Bespoke Pressed Crucibles

Almath is able to manufacture crucibles and components to customer drawing. In most cases, we aim to press and fire parts directly to drawing. However, Almath’s machining capabilities allow us to form almost any shape and tolerance. Almath has added to its manufacturing capability and can now include iso-static pressing. This allows us to produce large and small crucibles cost effectively, either forming direct to shape or as a pre-form for machining. Iso-static pressing overcomes many of the design and production limitations that are associated with slip casting.

Almath is able to press crucibles and components in a range of ceramic materials that include:

Isostatic pressing has a high amount of design freedom. Large and small components can be formed, and they do not need to be hollow or have a constant wall thickness. Almath has worked with a leading precious metals refiner to utilise this design freedom to allow the much safer dissolution of chemicals without a loss in precious metal. Almath has developed the CC40RB, which has a round interior to ensure complete removal of the product, whilst having flat stable bases that prevent tipping of highly corrosive materials used in precious metal refining.

Almath is capable of pressing large crucibles as tall as 270 mm, but we are also capable of pressing much smaller crucibles at the opposite end of the sizing spectrum. Bespoke crucibles, for a leading engineering university, have also been pressed directly to size. Crucibles measure approximately 20 mm in diameter, with internal features of less than 10 mm and wall thicknesses of 1 mm in magnesium oxide.