3D Printed vs Aluminum Injection Molds

[@j.dietrich]

I wouldn't use printed mold tooling for any sort of production, but they can be extremely useful for testing and iterating molds. If you're designing a part with difficult features, printing a test tool can save you from machining an expensive piece of scrap or chasing your tail with rework. A printed mold will never behave exactly like a metal mold due to the different thermal properties, but it can give you some useful information, particularly if you don't have the budget for mold flow analysis.

[@JohnSL]

I suspect this depends on what ability you have to make molds. If you don't have a CNC machine, and therefore have to rely on someone else to make the molds, what you say is spot on and I should have mentioned that. Using a 3D printed test mold before paying someone else to make a mold does make a lot of sense. For me, since I have the equipment and experience, milling a mold is often faster.

[@j.dietrich]

@@JohnSL The key factor is opportunity cost. Printed molds are objectively bad, the resin isn't particularly cheap, but it frees up a milling spindle to do something else. That's obviously not a significant factor in your shop, but the value proposition is compelling in a commercial environment. FFF printing for soft jaws and fixtures has a very similar business case.

[@rev.aux-weg9730]

I guess if you print a mold in pa12 on a SLS you get a pretty usefull mold. The only problem that remains is the heat disapation. I think LCD or DLP is just not the best choice of printer.

[@Theexplorographer]

Have you tried ceramic resin or Phrozen Functional Resin - TR250LV High Temp 3D Printing Resin? You can also put additives in your resin as well. If you are experimenting you could try aluminum dust mixed in the resin.

[@Splarkszter]

3D printing never was about production (until very recently) the main salling point is fast prototyping and to replace injection molding for small bussineses.

[@TheCrafsMan]

My mannn, I'm glad the Siraya tech resin worked alright for you! (P.S. My contact at Siraya sent over some clear to try - he says you can theoretically get an even STRONGER resin printed injection mold due to more thorough UV curing. I neeed to try it.)

[@hotfuzz1913]

And keep steady craftin

[@Jun127]

It's the real crafsman. What's up with KZbin not giving your channel a check-mark?

[@JohnSL]

Thanks. I also found out that they Siraya Tech Sculpt Ultra White that is rated to 220C (and I put a link in the description). I suggested this to Rulon in case he wants to try that next time. I don't have an SLA printer (I had one and hated working with it). And since I have a nice CNC machine, that's faster for me anyway.

[@WarGamerGirl]

I may have to finally give this a shot =D

[@prnzali2010]

TheCrafsMan - it's so cool when a creator actually replies and gives their fans guidance and encouragement! I love your channel.

[@conrad2468]

One thing I do when designing 3D printed molds is to actually recess the unused parts of the mold. This reduces surface area contact and makes it so you don't have to sand your mold halves to get them to mate flush. The smaller surface area actually warps the mold back into shape when clamped so both halves are flush with one another. Granted these molds don't have many cycles, but the results were promising with no flashing and no sanding.

[@michaelmoe8656]

You should bake the high temp print after washing and prior to curing. this helps to remove moisture, which prevents cracking and makes the mold more durable. also, you may try phrozens tr300 ultra high temp resin, which has the highest rated working range ive been able to find.

[@seenmakino]

Have you seen siraya's high temp ultra white? It claims 220c

[@michaelmoe8656]

Haven't tried it, but that's about the same as the tr300. If I can't get the tr300, I would probably try it then. Thanks!

[@gabrielneto1156]

Loved the shout out to the steady crafting man.. love his chanel too! Keep the good job, learning a lot! thank you!

[@StonegateCreations]

Nice breakdown. I machine a lot of alum injection molds for reproduction toys but will sometimes use a printed a mold for prototyping before making chips. Even then the "hi-temp" resins chip after a couple shots. Resins have made leaps so maybe within decade they will be on par with aluminum for small production runs.

[@JohnSL]

Agreed. It might get there someday. But it's not there today.

[@lupusk9productions]

have you tried any of the formlabs high temp resins? I would be curious to see how those hold up to these tests.

[@StonegateCreations]

@@lupusk9productions I haven't but I have talked to some sales reps about the material. My take-away was it wasn't ideal for deep molding. It was still cheaper for me to machine the type of aluminum molds I make vs investing in the form series printers.

[@blahblahblahblah2933]

Very interesting tests...loved his Crafsman shoutout!

