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They don't really talk about why. When would you want to switch to this over using 3D printing for prototyping? If you just need a few parts (likely at home),

They don't really talk about why. When would you want to switch to this over using 3D printing for prototyping? If you just need a few parts (likely at home), waiting for the 3D printer seems a lot easier?

zonkerdonker 3y ago
I think small[er] scale injection molding has a ton of potential for local/recycled/lower volume projects that 3d printing isn't necessarily suited for. Brothersmakes [1] sells recycled plastic combs and more using a similar process, products that really wouldn't work well with any modern 3d printer. I've seen similar projects for disc golf discs as well from TrashPanda. [2] The market for hyper-local small scale products is growing, and I think downscaling injection molding fits in well to this. I could order a custom steel mold (that I've designed) from a machine shop for a few hundred bucks, and with an injection machine and a supply of some plastics, conceivably make a few thousands parts on a relatively short time scale, with minimal manual labor. [1] https://www.brothersmake.com https://www.brothersmake.com [2] https://youtube.com/@TrashPandaDiscGolf?si=LWdw3gV9rtNQdlUD https://youtube.com/@TrashPandaDiscGolf?si=LWdw3gV9rtNQdlUD
- iancmceachern 3y ago
  Thank you for this! I just started exactly this! I bought a couple injection molding machines and started Golden Gate Molders. We injection mold parts right here in the SOMA neighborhood of San Francisco! Not only do we use traditional metal tools, we also provide 3d printed tooling options for lower volume prototype tools. www.goldengatemolders.com
  - zonkerdonker 3y ago
    Very cool, just subscribed to your mailing list. As a mechanical design engineer, I'm a bit jealous! Good luck with your endeavor
SOLAR_FIELDS 3y ago
If your part is small enough you can do small scale (several hundreds to low 1000s) of your units in house for a machine so cheap money wise to build that it’s better than outsourcing even without the QC concerns. Also even prototyping sometimes gets old on the 3D printer when you have a 5 hour per you need to make 10-20 of that you could do in an hour with the molding machine. Though IMO faster prototyping is not a good reason for getting a molding machine, it’s just a nice bonus. There are plenty of shops in the USA you can send your STL file to and they will print a bunch of them for a reasonable price. The real reason that you want a molding machine is fast small scale production runs because oftentimes what you produce on a 3D printer is either not professional looking enough to sell (the lines look very hobbyist) or FDM cannot achieve your product requirements long term (outdoor plastic enclosures, for example, need waterproofing with FDM but not with molded parts)
bsder 3y ago
Injected plastic can be much stronger than 3D printed stuff. It also has a much wider choice of material properties.

zonkerdonker 3y ago

I think small[er] scale injection molding has a ton of potential for local/recycled/lower volume projects that 3d printing isn't necessarily suited for. Brothersmakes [1] sells recycled plastic combs and more using a similar process, products that really wouldn't work well with any modern 3d printer. I've seen similar projects for disc golf discs as well from TrashPanda. [2] The market for hyper-local small scale products is growing, and I think downscaling injection molding fits in well to this. I could order a custom steel mold (that I've designed) from a machine shop for a few hundred bucks, and with an injection machine and a supply of some plastics, conceivably make a few thousands parts on a relatively short time scale, with minimal manual labor. [1] https://www.brothersmake.com https://www.brothersmake.com [2] https://youtube.com/@TrashPandaDiscGolf?si=LWdw3gV9rtNQdlUD https://youtube.com/@TrashPandaDiscGolf?si=LWdw3gV9rtNQdlUD

iancmceachern 3y ago
Thank you for this! I just started exactly this! I bought a couple injection molding machines and started Golden Gate Molders. We injection mold parts right here in the SOMA neighborhood of San Francisco! Not only do we use traditional metal tools, we also provide 3d printed tooling options for lower volume prototype tools. www.goldengatemolders.com
- zonkerdonker 3y ago
  Very cool, just subscribed to your mailing list. As a mechanical design engineer, I'm a bit jealous! Good luck with your endeavor

SOLAR_FIELDS 3y ago

If your part is small enough you can do small scale (several hundreds to low 1000s) of your units in house for a machine so cheap money wise to build that it’s better than outsourcing even without the QC concerns. Also even prototyping sometimes gets old on the 3D printer when you have a 5 hour per you need to make 10-20 of that you could do in an hour with the molding machine. Though IMO faster prototyping is not a good reason for getting a molding machine, it’s just a nice bonus. There are plenty of shops in the USA you can send your STL file to and they will print a bunch of them for a reasonable price. The real reason that you want a molding machine is fast small scale production runs because oftentimes what you produce on a 3D printer is either not professional looking enough to sell (the lines look very hobbyist) or FDM cannot achieve your product requirements long term (outdoor plastic enclosures, for example, need waterproofing with FDM but not with molded parts)

bsder 3y ago

Injected plastic can be much stronger than 3D printed stuff. It also has a much wider choice of material properties.