HOW IT’S MADE: TRANSFORMING POLYURETHANE FOAM
Featured Product from General Plastics Manufacturing Co.
HOW IT’S MADE: TRANSFORMING POLYURETHANE FOAM INTO PRODUCTION TOOLING
The process of creating the tool needed to produce parts is a critical portion of the manufacturing process. It is critical enough where the quality of the finished part is dependent on choosing the right tool design.
When conditions dictate the need for soft tooling, polyurethane foam (also known as high-density urethane or HDU) is commonly used because of the low cost of materials and short lead times. In addition to affordability and availability, LAST-A-FOAM® tooling boards in particular, are exceptionally machinable and dimensionally stable which makes it easy to create intricate designs. It can be easily bonded to allow users to create monolithic tools and molds for large-scale projects, while the high Tg and low CTE makes it suitable for use in vacuum-forming applications where other urethane products may deform. Other applications include layup molds, short production runs, prototyping, and high-temperature curing prepregs. In this article, we’ll talk about the step-by-step process of converting LAST-A-FOAM® tooling boards into a production-ready tool.
Tool Design
The first step is to design the tool that will produce the part or another tool. Designing a tool is dependent on several factors. Common questions to answer include:
- Under what conditions will the tool be used?
- What are its performance criteria, such dimensional stability, etc?
- What are the curing conditions and how many cure cycles must be performed?
- What is the desired surface finish?
- What are the dimensions of the finished part?
- What are the tolerances of the design?
- How many parts will be produced from the tool?
Our superior quality LAST-A-FOAM® tooling boards fulfill your tooling and mold applications. With a wide-range of high density foam formulations to satisfy every application requirement, we can supply you with the specified tooling foam material, create prototypes and CNC-machine molds to your design specifications.
To find out more about General Plastics’ LAST-A-FOAM® polyurethane foam tooling boards and our in-house CNC machining services, contact us today.
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RIGID & FLEXIBLE POLYURETHANE FOAM AND BUILD-TO-PRINT COMPOSITE PARTS
For over 75 years, we have focused on meeting the exacting requirements of engineers and design teams in diverse industries. Our premier LAST-A-FOAM® closed- and open-cell polyurethane foam products provide a high strength-to-weight ratio and extraordinary versatility, with absolute consistency from order to order, guaranteed.
Whether you need high-temperature tooling boards, molded parts or submersible foams, expect identical quality, uniformity, stability and weight for the density you specify – every time.
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