[@XcoolcoolbeansbeansX]

Great video and insight into the realities of these molds! Even in the last year, there have been many developments in resins and tech for printing molds. Not to mention the costs of resin printers and associated gear absolutely tanking, which is excellent for DIYers and people trying to break into this unbelievably expensive industry. Possibly at the time you made this video, it might not have made complete sense. Still might not to many. That said, there are companies and individuals getting hundreds of cycles out of single resin printed molds with excellent results. This is enough for many. Obviously we would all chose to have aluminum molds in an ideal world. But it isn't one for most of us. Especially for those who are not able to invest in the traditional "proper" equipment. Many of us are punching this shit out on a homemade injection mold rig, doing it in a shed. The extra hassle of making something work with the resin process is the difference between having something vs nothing at the end of the day. I can print 30 molds if I need to, and still be well under the cost of a traditional route. It's also an incredible learning tool when it comes to the real world complexities of injection molding. There is also the aspect of trying to paste traditional injection molding processes to the resin injection molds, as if they were metal. It just isn't going to be that way, as much as many in the industry treat it to be. There are likely many more differences to discover and learn. Lots of adaptations that can be made. Lots of improvements to develop. Even this comment section alone has some excellent advice. As materials advance and the tech progresses, I am hopeful for a day where everyone looks back and says "wow how ridiculous it was that we used expensive, complex, subtractive manufacturing processes just to make a mold for a single brush..."

[@matthewanderson2464]

I recently made a small resin 3D printed mold and it works great. The difference, I'm injecting wax, not plastic. It holds up well to the lower temperatures. I use the wax for lost wax casting of rings. I find the plastic procedures fascinating, and I've learned some things that I can apply to my wax mold making. Thank you, very informative.

[@Rafaelguitarplayer]

You can easily add holes/galleries for liquid cooling on the molds, that will help to keep the temperatures low, preserving the mold longer. This is actually the real benefit of 3d printed resin molds. Of course this will work better on a automatic machine that has cooling for molds, but just giving my 2 cents about the subject.

[@JohnSL]

I've seen examples of this being done for molds run on automatic machines. I imagine you could do the same for manual molds. But having to deal with the water lines as you remove the mold and put it back into the machine wouldn't be fun. I'd much rather just use aluminum molds.

[@angrydragonslayer]

While completely irrelevant to this level of manifacturing, we do 3d print steel molds with custom cooling channels We're able to run them 20-30% faster in steel and sometimes 150% in copper

[@Cassiusisback]

siraya also has "sculpt ultra" goes up to 220°c. im almost sure, the wear was due to the clamping, not the heat. those surfaces really werent plane. i think he didnt wash the print enough before curing. normally resin printer leave a mirror- finish thats perfectly plane. if your printer sucks, maybe try to facemill the print. no stress hotspots while clamping, no chipping of the print. i would bet :)

[@jellyfish1433]

Resin looks like it would be ideal for rapid prototyping, but if it’s all you have, then I don’t see why it wouldn’t be perfectly fine to use on smaller production runs while you are getting started up! Also, as someone who primarily uses FDM printers, I’m always blown away with how much detail a lot of these newer resin printers are able to get! Even some of the more budget friendly SLA printers have a crazy high resolution

[@JohnSL]

That's true, you could use resin molds for very short production runs. The issue is that you would need to replace the inserts every so many parts. It is a bit of work to make new inserts and prepare them, as I believe it often takes some sanding to get them to fit just right.

[@jellyfish1433]

@@JohnSL that is very true, but with the cost of a machined mold, it might just be a decent option for people just getting started up who already have an SLA printer. One thing to look into would also be a sanding jig to get the proper thickness/flatness on each part without as much struggle. The biggest benefit is definitely rapid prototyping though.

[@JohnSL]

It's a time vs money tradeoff. Resin doesn't cool the parts off the way aluminum does, which therefore also results in longer times per part.

[@Ragnar8504]

@@JohnSL I've always been told that professional aluminium molds start around 100k, for that kind of money you could print a lot of resin moulds for small runs. Is that true or is that vastly exaggerated?

[@martinmckee5333]

​@@Ragnar8504As with most things. The answer is, it depends, but a multi-part mold for a product we're considering was quoted at under $10,000 at a Chinese manufacturer. Still not cheap by any means, but that's still an order of magnitude under $100k.

