Design an Injection Mold -- for Desktop Machines

Injection mold design for desktop machines is easier than for the larger, industrial machines. But it can be very intimidating when you first start. I talk about the basics of gates, runners, sprues, and air vents.

Пікірлер: 37

  • @TheCrafsMan
    @TheCrafsMan2 жыл бұрын

    Excellent advice right here! I do appreciate how you didn't just say what to do / what not to do, but explained WHY. Fantastic information. Thank you!

  • @JohnSL

    @JohnSL

    2 жыл бұрын

    Thank you. I learned about answering the why from my mother. We, as kids, always asked why like any other kid. But our mother answered.

  • @sedled2829
    @sedled28292 жыл бұрын

    The channel I needed. I’m an Engineering student and haven’t found videos technical enough. Beagle and Craftsman only go to a 1/16 lvl Knowledge and mini injection molding machines can be tuned to the thousands.

  • @nickp4793
    @nickp47932 жыл бұрын

    Great job. I've been designing parts for injection molding for many years, but never actually designed the mold itself. The way you showed the basics of the mold really made it easy to understand. The industrial molds that are so complicated its hard to get your bearing on what you are looking at. Thanks.

  • @dass1333
    @dass13332 жыл бұрын

    Another info packed episode

  • @billstrahan4791
    @billstrahan47912 жыл бұрын

    Wow! That video covered everything that took me about 4 months to learn via trial and error on my own! That part about shearing pellets at the edge of the barrel took me a while to realize was causing my occasional random under injection! Great video!!

  • @JohnSL

    @JohnSL

    2 жыл бұрын

    Cool! That's why I started my channel--to share information that would help others. So I'm glad that tip helped.

  • @novachig
    @novachig2 жыл бұрын

    Great content John

  • @carlosprint2266
    @carlosprint22667 ай бұрын

    hola amigo me gusto mucho la explicación, apenas empiezo en esto de las maquinas de inyección de escritorio y quiero aprender mas sobre moldes para este tipo de maquinas, puedes hacer mas videos para aprender mas, saludos y muchas gracias .

  • @AlmostMachining
    @AlmostMachining2 жыл бұрын

    Awesome video John. I dont know anything about pim. Great stuff!

  • @1111Syl
    @1111Syl4 ай бұрын

    Hi John, Really well done. Question: This is about the dynamics of the air escaping the mold. As the plastic comes into the mold it most likely has a spaghetti shape at first until the material starts to get squished. But as the ratio of the amount of plastic versus residual air increases some air may not be able to make it to the escape port as the hole will eventually get covered. What happens to this trapped air? Can it make small bubbles on the surface? Can it be trapped inside the part and cause weaknesses? Many thanks as there are many people learning from you!

  • @gretschcorvette73
    @gretschcorvette73 Жыл бұрын

    Hi John & thankyou for your very informative videos. I notice your molds do not have a chamfer at the entry port as some do. I was wondering what sort of design your molder nozzles are. How do they form a seal on the mold block? Do they have some sort of shut off valve or are they just an open hole in the bottom of the tube. Keep up the good work. Its nice to see you love what you do.

  • @StonegateCreations
    @StonegateCreations2 жыл бұрын

    Very nice breakdown. I preheat some of my more challenging desktop molds to help with flow using a small coffee cup warmer. I have one mold for a product made of lustran that needed a dedicated heating element to fill completely. I noticed on your emco molder there's a piece of sheet metal bolted to the rear clamping face, what is that for? That bolt hole is typically for the mold stop.

  • @JohnSL

    @JohnSL

    2 жыл бұрын

    I've thought about adding heaters or a heater plate but never gotten around to it. As to sheet metal plate on the Emco, I don't know why it's there. The only thing I can think of is that it helps space a 1/2" thick mold out so it centered under the nozzle. But that's just a guess.

  • @M_Northstar
    @M_Northstar2 жыл бұрын

    Very interesting video as always. Question: what are the strategies for dealing with shrinking? Do you ever make molds with exaggerated geometries, to let the part shrink to dimension?

  • @JohnSL

    @JohnSL

    2 жыл бұрын

    I didn't cover this, but generally one step is to scale up the design to counteract the shrink rate. This varies from one plastic to another, and isn't important for all designs.

  • @doodlingartman
    @doodlingartman2 жыл бұрын

    Thanks for your knowledge sir! Does overall surface area of a mold matter as well? For example, I'm considering injection molding some glasses frames. According to the volume and weight estimations from the CAD model, they should be within the "shot capacity" of a desktop injection machine I'm looking at, but I'm doubtful. I fear that the long path of the cavity wouldn't be filled by one pull of the lever, or that the extra surface would cool the plastic before full injection. Do you have any advice on estimating an injection machine's limits?

