TABLE OF CONTENTS Manufacturing an injection mould tool requires a high level of skill, and the success of an injection moulding tool depends jointly on the design of the tool, the skill of the toolmaker and the moulding technician. It is desirable, although not essential, for a tool designer to have had some experience of toolmaking. If the designer does not have direct experience, then at least an appreciation of toolmaking techniques and problems is necessary.
The same observation applies to toolmakers. Ideally, they should spend some time in an injection moulding production environment, to observe at first hand how tools perform and to observe the problems encountered. It is essential, however, for the mould designer to have both experience and knowledge of materials and injection moulding techniques.
In practice it is the combined design and toolmaking package that determines how well the tool will work in production. It is this combined package that we will now discuss.
All production tools should be made from high-quality steels manufactured to suitable BS, ASTM or DIN standards. This topic is discussed in more detail in Chapter 16.
Several different metals are sometimes used, but the majority of mould tool metals used fall into three groups:
Nickel-chromium alloy steels (H13 ASTM or BS EN30B)
Mild steels or low-carbon steels (BS EN8) or those of higher carbon content
Beryllium-copper
See Chapter 16 for a full discussion of this topic.
Alloy steels are usually used for...