[@d3AdLyf3]

Im a plastic injection mold maker. 1. Polish your runner channels ( the sprue you added shouldnt curve... ) 2. Your location pins should be removable press fit dowels, usually at .499 or .500 3. You need you accommodate heat shrink the plastic will expand about .015 thou 4.. those inner faces with the detail would be considered an insert, inserts are typically toolnsteel, hardened for a reason, i know you are limited in your options but! Heres what you can do! Send your cam models to a mold shop, tell them you have housing you just need this insert fabricated, they will cut carbon blocks to mirror opposite of your image, it wont be cheap but it will be right, chamces are itll be tool steel.

[@arabiccola]

Such a great video! I have been watching similar content for a long time and this production is unique for a number of reasons.

[@alexp7274]

How about water/liquid cooling the 3d printed mold during injection. The aluminum base halves could have conduits and a recirculating pump and radiator setup supplying through them (similar to computer cooling systems), taking away the heat. Possibly even more so than a pure aluminum mold if the system is dialed in correctly for correct temps.

[@swamihuman9395]

- SIMPLIFY PROGRAMMING FOR MULTIPLE PARTS (OR 2-SIDED)... - 'MANUFACTURING MODEL' (in Fusion 360 CAM): consider using this: one for each half (core/cavity). - Do 'Create Setup from Manufacturing Model' (for each part). - And do 'Associate Named View' (for each 'Manufacturing Model'). - Hopefully, this finds you in time, and you will be able to take advantage in future projects... - All in all though, great job on the modeling/programming: parts came out very nicely.

[@lxc3909]

Thanks for another informative video. Two thoughts: First, the print orientation of the resin-printed mold really can make a difference. Printing it "flat" is quickest, but printing it upright or on an upright angle is superior for finish and strength. Second, the Siraya Tech Sculpt is a good product, with an HDT around 160C; however, Formlabs makes High Temp Resin with an HDT of 238C and Rigid 10K Resin with an HDT of 218C. Okay, a bonus third thought: You can speed up the resin-printing and the cooling rate of the molds by *not* printing them solid, but relieving the "back" where it is not directly supporting the cavity.

[@JohnSL]

I learned from one of my viewers that Siraya also has Sculpt Ultra White, which is rated to 220C. I let Rulon know about that and he may try this again with that resin. If so, I'll make another video reporting the results. amzn.to/3PlsB0G

[@d3m0n54in7]

@@JohnSL I've used sculpt ultra white for plastisol. It seems to hold up well enough but it's a little touchy when it comes to your exposure settings.

[@d6c10k4]

Consider making a graphite electrodes on the CNC mill and burning the cavity using ram EDM. Much easier machining the graphite and the finish will be better, and more consistent with EDM. (easier to add draft to the fine details also) You're not limited to aluminum for the mold either. Hardened steel would be an option because it's just as easily EDM'd as alum.

[@Vikingman2024]

Excellent idea! Now where to find a used RAM EDM at reasonable price..

[@JohnSL]

Except that I don't have a RAM EDM. I have a moratorium on new machines for my shop at the moment until I get more of them running. Self-imposed.

[@mnotlyon]

@@Vikingman2024 Ebay.

[@tenlittleindians]

I'm wondering if moving the sprue towards the brush end would reduce the sink without having to increase injection time? That wire has to change the cooling properties near the point of contact with the aluminum mold. With a 30,000rpm spindle you can easily run engraving bits with smaller points for better details such as your lettering. I made myself a custom aluminum injection mold for a guitar pick. I designed a raised logo on the picks to both provide a better grip and to function as advertising without the need to print on the picks later. I found I got better detail with shallow cut lettering.

[@thetylergibson]

Oh my goodness hey John! So cool to see you on KZbin!

[@JohnSL]

Hey Tyler! How many years has it been? I know more than 12 years since we worked together. But I seem to recalling running into you once since then. We should have lunch, as I see your office is across the street from me.

[@titter3648]

Try making a positive mold with resin and then make the negative mold to be used in the injection machine by casting JB Weld around the resin mold. JB Weld can take a lot of heat and also conducts heat better than the resin. And it is really tough and wear resistant.

[@JohnSL]

There is a long history of using epoxy molds for small run injection molds. They will be stronger, as you point out. Plus, you can add aluminum powder to increase the thermal conductivity. So, yes, I think that's a viable option.

[@aaronmarkstaller]

Nice I was thinking about that. How many cycles does jb weld last? Or maybe Hysol?

[@tomcatmeow69]

I found this a very interesting video as it is almost what I'm intending to do with my resin printer. I have an electrical electronic wire harness manufacturing business and one of my customers wants a strain relief overmolded onto a connector with wires running to it. They only want low volume of approx 175 per year so it may be possible to make a resin mold. I've looked at the Formlabs system and have looked into high temperature resins. I notice Rulon used a decent resin but I think there are better ones out there. At any rate I will be trying this process out for sure.

