Well, that’s a good question and the answer you get will vary. Some folks will tell you it will take four to six or maybe even eight weeks to deliver prototype castings. They could be right. Some jobs are more challenging than others. But what you, as a designer, need to know is that when someone tells you, “I can have this prototype casting for you in about four to six weeks..” I would suggest you make a few more phone calls.
The average time-frame for producing a prototype casting should be about two weeks. Now, that is not to say that on occasion more time might be required due to certain complexities, but two weeks is a good average. That is two weeks from the time the prototyper gets your materials in his hands. In our operation we figure two weeks including casting, machining and parts delivered to your door.
A word of caution: just because we can produce prototype castings within a two-week time-frame does not mean you should wait until the last minute to release materials for prototyping work. Leave yourself some breathing space. If things can go wrong, they will, and they generally go awry when you are under tight deadline. Give yourself the security of knowing that there is sufficient time to not only produce the prototype casting but also enough time to make changes if necessary to meet production deadlines.