Alloy Selector
Most die casting material decisions come down to six questions. Answer them below and this selector returns a directional recommendation — aluminum or zinc, plus the alloy family most programs like yours start from, with the reasoning shown so you can argue with it.
It runs entirely in your browser. Nothing is submitted, nothing is stored, and no email is required to see the answer.
At a glance
- Six questions, one directional answer: aluminum or zinc, and the likely family
- A starting point, not a specification
- Confirmed against geometry, loads and finish at the engineering review
What This Tool Is — and Is Not
It is a fast way to see which metal your part's requirements actually pull toward, and why. Buyers routinely arrive certain of a material for reasons that turn out to be habit; six honest answers usually settle the question in under a minute, or reveal that the question is genuinely close.
It is not a specification. A selector cannot see your load cases, your cosmetic zones, your assembly stack or the wall that has to survive a drop test. What it can do is narrow the conversation so the engineering review starts from the right metal instead of discovering it three weeks in.
We cast both aluminum and zinc on the same floor, which is why this tool has no thumb on the scale. Whichever metal your answers select, the same factory runs it — so the recommendation follows the part rather than a sales target.
How the Recommendation Is Formed
Each answer leans toward aluminum, toward zinc, or stays neutral. Weight budgets, service heat, large size and outdoor exposure pull aluminum; thin walls, fine detail, small parts, decorative plating and high volume pull zinc. Whichever side accumulates more signals wins, and the tool then names the alloy family that programs with your profile usually start from — A380, ADC12 or A413 on the aluminum side; Zamak 3, Zamak 5 or ZA-8 on the zinc side.
These are the alloy families we actually run in production. Published alloy datasheets are provided on request; the specific grade is confirmed against your part at the engineering review rather than promised here.
What Each Question Is Really Asking
If an answer feels ambiguous, this is the underlying engineering question:
| Question | What it is testing |
|---|---|
| Weight budget | Whether mass is a specified constraint — aluminum is roughly 40% of zinc's density |
| Service heat | Whether the part must tolerate or dissipate heat, where zinc creeps and aluminum thrives |
| Wall thickness & detail | Whether geometry reaches past aluminum's comfortable thin-wall limit |
| Part size | Whether the part exceeds the hot-chamber envelope zinc runs in |
| Surface duty | Whether the finish is decorative plating (zinc's home) or weather protection (aluminum's) |
| Lifetime volume | Whether zinc's long tool life and fast cycles have enough parts to pay back |
Frequently Asked Questions
How accurate is the recommendation?
It is directional, and deliberately so. The six questions capture the factors that decide most programs, but a single unusual requirement — a drop-test wall, a press-fit bearing, an EMI gasket groove — can outweigh all six. Treat the result as the starting hypothesis you bring to the engineering review, not as a specification.
What if the result comes back balanced?
Then your part genuinely sits near the boundary, which is useful information: it means the decision will be made by a requirement the selector cannot see. Send the drawing with your loads, cosmetic zones and volumes, and the review settles it with reasons written down.
Why does volume affect the metal, not just the price?
Because zinc's advantages are economic as much as physical. Fast hot-chamber cycles and tooling that outlives aluminum tooling several times over only pay back across enough parts. At low volumes those advantages never amortize, so a part that is otherwise zinc-shaped can still land in aluminum.
Do you keep what I enter?
No. The selector runs entirely in your browser — the answers never leave your device, nothing is submitted, and no email is required to see the result. If you want a real quotation, that is a separate, deliberate step on the request-a-quote page.
Where to Go Next
From hypothesis to answer
The Selector Narrows It. The Review Settles It.
Send the drawing, the loads, the finish and the volumes. You get back a materials recommendation with reasons — from a factory that runs both metals and has no interest in selling you the wrong one.