Do you have a part design and need an injection mold built? Are you interested in finding a tooling solution that fits your project needs? If so, the following article about plastic injection mold tooling may be ideal for you.
Working with a company specializing in plastic injection molding production tooling will help you get the parts you need done right the first time. It starts with basic brainstorming by mold-building experts, solving practical engineering challenges, and fabricating the mold. The most critical is the quality of the mold build because this ensures the integrity and consistency of the plastic parts manufactured.
The process of injection mold making involves more than machining cavities out of metal.
Mold Designers and engineers review the essential aspects of the mold-making process. At the initial step, evaluating the 2D or 3D models can provide valuable insights into the part geometries and production requirements. These part features will determine the mold design, if actions are required, the type of gate to use, the gate location, the ejector system, the mold steels, the cooling features, the runner system, and more.
This design also considers the necessary draft angles for easy ejection and minimizes the risk of part damage. Furthermore, the resin material needs to be addressed for shrinkage allowance, as different materials have different shrinkage levels after cooling.
It is vital to consider cooling when designing and building molds. This includes adding venting and cooling channels to the mold design. Venting allows air pockets to escape during plastic processing, reducing the risk of air pockets and accelerating the cooling of the material. Cooling channels are designed into the mold, and optimizing the cooling time helps reduce the manufacturing cycle time.
Mold flow or mold analysis looks at how the injection molten plastic would travel through the injection mold, handle the molding process, cool, and eject the part. This process is done during the design phase to ensure the part fills completely and evenly. It eliminates problems in the design phase before cutting steel to build the mold.
Mold building materials are essential. There is a difference between hardened tool steels and soft metals, even though soft metals will reduce the tool cost and make it cheaper than hard steels, which don’t withstand many production cycles. So steel is determined by part features and production volumes to ensure the mold's wear resistance and durability.
Polishing and texturing are steps necessary to give the finished part the desired appearance, feel, or effects beyond what the resin raw material will provide.
Skilled journeyperson tool makers and CNC machinists produce the injection mold from the mold design. They use skill, CNC mills, EDM mills, Wire EDM, and more to make the fine precision cuts needed to build a quality injection mold. This is important when creating products with complex geometries and design features.
When all the components are fabricated, the mold is assembled. A process engineer performs trial runs. These trial runs are done to:
Once the injection mold is complete, the validation protocols have been met, and the customer has approved it, the mold is ready to launch into full production.
The injection mold making process is complex. Partner with an experienced company to ensure your tool is built and designed to meet your project specifications and adheres to the best practices for injection molding. Crescent offers its services to the medical, pharmaceutical, defense, and industrial markets.
Contact Crescent Today and see how they can help with your next project!
What is an injection mold design?
An injection mold design is a three-dimensional file representing the features of an injection mold that can produce a specific product using plastic injection molding.
What are the requirements for an injection mold?
An injection mold needs a base, cavities, airtightness when clamped shut, a runner system to inject the resin, proper venting and cooling channels, and an ejection system to avoid common defects like flash, warp, burn marks, voids, and short shots.
How expensive is an injection mold?
The cost of a custom plastic mold depends on the product design and production requirements and can range from a few thousand to hundreds of thousands, depending on the material, complexity, and production volume.