[@debragibson3489]

Injection molding is a very precise and artistic process! Historic Records are very important to setting up a mold for process. Also humidity, and ALL other atmospheric parameters included. QC controls should be included with deliveries from suppliers!!!.....Lots of influences determine the final product!!!!

[@the_chomper]

the gate is to small, it needs to flow better and you need to have the mold liquid cooled to prevent that sink. really not a difficult thing, drill holes down the length of the mold then cross drill and tap the ends for plugs. run a computer liquid cooling rig (because its small and manageable, also you can adjust the temperature) and you will have a nice injection mold. if you liquid cool it and use an "ABS like" or high temp resin you can probably get quite a long life out of the mold.

[@MrCPogue]

This is 8 months old but you should try using some high temp graphite or other metal based 3D prints. you are essentially attempting to inject liquid plastic into crystallized plastic the heat is going to transfer! it will crack and come apart just as the gate did. but for the cost of running a CNC you already own it probably cost you more to buy the resin than it would of to make 2-3 moulds on the CNC in aluminium not to mention if they fail,crack,warp, etc. you can just recast it into a new blank resin once it is done its done!

[@JohnSL]

I made this video because I saw a lot of people who seemed to believe that 3D printed molds were the solution to making molds on the cheap. And therefore wanted to make your exact points in the video so people would understand that 3D printed molds have serious limitations.

[@NefariousElasticity]

I'm positive someone's already said this, but the nice thing about the resin molds is that you can print out 10 sets of them with a $25 bottle of resin instead of paying way more than that for a machined aluminum mold. You'll blow through the resin ones way faster, but for an independent maker trying to do small-scale production or even just a home gamer without a huge budget, it's pretty handy.

[@Mr-Highball]

Great vid and nice shoutout to the crafsman 👌

[@himanilsharma2147]

I paused video in between to say thank you craftsssmann... He is awesome and his every technique is innovative and mind blowing... He is a saver Edit: is he really Craftsman steady guy..!!! It feels overwhelmed to see him, I am really his big fan... Can you please say a Hiii and thanks to him from me and am definitely going to watch your other videos

[@benjaminscott1927]

@JohnSL - Random Products They make a ceramic based resin. @Integza uses it to build nozzles for his rockets. I believe you dry it out with a kiln or oven. I would check it out.

[@Wellknown-g9f]

A way to improve heat conductivity in resin would be to add copper particles to it.

[@iAmTheSquidThing]

I learned a surprising amount about injection moulding just from this one video.

[@JohnSL]

Thanks.

[@thePlasmoids]

awesome video. as means of production become more accessible, the world will move from consumer economy to creator economy. videos like this will guide a future worth living. Thanks!

[@dcocz3908]

You could try spray mold release, various injection moulding suppliers keep similar products, I use mouldpro mould release

[@Protocol-X]

I know this video it older, but this resins prints and cleans much easier than sculpt resin. It also prints incredibly fast. SuperHDT 3D Printer Resin, Highest Heat Deflection Temperature 464°F (240°C), Made by 3DMaterials

[@thomassutrina8296]

I used epoxy to adjust the Zip loc zipper for the sandwich bag. So the steel 1/4 inch thick plate was under full extrusion pressure on one side and atmospheric on the other from 10 to 30 minutes. Never lost epoxy during extrusion but the brittle plastic didn't like cleaning with dental floss cleaning off the profile. One rule for screw injection molding is that pressure is maintained while the mold cools. Cooling is the issue. Simply put there is too much distance between the aluminum frame to the injected plastic. Has anyone considered making the mold with a course shape that has a high aluminum content. use the approach on part size similar to the rules for aggregate for concrete. I would think shavings would work if clean since they will conduct the heat father before the heat has to conduct through plastic. Then a top casting of the details and all surfaces is none filled or extremely fine aluminum. Finally i would consider the spire be a ceramic nozzle bead or donut that is cracked into half between V edge as one would due to get a clean cut. Stainless steel and even steel are almost as poor thermal conductors as ceramic so make a half donut from steel and put it at the breakoff point of the spire.

