting yield, melt loss and scrap rate feed cost per good part, and how to measure them from real production data so quotes stop under-pricing castings.
- ERP for Foundries: Requirements That Actually MatterWhat a foundry ERP needs: heat and lot traceability, alloy and melt costing, pattern tracking, cleaning room routing, scrap by defect, and honest fit questions.