All of the tools we make are cut using CNC technology which have automated cutting paths, that provides a high level of accuracy and less time spent creating your tool. However, even with this method of production, it can still take weeks to create a complex mold.

Here are some tips on how you can design your part so that it will be easy to produce and improve the turnaround time.

While we offer our services at designing your tool based on the information you give us, you are also welcome to give us models for the part itself. If you choose to do this, keep in mind that deep grooves in the mold base will cause a great amount of stress while molding and will be very difficult to fix if your tool gets damaged. Instead, use a core cavity style of design which allows the cores to be fixed/replaced rather than the whole mold base. This style of design is also easier and quicker to make.

Create parts with uniform wall thicknesses. This will help to mitigate the amount of sink and warping that will be created in the piece. For transitions between different wall thicknesses, it will reduce sink to have a gradual transition where the thinner part of the wall is toward the end of the plastic’s flow.

Also adding ribs to your part will improve the strength of the wall, but just keep them about half as thick as the walls of the part to avoid causing sink on the outside.

Put a radius on the internal corners when possible, as a way to reduce the amount of stress put on that area of the part.

Add draft to your design’s vertical faces. This draft is very minuscule, it's 3 degrees on the faces which should be enough provided you don’t have a heavy texture added to your part, in which case it will require more. Also adding draft to shutoffs allows for a better shutoff by the mold while reducing the metal to metal contact and thus increasing the lifetime of your tool.

Have a parting line that is two-axis. A parting line which isn't two-axis will greatly increase the complexity of the tool. Parts like this will require action while the tool is running in order to eject your part.

Our tools eject the parts from the cavities by a set of ejector pins. While these pins may not cause an issue for most, they need to be planned for, so that the pressure of the pin pushing on the part won't mar the surface.