8 Injection Molds in 12 Days--Lessons Learned

A viewer asked me if I could make 8 injection molds in less than two weeks. And these were pretty complicated molds that needed to use some small, long end mills. It was quite the challenge, and I learned a lot.
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[@jdepew]

I commissioned this project. John went above and beyond. If you need some short-run molds made, call him! - Thank you John!

[@BasicFolders]

This is VERY cool to know... thanks for commenting! It's nice to have a small run project go to someone who's abilities you trust. 👍

[@JohnSL]

I neglected to add that Jack was very practical and good to work with.

[@waywardmedia4491]

Are you injecting the moulds yourself?

[@jdepew]

@@waywardmedia4491 Yes!

[@jacobrybov4719]

Hos much polishing was done to the moulds you Got from John to the finishen parts in the video?

[@dass1333]

On the twelfth day milling my cnc made for me. Eight finished molds. Seven draft revisions. Six metric conversions. Five tool holder collisions. Four side indications. Three microscopic things.... Two odd shape holes And part that a one thirty seconds needs.

[@JohnSL]

That's the best comment ever to one of my videos! My wife and I really got a good laugh out of that. Thank you.

[@dass1333]

@@JohnSL your very welcome. Hope you had a great Christmas.

[@brianharris9420]

Great video, love seeing this type of content. Thanks!

[@JohnSL]

Glad you enjoyed it!

[@marcosquagliardi8667]

Thanks for sharing !

[@arthurrowland9626]

Really useful to learn from your experience, as always 👍

[@JohnSL]

Many thanks!

[@timthetoolman11460]

I enjoyed your video John, I am strictly a mold maker by trade, I design and build beginning to end, it is a very challenging career for sure, and I love the feeling of accomplishment after each mold :)

[@JohnSL]

Thank you. I'm still have so much to learn about mold making, but it's been a fun ride so far.

[@roylucas1027]

Great video John. Success in 2021.

[@JohnSL]

Happy new year!

[@bigbird2100]

Great video 👍 John That was a baptism of machining and cad a level head was used and came through.

[@JohnSL]

It certainly felt like that.

[@aracalibasi2047]

Very nice work, I enjoy watching it.

[@JohnSL]

Thank you. Glad you enjoyed it!

[@3dfabrication]

Thanks John really useful lessons

[@JohnSL]

My pleasure!

[@darranedmundson1505]

Another excellent video John. Re the mismatch between the tool number in Fusion CAM and your Haas controller, I wonder if there's a way of automating a sanity check? There's a fair amount of meta information in both tool tables that could presumably be compared. If you could automagically pull the tool table from the Haas, you could probably write a Fusion add-in to do a consistency check.

[@JohnSL]

True. I don't know if that's possible. I've been trying to get my Haas connected to ethernet, as I have that option. But so far haven't had any luck. But I believe that will only allow me to transfer files.

[@capnthepeafarmer]

One of the things I do to keep my tool stick outs standardized is to use an adjustable stop-lok set to either 1.25" or 0.75". That way when I setup a tool in fusion I know the stick out will be 1.25" or 0.75", and when I actually mount the tool I have a repeatable stop. However, those stop-loks are pretty scarce these days.

[@JohnSL]

I find that measuring the tool offset when I'm not taking video is pretty fast. And it's probably accurate to within a few ten thousands of an inch. It takes a lot longer to change out the tool than to measure it.

[@jonnyhifi]

Another fascinating video john - ty ! I must away to bed as it’s late here in the UK but will be watching the end part with great interest tomorrow - as I have just this problem for a part I wish to make a mold for - in anticipation I know I need to “go deep” with a small radius tool - which has been terrifying me in anticipation, and I’ve been scouring the web for help with “‘micro machining” as these small bits seem to be called. I believe minimising runout is critical to tool life for small tools ...?

