The UGLY TRUTH behind 3D PRINTED Plastic Injection Mold Tools! 😱 #3dprinted

This is the ugly truth behind 3D printed plastic injection mold tools.

The problem with any mold that is made from plastic is the low coefficient of thermal conductivity.

What that means is, in technical terms, "it gets bloody hot mate" and there’s no way to cool it down quickly, short of standing there for 20 minutes with an air gun of course.

Alternatively, you can get used to a huge cycle time, so bring a magazine. By which time your material may have cooked off and degraded in the barrel.

Another problem is that when the molds are 3d printed, they come with a layering effect, so the surface has to be sanded. Typically, you can get a few hundred to a few thousand shots out of this kind of tool.

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#3dprinting #injectionmolding #plasticinjectionmolding #manufacturing #engineering #plasticparts #productdesign

[tinkerersagar]

I didn't know that mould can also be made of plastic. What materials can we cast/inject into plastic mould apart from wax?

[jerryschwarzbach]

Surely this is useful for a prototyping tool at least, yes? Especially for complex parts where only a few shots are needed, for evaluation purposes only.