  • @J87513

    @J87513

    Жыл бұрын

    Same situation here. Getting my manual injector machine soon. Was your project successful?

  • @oliwer7844
    @oliwer7844 Жыл бұрын

    nice video, which milling machine do you use ?

  • @JohnSL

    @JohnSL

    Жыл бұрын

    It's a 2009 Haas OM-2A, and I have a video with more information about it here: kzread.info/dash/bejne/i22i0KSfXdfcerw.html

  • @Backonthehitch
    @Backonthehitch Жыл бұрын

    what's the temp of the plastic? and how long you let it stand

  • @inventtory1272
    @inventtory12722 жыл бұрын

    This is a bit off topic but it does have to do with mold design. I believe injection molding may one day have a rise in popularity just like 3D printing had a few years ago. Once people start buying machines like the LNS or Bruster Beagle machines then the Chinese knockoffs will follow. This will be a good thing for injection molding. Some people will buy more advanced machines like yours but a lower barrier to entry gets more people involved. However, I believe there is one major thing holding this popularity back. Molds.. Right now I don't think there are any molds readily available that people actually want to make. LNS has one mold that I would consider and honestly I still don't want to make heart keychains. I know the common rational is that you should have a part in mind first and then get the machine. But that's not how common people work. Personal computers, video game consoles, and even smartphones all needed a "killer app" before they were widely adopted. Before people will buy a injection mold machine I think they need a "killer app" mold. I know there's a lot to consider with molds. The type of plastic, and the Machine itself being the most important. But if a popular mold can be designed for generic low entry machines, then I think that will go a long way towards getting people to adopt injection molding. I do have some ideas as to what parts to make. I've been thinking about making a video that's an open letter towards mold makers. Would you have any interest in these ideas?

  • @JohnSL

    @JohnSL

    2 жыл бұрын

    Sure, I'd love to hear more. I'm planning to set up a web store sometime this year to sell products. You can contact me via email using the email address you can view on the about section of my KZread channel.

  • @inventtory1272

    @inventtory1272

    2 жыл бұрын

    @@JohnSL I already have the video setup so I'll probably just film it and send you the link.

  • @inventtory1272

    @inventtory1272

    2 жыл бұрын

    @@JohnSL I made that video. It was a bit of a mess so you can skip straight to about 20 min in to get to my ideas. kzread.info/dash/bejne/aHuqtbeuebPHiKw.html

  • @joshedwards6205
    @joshedwards62052 жыл бұрын

    What aspects of mold design would change if you were over molding a part?

  • @JohnSL

    @JohnSL

    2 жыл бұрын

    Usually not much. Here is an example of overmolding with a mold I made: kzread.info/dash/bejne/naVpxtlqqJObqqw.html

  • @joji1420
    @joji1420 Жыл бұрын

    John how much can you make such a mould for?

  • @jbrownson
    @jbrownson2 жыл бұрын

    Why make the gate square instead of round?

  • @JohnSL

    @JohnSL

    2 жыл бұрын

    You absolutely can. In fact I use round gates for molds I make for my Morgan (which has injection through the "back"). But if you want the gate to be twice as wide as tall, which is useful when you're injecting into a thinner part, it can't be round. So using rectangular gates is pretty standard.

  • @WorldTour.360
    @WorldTour.3602 жыл бұрын

    Hello. Could you tell me please, how much maximum pressure your compressor can supply on your desktop termoplast machine which model 100. And how much pressure actually do you use of it?

  • @JohnSL

    @JohnSL

    2 жыл бұрын

    I have two compressors. The one under the machine, which is what I typically use, is rated for 225 psi. But I keep the pressure to the injection molder at about 130 psi and then don't use more than 120 psi for injection or clamping.

  • @WorldTour.360

    @WorldTour.360

    2 жыл бұрын

    @@JohnSL and can you tell me what about length of pneumatic cylinder diameter?

  • @GFXAnimations3dmodels
    @GFXAnimations3dmodels2 жыл бұрын

    But how do you machine a injection mold?

  • @JohnSL

    @JohnSL

    Жыл бұрын

    I use a CNC mill, and have had other videos on that subject. Was there something more specific you wanted to learn?

  • @pedro_8240
    @pedro_82402 жыл бұрын

    Can't you make the mold a bit more "bulbous" where the depression is to counteract it?

  • @JohnSL

    @JohnSL

    2 жыл бұрын

    Yes, that can be done. The mold maker did this with the large throttle sold by TCS, as the part distorted when molded too much. So they did a detailed 3D scan of the part as molded and then adjusted the mold to compensate.