Posts

How to Gain the Perfect Custom Plastic Injection Mold?

Have you ever wondered why consumers and manufacturers most likely beg to differ? It’s because they both have different expectations of the same project. Consumers prefer to have a product compatible with modern age technology and possesses multifunctional features, whereas the manufacturers focus on the accuracy and efficiency of their production lines. The same has happened to the custom plastic injection mold manufacturing market, where mold manufacturers have witnessed a drastic spike in demand for customized plastic injection mold production.

 

What is Custom Injection Molding?

Injection molding is considered to be among the most traditional techniques for manufacturing custom plastic items. The typical process initiates by heating specific synthetic substances (polymers) like plastic adhesives. Once the plastic material has been liquefied by the heat, the molten plastic is then injected into a custom mold involving high pressure. In the end, the molded plastic is cooled down to obtain the final solidified product shape. In other words, the custom plastic injection mold procedure can be summarized in the following six critical steps:

  • Mold clamping.
  • Molten material injection.
  • Dwelling (injection pause while applying pressure).
  • Cooling for solidification.
  • Mold opening.
  • Extraction of the final product.

Especially for making plastic components, custom injection molding is regarded as the epitome of manufacturing techniques for achieving bespoke aesthetics and intricate details. Using this method, manufacturers execute precise mold manufacturing in substantial volumes.

 

Factors to Consider Before Getting a Custom Plastic Injection Mold

Some of the factors to consider before getting a custom plastic injection mold are given below:

  • Parts Shape and Size

Before anything else, take into account the specifications of your project needs. For instance, the particular design of your custom plastic injection mold, depending on the parts’ shape and size, plays a crucial role in producing desired parts. However, you don’t need to worry about the complexity of your ordered design parts because custom plastic injection mold manufacturing is ideal for precise mold production, regardless of the design’s complicated features.

  • Production Quantity

Before getting a custom plastic injection mold, note that most businesses prefer to replicate the same part in bulk quantity since expensive industrial-grade material stirs up the tooling cost for low-volume production orders. Therefore, high-volume production is the right way to go, as the high cost of quality materials and tooling gets compensated by the larger production runs.

  • Parts Material

For perfectly made custom plastic injection molds, the material selection process of parts and hence molds is the key. The industrial-grade, high-quality material will yield maximum results, while the cheap material might naturally do the opposite of good. Accordingly, a professional mold manufacturer would recommend avoiding certain harsh materials (like glass-filled plastic, glass-filled nylon, etc.). Instead, you should select mold materials that provide rigidity and durability to withstand the potential harm that certain abrasive materials can cause the precise mold.

  • Budget

Lastly, here comes the budget for your custom plastic injection mold making. The expenditures you probably want to be concerned about are mostly related to the mold manufacturing tooling cost and design-associated aspects. For instance, the degree of intricate design features decides the correct mold shape and size required to proceed with the part production. However, the top-quality mold manufacturing material would also add to the cost per unit value.

Not only has that, but the specific color and particular texture (surface finishing) demands will also create a spike in your limited budget. Thus, a piece of wise advice here would be to try to measure your non-standard requirements before emptying your pockets all at once.

 

How to Gain Perfect Custom Precise Molds?

Although custom plastic injection mold manufacturing seems quite a straightforward process to operate, in reality, it is the other way around. Even a slight mistake in a single production stage can waste a lot of money on expensive materials and delay the assigned lead time. That’s how many businesses lose a fortune and watch their particular project go down the drain – they fail to recognize the suitable mold manufacturer for the job and end up betting on the wrong horse.

But you don’t need to make the same mistake and face the same consequences. Instead, an intelligent move is only to consult a professional mold manufacturer who is reliable and an expert precise mold supplier, and none else can meet all these qualities better than the one and only Abery.

Why Should You Choose Abery as The Mold Supplier?

There are countless reasons to choose Abery as your precise mold supplier – the following are a few of the benefits that Abery has to offer as your custom plastic injection mold manufacturer:

  • From different injection molding machines to other advanced equipment, we are well-equipped to meet all your precise mold demands.
  • We can quickly achieve quality control and your tighter tolerance requirements with an accurate and accurate mold tolerance capacity of up to +/-0.01mm.
  • Abery relies upon our impeccably skilled engineering team for all your technical specifications and optimized solutions, ranging from design to fabrication.
  • We run a fully optimized control system to monitor every step of the production. Hence, your shorter lead times are always met without any uninformed delays.
  • At last, not only do we have a quick response time of only 24 hours but our exceptional after-sales services are also admired by our valuable customers.

