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Name | Description |
Minimum order quantity | 100 runs |
Mold material | Tool Steel P20, Carbon Steel S50C, Aluminum |
Mold types | Rapid tooling, production tooling |
Mold storage | Minimum 2 years |
Mold lead time | 2-3 weeks (Rapid tool), 4-5 weeks (Production tool) |
Quality assurance | Inspection reports included, full dimensional report and material certifications available upon request. |
Design verification program | Similar to First Article Inspection, you will receive 2 sets of parts upon the machining of the mold to test fit before continuing with full production. |
Mold remachining | We can remachine the molds should any changes be required, changes to be reviewed on a case by case basis. |
Reorders | Unit price is based on the quantity required for the reorder with an additional set up fee of $150/€100. |
Additional technical support | Dedicated 3D Hubs Mechanical Engineer for technical support. |
Name | Description |
Rapid Tooling | Molds with aluminum inserts with a life time of up to 20,000 runs. Machined in typically 2-3 weeks. |
Production tooling | Traditional hard molds, machined in typically 4-5 weeks. |
Single cavity molds | Molds containing only one cavity, producing one unit per run. |
Molds with side-action cores | Cores slide out of the part from the side before it is ejected from the mold. This allows for undercuts to be molded. |
Multi-cavity molds | Multiple identical cavities are machined into the mold tool. This allows for more parts to be produced per shot, minimizing the unit costs. |
Family Molds | Several parts are designed into the same mold tool. This allows for the minimization of tooling costs. |
Insert molding | Inserts are placed into the mold and molding occurs around them. This allows for inserts such as helicoils to be molded in your design. |
Overmolding | Premade parts are placed into the mold to mold over them. This allows for multi-material injection molding. |
Name | Description |
UV absorbers | Absorb UV radiation, slowing down the degradation of the material when used outdoors. |
Flame retardants | Prevent ignition and inhibits spread of fire. |
Plasticizers | Increase flexibility and promotes plasticity, reducing brittleness of the material. |
Colorants | Used to color plastics. |
Carbon fibers | Increase strength, toughness, and rigidity of the material at the expense of making the material more brittle. |
Glass fibers | Increase strength, toughness, and rigidity of the material at the expense of making the material more brittle. It is more flexible than carbon fibers. |
Name | SPI Standard | Description | |
![]() | Glossy | A-1, A-2, A-3 | The mold is smoothed and then polished with a diamond buff, resulting in parts with a mirror-like finish. |
![]() | Semi-gloss | B-1, B-2, B-3 | The mold is smoothed with fine grit sandpaper, resulting in parts with a fine surface finish. |
![]() | Matte | C-1, C-2, C-3 | The mold is smoothed using fine stone powder, removing all machining marks. |
![]() | Textured finish | D-1, D-2, D-3 | The mold is first smoothed with fine stone powder and then sandblasted, resulting in a textured surface. |
![]() | As-machined finish | The mold is finished to the machinist's discretion. Tool marks may be visible. |
Feature | Recommended | Description | |
![]() | Wall thickness | Thickness: 1 mm and 3 mm | To avoid warping and sinking, parts should be designed with the smallest possible and constant wall thickness. |
![]() | Smooth transitions | 3 × wall thickness difference | If wall thickness cannot be avoided, use a chamfer or fillet to make the transition as smooth as possible. |
![]() | Rounded edges | Internal edges: > 0.5 × wall thickness External edges: internal fillet + wall thickness | Add a fillet with a radius that is as large as possible to all internal and external edges. |
![]() | Draft angle | For parts taller than 50 mm: increase the draft by 1° for every 25 mm | For parts with a textured finish: increase the draft by an extra 1°-2° Add a draft to all vertical walls to make the ejection of the part easier and avoid drag marks. |