Casting Study: Housing for KitchenAid Coffee Machine

The 9,5 kg zamak housing of this designer coffee machine is made from 8 zinc pressure die cast parts with weights between 2.2 kg and 75 g. The parts are powder coated. To avoid any bubbles during thermal curing of the paint, the parts are vacuum cast to avoid gas inclusions, resulting in a close to zero reject rate. The parts require almost no secondary operations. Casting tolerances of 0.05mm between assembly holes were achieved, requiring no further adjustment during assembly.

Flatness of the surface was within a tolerance of 0.3mm, even after thermal curing of the powder coating. Filling simulation and thermal balancing simulations were done with Magma soft software to develop these parts. ZP5 was chosen over other materials for its excellent surface finish, strength, ability to cast very fine details, and feel of quality. Tool life is also much longer as for the aluminum casting tool.