Injection Molding Custom Plastic Parts

Injection molding is the process of forming a thermoplastic material into a desired shape. To do so requires an injection molding machine and tooling (often called a mold or die). The molding machine consists of a clamping unit to open and close the mold automatically, and an injection unit to heat and inject the material into the closed mold. Injection molding utilizes very high pressures and typically the machine is hydraulic or, increasingly, electric.

Tooling for production injection molding applications must be able to survive under high pressure and is made from steels or aluminum. The potential high cost of tooling often drives the economics of a plastic molding application.

Molded parts are typically reserved for higher volume applications for several reasons:

• The cost of tooling.
• Part quality
  • It can take a relatively long time to stabilize the molding process.
  • Part dimensional variation can be a problem as well as cosmetic issues.
• Simple Economics
  • With longer runs setup costs and minimum material orders are more easily amortized.
  • Custom injection molding refers to the making of plastic parts for specific applications.