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Can injection moulding be done into a hot mould which is later cooled down? Clearly a cold mould is better for mass production speed, but if you had a hot moul
by londons_explore 3y ago
Can injection moulding be done into a hot mould which is later cooled down?
Clearly a cold mould is better for mass production speed, but if you had a hot mould then you could probably just use a 3d printers nozzle and low pressure to do the injection - or even just keep the whole mould in an oven and pour plastic pellets in.
- jacquesm 3y agoThat's more or less how it is done. Thermal cycling of the molds is one of the bigger factors in determining the operational life of a mold. Moldmaking is a very advanced art, the people that do this have a formidable array of software at their disposal to model how the mold and the plastic will behave as well as a massive amount of accumulated trade knowledge. I know several, one of which is outstanding and in very high demand because he can reduce the number of trials to a minimum. Materials science is nice compared to software because you can actually learn something and build on it for a whole career instead of the next five to 10 after which you have to re-learn everything.
- SOLAR_FIELDS 3y agoI have my own injection molding machine in my garage, DIY all the way. Everything about molding is precise, and it has to be, it’s not nearly as forgiving as FDM printing in terms of failure modes. To achieve what you are describing I have two molds that I rotate in and out of a toaster oven, not kidding. Every thermoplastic pellet has a detailed data sheet on expected temps and the like and mold temp is simply one of those.