[@BillyhillDurotan]

that crafs man video may have me jump down a sidequest that I may have never expected

[@floriandraxler3868]

i would try to manufactur the Aluminium as close to the cavity as possible and put a water flow thru it so the Resin part of the mould stays cooler and the final part cools faster at least that is how we do moulds in injection molding industrie

[@5FSF]

I wonder if you were to cast a larger shape or if more of the overall mold space was aluminum instead of resin or if the actual cutout was further away from the sprue if it would remove heat more effectively. I've always thought it would be cool to have someone with a thermal camera record the demold process, maybe even some intentionally too-early demolding to see if there was any sort of behaviors to inform adjustments to the aluminum jacket resin printed mold process.

[@GregAtlas]

I wonder how Siraya Tech Blu, Sculpt with a 10-25% mix ratio of Tenacious, or their Mecha resin would hold up for this purpose. I know Sculpt alone is pretty brittle. I also kind of wonder if heat treating in an oven first might help with that warping issue.

[@StardustViking]

I have always been interested in injection moulding... and the system you have interests me a lot... where can I purchase the injection mould... looking forward to your reply.

[@ljy10101]

You may want to revisit your conclusions regarding use of plastic molds. Bulk filament products containing up to 30% aluminum particulate will likely ameliorate many of the issues that differentiated aluminum-milled vs additive-plastic mold based injection molding techniques.

[@reprapmlp]

21:20 you have a great big air-cooled heatsink attached right there

[@xaytana]

I've been looking at various resin 3D printed things for other manufacturing processes, masters for molds, various forms of directly printed molds, etc., and I just don't think printing is of high enough resolution yet, as you'll still have artifacts appear within molds and casts. Without moving to a much more complex 3D vectorization model of producing prints, I'm not sure if layer-based printing will ever achieve high enough layer resolution to not have artifacts, even if it gets to the point where it's not detectable by eye the texture will still be there, and post-processes are either not worth the time or they're a massive time investment. One idea I've considered, which seems obvious but I haven't seen it practically done yet, is post-print machining to remove artifacts, this could also potentially work with metl-sculpting but excess material becomes problematic in that theoretical instance; I know the high-end CNC world is getting into laser-welded metal powder FDM, and IIRC this additive process often time does need a subtractive cleanup pass, done on the same 5+axis machine of course. Though none of these will fix high temp casting, that'll require metal powder printing, which itself is a fairly hefty investment. It feels like 3D printing is constantly on the fringe of the next massive step that could potentially push it from rapid prototyping into actual production territory, but that step just never happens. Though I would be curious, if you can get your hands on a powder printed mold of a suitable material, you should machine it with a surfacing pass, and test it for efficacy compared to machining a billet. Testing the efficacy of this process could produce an interesting content piece, especially as the post-additive subtractive process seems to be a rare thing to come by. But I haven't checked prices of outsourcing for this style of printing for awhile, and I haven't checked the prices of investing into this kind of printing ecosystem for awhile, so I can't say if doing such a thing, at either end of the scale, has a good break even point or is even a sound investment.

[@JohnSL]

It turns out I have done some post machining of 3D printed metal parts. If you look at my series on making a watch case, the parts that I'm machining have been 3D printed and I'm doing the post machining of the surfaces that need to be precise. I'm not allowed to go into details on the 3D printing. These are stainless steel parts and the quality of the 3D printed parts is quite good. But the level of details available, as you point out, just isn't there. In this case it made sense to use the hybrid approach to allow for surface textures that would be far more time-consuming to mill. So we're getting the best of both worlds.

[@thedustyengineer]

It’s a pretty thick part, the sink doesn’t surprise me.

[@baschz]

Very interesting video. It looks like the sink would even help with holding it. For other people also using resin; I am having great success with Siraya Tech Fast, the faster and cheaper option. Better than the also used here Siraya Tech Sculpt actually. I don't have a professional machine like you guys (I am using an open source self-built Buster Beagle 3D machine) and I don't generally need as many parts though. I also don't have a metal casing and just clamp the resin molds directly, but it still works.

[@JohnSL]

The sink mark is an indication that the packing isn't as high as it could be. Holding injection pressure on the mold longer increases packing. And the increased packing will hold onto the wire better. One way to think about this is it's "maintaining" a higher pressure on the wire with increased packing.

[@baschz]

@@JohnSL I understand it’s better without the sink. Just thought it added a nice unintended dent which can help with holding it :) B.T.W. I’ve finally sent you some stickers. Hope they arrived or will arrive soon.

[@Jandodev]

I did the same thing with the high temp sirayatech resin!

