Sometimes, the costs you avoid can be more impactful than those you incur. This was the case for Plasti-Coil, a family owned injection molder in Lake Geneva, Wisconsin, known for successfully molding tight tolerance and high-precision parts.
Category Archives: Technical Articles
Gate Freeze: Is It Always the Gate?
By: Jennifer Schmidt, Sr. Simulation Instructor, AIM
It is not always gate freeze that dictates our ability to pack out a part. This article explores additional possibilities that could be causing your headaches.
Plastic Degradation During Injection Molding
By: David Rose, Senior Instructor, AIM
When it comes to the injection molding of thermoplastic materials, it is reasonable to assume that most processers give little consideration to the molecular weight (MW) of the materials that they are using to mold parts. Their focus will often be on other factors important to the manufacturing operation, such as: cycle time, spoilage, part dimensions, aesthetics, and performance testing. Although MW is not always at the forefront of thought, it is very important to the performance of the product. Therefore, it is imperative that processors recognize that the injection molding process affords plenty of opportunities to degrade the material.
Moldflow vs. Mold Floor: When Simulation Doesn’t Match Reality
By: Jennifer Schmidt, Sr. Simulation Instructor, AIM
It can be a struggle to accurately correlate simulation results to the molding floor. Many variables can contribute to discrepancies between the two. This article highlights some of the possible points of discrepancy.
Mold vs. Machine: Evaluation Considerations
By: Jason Travitz, Sr. Processing Instructor, AIM
Much can be written about Mold vs. Machine criteria and selecting the correct machine for a given mold. This evaluation can become stressful for a molder because if one of the criteria is missed or incorrect, the mold may not run or will run poorly in the selected machine.
“Of all the training seminars that I have attended over the past 10 years, this one ranks at the top! The explanations of clamp tonnage, cooling strategies, viscosity, and key mold design components are just a few of the takeaways that will be very useful in my job function.”
“I was amazed at the amount of expertise and knowledge presented in just two days. Many myths were debunked, numerous scientific explanations for the way we should be thinking about plastic flow were given, and various real-world examples were used to show how plastic flows.”