 

Conclusion

To not overlook the significant matter of selecting the proper mold manufacturer, you need to research the precise mold supplier you think thoroughly is the one. Here we would again like to mention that you can’t go wrong if you choose Abery, which is trusted worldwide. Mainly, we specialize in custom plastic injection mold manufacturing, but our remarkable machinery collection also enables us to deal with other kinds of CNC manufacturing operations.

Consequently, we proudly export various absolute best injection molds and parts to technologically advanced places like Europe, the USA, and others. So, what are you waiting for? Get an instant quote today and let Abery’s creative side exceed your imagination.

6 Tips to Avoid Cracking in Custom Plastic Injection Molding

Custom plastic injection molding requires a lot of attention to detail. It is common for cracks to appear on the molded part if one does not know how to avoid them. But knowing those can be difficult without a lot of experience in the field.

One needs a thorough understanding of the reasons behind the appearance of these cracks. Only then can they successfully avoid them. You will find everything you need to know about injection molding cracks here.

What Is Cracking in Injection Molding?

Cracks are not uncommon in custom plastic injection molding, and they appear on the products in different ways. Some cracks are more problematic than others – but all of them are equally annoying. There are internal cracks, corner cracks, and even cracks that start at the gate.

These cracks are exceedingly harmful to the molded object because they cause integrity issues. It gets even worse if you need to fit that molded part to something larger. A competent manufacturer should never allow a compromised piece to pass through their production line.

 

Reasons Why the Molded Parts Crack

Contrary to popular belief, the custom plastic mold design has little to do with the formation of cracks in molded objects. The true culprits of custom plastic injection molding are the ones we have listed below:

  1. Machine

The plasticizing capacity of the machine is a crucial part of crack-free injection molding. A low-capacity machine cannot handle mixing the inserted material volume, leading to cracks. An overly large machine will also degrade the quality as there is a chance of over mixing. So, select the right machine according to your production to ensure optimum efficiency.

So, be vigilant about the plasticizing capacity of your injection molding machine according to your production volume and type.

  1. Mold

The molds play a significant role in custom plastic injection molding. It is usually the most important thing after the main machine. A bad mold can mess up the ratio and distribution of the molten plastic. That will usually lead to cracks and other issues for the finished object.

Burrs and other undercut conditions in the mold can cause cracks too. Ejector designs can also be probable culprits. In other words, you need a professional plastic injection mold design for your products.

  1. Material

Material integrity is essential for custom plastic injection molding. The quality of a molded part depends heavily on the material used in the manufacturing process. High-quality material naturally produces better results.

Reclaimed or recycled plastics usually have lower quality. That can lead to cracks. The moisture content of the material also plays a role. Too much moisture can cause cracks during the cooling process.

  1. Molding operation

Some molded parts require more cooling time than others. A short cooling time usually causes cracks and other defects to these parts. That is also true for molding under too much pressure. Some plastic molds need to work under less residual stress to show the best result.

How to Avoid Cracking in Custom Plastic Injection Molding

Now that you know what’s causing the cracks, we believe you are ready to fix them. Follow these tips to avoid cracks:

  1. Remove Burrs

Burrs are always a nuisance. They can cause deformity and cracks if left untreated. Do a regular inspection to identify and remove burrs to get crack-free molded parts.

  1. Install More Knockout Pins

You need to distribute the stress evenly to avoid agitating any part of the molded object. Try installing more knockout pins. They should help maintain even stress.

  1. Use Less Reclaimed Materials

Reclaimed or recycled materials or pallets tend to have poorer quality compared to new plastic pallets. The reuse of plastic over and over again does slowly wear its polymeric structure every time it is reused.

So, using reclaimed plastics that have gone through too many cycles can cause imperfections in the finished product, leading to cracks. Reduce the amount of reclaimed material you use. If possible, avoid them entirely to get better results.

  1. Remove Moisture

Removing moisture content from custom plastic injection molding will reduce the cracking issue since the moisture inside the materials does harm to the full mixture inside the mold. Dry all your plastics before starting the process.

  1. Increase the Cooling Time

If your cooling time is too short, consider increasing it, and it will give you a much better result. A longer cooling time will keep the mold confined longer, leaving more time for the injection parts to fuse together. That will help create a better outer layer.

  1. Reduce Holding Pressure

Use accurate material volume to reduce the pressure of the molding process. Less pressure will reduce the cracking. You could try with a 50% holding pressure to get a uniform packing. Holding pressure is usually set around 70% for most projects.

Conclusion

Custom plastic injection molding depends a lot on the materials and tools you use. That’s why we always advise people to look for the best plastic injection mold supplier. We at Abery use the latest technology to create the best injection molds in the industry that ensure 100% crack-free injection molding.

Contact us to learn more about how our molds can improve your production.