[@nirodha7028]

I am noticing most ‘hobby grade injection moulders’ (I don’t mean that in a derogative way) are making thick parts not really geared towards injection moulding (one reason for higher cycle time and excessive sink marks. This leads me to a question; Is this because most hobbyists don’t know how to design thin walled parts for injection moulding or is the ‘DIY’ machine not capable of high enough pressure to get polymer all the way into a mould for lets say the clam shell housing of a remote control or something similar? Really interested to learn about this. I am interested in DIY injection moulding but only if allows me to make thin walled injection moulded ‘housings’ of various sizes. One I am looking at now for example has a 75 gram shot size (part only without risers or gate loss) and bounding box size of about 200x150x30mm Would a ‘DIY’ injection moulding machine be capable of such a part? (Given a good mould design ofcourse). Thanks in advance for your feedback.

[@JLK89]

What about printing the positive with sprue pieces, and just mould aluminium filled epoxy around it in the mould halves?

[@JohnSL]

That would probably work. It's not something I've tried, as I can make an aluminum mold fairly quickly. Probably faster than 3D printing the masters.

[@thomasmore260]

That is what I wanted to suggest too. It takes away the hazzle for high temperature resin and the metal fill takes care about the heat transfer and wear.

[@dronus]

What injection molding machine are you using?

[@Micbop]

Thanks for that I was thinking of a 3d printer just for moulds now I know no go!!

[@hotfuzz1913]

Nice shout out to man crafsman and remember Keep steady craftin

[@swamihuman9395]

- Very interesting. - Thx for sharing, and detailing things.

[@DieselCrawler86]

I hear and read a lot about how 3D printing is magic, but in 98% of cases that's not really the case. I speak mostly about the "home" model kind. I have seen industrial printers do some amazing things depending on the application. very informative video as always and enjoy your content.

[@JohnSL]

Thank you!

[@danielmclellan7762]

It's magic to that who aren't machinists. It's magic to people who never fabricated anything. Pfft

[@charlesholt6664]

Probably to little to late. But, you could always try using resin with foaming agents to help with the sinks. Since that mold looks to small to add cooling.

[@shouminz]

Thx for great video. Have possible to make a video for led color mixing lens by aluminium mold?

[@EricStrebel]

Pure gold!

[@nickp4793]

Nice video, I enjoyed it. I wonder if the outer shape of the overmold part could be offset somewhat from the metal brush handle. Then, the wall thickness would be much more consistent, and should lead to less sink. Of course, the aesthetic would be different. Funny how true it is that when looking at things on screen, we lose a sense of scale, and they often are non-issues with the real parts.

[@JohnSL]

Two seconds to inject and pack just wasn't enough. He pretty much eliminated the sink mark by holding the injection pressure longer.

[@ericlee4664]

This is great. I have been having similar experiences with 3d printed molds using a Buster Beagle machine. I do see 3d printing as a great way to prototype an aluminum mold. Do you know if there are any online services that offer aluminum mold milling and what the costs might be for an aluminum mold similar to what you have in this video?

[@JohnSL]

I make injection molds for others. I'm not fast, because this is a hobby for me, but I make sure my customers are satisfied. Most of the molds I've made are below $1000. Some a lot below, if they're really simple. It all depends on the complexity of the mold and whether I need to design the mold as well as make it. Some parts, for example, are not designed with draft and I often find it's faster for me to just re-do the part in 3D CAD. I've gotten parts where it's impossible to add the draft (because of how they part was designed) without starting over. That adds to the cost. Also, I've received more than a few parts that would require a multi-part injection mold, which is therefore even more expensive.

[@ericlee4664]

@@JohnSL thanks for the response!

[@9fiveb180]

Is the "sinking" caused by the leakage that spirals down the twisted wire from the pressure of the injected material? Maybe?

[@FadedDreamzTv]

It would be interesting if you did more videos with the 3d printed mold durability with different resins brands.

[@BarronBros1822]

How about if the resin molds were electroplated? Also are your resin molds properly cured? You could try cranking the exposure time on the high temp resin

[@luceratan]

thank you for video, save me a lot of time an money trying 3d printed mold :) my biggest fear was heat release and its a thing

[@Iamwolf134]

Then again, we can also print up custom EDM (electrical discharge machining) tooling for making molds.

[@bdot02]

What machine do you guys have for doing the injections?

[@SinedWOLF]

13:33 What is CAD? p.s. oh, its a FUSION 360)

[@JohnSL]

I use Fusion 360.

[@phatvw1]

John, what are your thoughts on 3D-printing a negative mold and then metal casting? Is it worth the trouble?

[@devilmastah]

have a search for lost resin casting, i started doing this a few weeks ago and its awesome!