[@JohnSL]

I have some content I didn't put into this video that is relevant to micro machining. That's a good idea for my next video, so I'll start to work on that content. Basically, you want to run at the highest RPM you can. And then the second most important thing is to minimize deflection (from side loads). I use G-Wizard to calculate feeds and speeds.

[@jdepew]

@@JohnSL Does minimizing deflection entail a pecking strategy? A slow feed rate? Both?

[@jonnyhifi]

@@JohnSL ty john ! Micro machining esp with deep long bits seems to be a recurring potential problem for molds, at least for parts that have brought me to buying a cnc mill to learn to mill, to learn to make my own molds :) esp if the item has a complex. Shape with a wall which has a “thin” aspect ratio (if that makes sense?) which seems inevitable if one’s got a wall thickness dictated by the limitations of the molding process, (I’m thinking - say 1mm thick and like a shell) yet needs some depth and has a few sharp “left and right” 90 degree turns , which leads to thin meandering pockets that will be difficult to get into with machining mills. I’d love to see your thoughts : experiences/ advice on tackling this and how far you’ve been able to successfully push 10:1 or more aspect ratio esp small (absolute) diameter tools .... keep up the good work and long may you enjoy your high level hobby!

[@MrCcfly]

it's nice to have hass vs homemade cnc i see :) wonder how many days u need to do this on old cnc ?

[@JohnSL]

It depends on the machine, spindle, and rigidity. But certainly longer. I made quite a few molds on a Taig CNC that was far less rigid and had a lot less power. And, perhaps most importantly, it didn't have a tool changer. I find that the tool changer is the biggest advantage because I don't have to keep changing the tools myself.

[@nickp4793]

Awesome job! Is there an EDM in your future? ;)

[@MrCcfly]

edm dont like alu molds how i read :)

[@JohnSL]

I almost bought one, but decided I already had too many projects.

[@JohnSL]

Good thing I didn't buy a used one that I looked at :-). But I'm curious, what is the issue with EDM and aluminum? With what little I know (which is very little), I thought it just had to be conductive.

[@FrenziedFruitcake]

That's quite the ambitious undertaking, hats off to you. One thought i had: could you have used a bull nose endmill for example 1/8 inch with the desired 1/64 corner radius on the corners? Maybe i missed something but i didn't see why you needed to use such tiny ball nose tools.

[@JohnSL]

There are several reasons I didn't use a bull nose end mill. First, and most important, I didn't think of it. It would certainly have worked in some cases. Second, they weren't an option from the company where I ordered my end mills. I've just done a quick search on mscdirect, and didn't see anything close to long enough. So I suspect it would be a custom order.

[@elanman608]

@@JohnSL Mcmaster car do radiused end mills with your origional 20thou radius in solid carbide @ 1/8. 3/16 and 1/4 straight shank center cutting. It's always worth having various supplier catalogues arround and buy the odd item to keep your name on their database.

[@fastlaneinnovations9344]

How wide is the channel? You might be able to get a larger flat tool with a corner radius in there.

[@JohnSL]

I haven't been able to find micro end mills (smaller than 1/8" diameter) with a corner radius. The seem to be either flat or ball.

[@brianharris9420]

@@JohnSL Pretty sure Harvey Tool should have just what you're after. Am I missing something? www.harveytool.com/products/miniature-end-mills---corner-radius---stub--standard www.harveytool.com/products/miniature-end-mills---corner-radius---long-reach-standard-flute

[@mrechbreger]

Which material did you use for the tool?

[@JohnSL]

These are aluminum, 6061-T6.

[@Teamkabakal_australia]

Can u share your 3d file so that i can follow

[@JohnSL]

Sorry, I can't, as I don't own the design.

[@Sayzo.]

How can I get in contact with you?

[@JohnSL]

If you go to my KZbin channel and click on the About tab, it will allow you to see my email address. You'll also find a link to me on Facebook

[@David_11111]

I think this one is just outside of my grasp :)

[@David_11111]

yay