[@mattiasfagerlund]

Could you make a pewter mold instead (170-230C / 338-446 °F)? 3D print a negative, cast the pewter in the mold mold. After demolding the final mold, machine it to proper dimensions? Not sure how demolding would work. Also, for prototyping, you could machine a aluminum insert with a smaller opening where the experimental mold goes. That way you'd cut down on wastage and printing time as you iterate. I realize that the insert could cost quite a bit to machine, so it might turn out to cost more...

[@JohnSL]

I expect the answer is yes, you could. From what I can tell, the way to do this would be to create a 3D positive of each mold half and use a high temperature silicone mold rubber to make the mold for the pewter. And finally cast the pewter. I expect that would produce a mold that would last much longer, and I may have to try that.

[@lancecurley5188]

3 seconds in and I’ve already subscribed

[@ZaxMan3D]

Correct me if im wrong but non of the 2 resins you showed is "high" temp. Try and reach out to 3dmaterials perhaps they want to sponsor some high temp resin, that can handle 240 C. I'm not sure what temp your plastic is but this might hold up better. there normal resin if super awsome! i can only imagine the high temp is just as good

[@JohnSL]

Siraya's Sculpt is rated at 160C, which is higher than their normal resin. But I learned they also have Sculpt Ultra White: amzn.to/3PlsB0G

[@loomismeister]

Are you using a special device to smoothly rotate your CAD camera? I see some really smooth rotations there but I'm wondering how you are controlling it.

[@kenengel620]

Can someone explain the cold trap a bit more? How does that work?

[@TaeKenDo]

I think the sink is because the wire is not a solid cylinder. It is two twisted wires with a spiral groove so there is a plastic loss into the groove.

[@JohnSL]

The sink is because the plastic shrinks and he didn't keep injection pressure on the mold long enough. He changed that setting later, and that mostly fixed the sink problem. But the other reason you typically see sink is when the part thickness varies from one place to another.

[@TaeKenDo]

@@JohnSL Is the amount sent into the mold the same predetermined amount every time ?

[@TaeKenDo]

@@JohnSL Also, metal expands slightly under high heat but then cools & shrinks. Just throwing that out there since you said "mostly' fixed the problem.

[@medalikhazri829]

Nice job jhon i am a big fan from tunisia

[@clypeum5063]

Nice Video John! Waited for this one :)

[@JohnSL]

Thanks.

[@robertLanes]

move where the plastic is injected to the middle instead of comining in on the end

[@Theexplorographer]

Have you tried Ceramic Resin?

[@PurpleHaze2k9]

Im so glad you mentioned the crafsman. Lets me know im in the right place haha

[@kevinbarbour7649]

I really needed to see this, thanks

[@jackdanielzx]

liked and subbed because of the craftsman shoutout.

[@geHuC]

Have you though about nickel plating the 3D printed molds? It should give them some better protection against wear and tear. I not sure how well the plating is going to stick the print though, because the best way I've seen of doing it to first use copper paint on the print and then plate on top of it which doesn't seem as a very thermally resistive bond.

[@JohnSL]

I have no clue. It sounds plausible. I think there are several questions in my mind. First, how strong would a thin plating be? Second, how well would the plating bond to the 3D print? I'd love to hear the results if someone tries plating.

[@mnotlyon]

Back in the day, we chrome plated "real" injection molds made from steel. The plating does not hold up well. It flakes off. It would do even worse on plastic.

[@frosty-tg1me]

What company do you work for or how can you make a mold for me because I need a mold and you look like the right guy, talk back soon

[@Foxfried]

23:32 Wrong, if you are doing production you need steel molds, Aluminum will wear down and be useless after about 4000 shots, where as steel will easily go up to 50,000 before needing work.

[@JohnSL]

That depends on the size of the market. The people buying these desktop machines are in the short run category. I've had people tell me they want a mold and have a huge volume. When I ask how many, they say 100/year. It would take them many years before they would wear out the mold, if ever. Another example is the model train cases that I designed. Those molds are aluminum molds because the size of the market is small enough.

[@rickhalverson2252]

When you do 3D printed resin.. Get very fine alumina powder. Mix it with your resin. It's very inexpensive. Aluminum oxide. It is stable and will not compress. Extremely strong and it pulls the heat away. It is unaffected by heat. It's heat wicking abilities are incredible. I think your standard resin would not be given the full heat load anymore and it would be wicked away more quickly. That's what I would try guys.

[@maurondndramirezm744]

Saludos desde Colombia, ¿Que tipo de aluminio usas para el molde?

[@macafern]

English please

[@spokehedz]

I wonder if a very thin mold, to allow for detail that the 3D printer can have, will let the heat out 'just enough'.

[@AlbiesProductsOnline]

Is removing the dowel pins then lap the plates on a surface plate to get the two plats fitting perfectly together an option? Or doesn’t it matter that much ?

[@David_11111]

what make was the 3 inch machine ? please

[@JohnSL]

It's this machine: www.abplasticinjectors.com/ab-400

[@David_11111]

@@JohnSL Thankyou

[@bjollnirbjordsen9795]

What if you mixed some kind of metal powder into the resin when printing the mold? Might make it more resistant and help with dumping heat out of the plastic faster, which could help with your warp issues. I've never tried mixing metal powder into resin so it could just ruin the film on the vat, hard to say haha

[@justintietz4477]

So what was the curing process for the sculpt, it is a very picky material you have to get the settings just right and cure it properly or it can fail. I used to make lots of molds for fishing lures out of the material and hitting 350-400f and injecting small and huge cavities for 100+ injections without issue.

[@ferrariguy8278]

Not sure if its worth a try or not, but metal infusion of 3D resin for cooling purpose has been tried with .. maybe small success? See "Can you print a COPPER INFUSED radiator" on the "Major Hardware" channel.

[@JohnSL]

Thanks. I watched the video and the difference wasn't that larger. I had a hard time finding information on the thermal conductivity of SLA resins. But I'm guessing the difference is well more than 100 times for aluminum. For comparison, aluminum is about 5 times more thermally conductive than steel, and steel molds almost always need water cooling.

[@Eagle031265]

Hello John, nice video. John the In jection machine you have is of your own production or you got it from a vendor? I'm looking for a machine like that to inject some Delrim pins. Your feedback would be greatly appreciated. Regards from Costa Rica.

[@dcocz3908]

What is your CNC mill, like the ACT? What software are you using for Cam in this video?

[@JohnSL]

Details here: kzbin.info/www/bejne/j2rRn3WcYtmpgLs

[@denvvv187]

Идея напечатанной формы на 3д принтере она конечно очень соблазнительная. Проблема только в том, что даже если напечатать форму из полиамида. ее теплопроводность очень плохая по сравнению с алюминием. Соответственно прогреть ее нормально не получится, и остудить быстро тоже. Коэффициент расширения очень большой. от многократных циклов нагрева пластик может тоже деформироваться. В общем, эту идею я оставил и делаю формы для себя из алюминия.

[@JohnSL]

I agree with everything you said. I think there are two cases where 3D printed molds do make sense. The first is for prototyping a part and/or mold. The other is for people to be able to test a market before getting aluminum molds made. A lot of people buying desktop injection molding machines don't have the experience or equipment to be able to make aluminum molds, so they have to pay someone else to make them.

[@denvvv187]

@@JohnSL Я использовал для изготовления форм с малым ресурсом двухкомпонентный полиуретан с керамическим наполнителем. Результаты вполне неплохие, она выдерживала около 120 градусов нагрева долгосрочно и рассеивала около 220-230 градусов расплав. А прототип печатал на 3д принтере, с него уже получал форму. Это даст очень большую твердость литьевой формы, намного больше чем у напечатанной на 3д принтере. И не придется делать оправу из алюминия.

[@ZAzhar101]

Do you take custom orders? I've a machine but no push rod/Cylinder and uh a mold. thinking of a 2in wide cylinder with a rod that will be able to push the material toward the mold..

[@JohnSL]

I do. Because this is a hobby for me, I'm not fast. You can contact me by going to the following page and clicking the *View Email Address* button: www.youtube.com/@JohnSL/about

[@dumbcat]

that looks like a pretty cool plastic injection machine he has. can anyone tell me what the make and model is? thanks

[@marc-antoinethebeautiful7714]

Has a machinist it is very inspiring for making mold making.

[@mickjagger8621]

Hey, can you post a (affiliate) link to your “low temp TPE”??? Did not know that existed and can’t find it

[@Batmandarkknight.]

Hey do you make embossing dies I need a die that has fine line like lenticular .

[@animex5252]

What is this machine you are using? Thanks and best regards

[@jordanhorst6]

Seems much more cost effective for small batch projects or protyping.

[@JohnSL]

It might be cost effective for very small projects--assuming the mold doesn't break down. But for prototyping, absolutely.