DIY automatic injection moulding machine finished

The machine can now run automatically and unattended. If it encounters a problem it will stop. Still some finishing touches needed and I plan to make the software more sophisticated, at the moment it just runs in 'terminal' mode, I plan to add profiles for different moulds and have more control over the injection cycle.

[@smfdphil]

As a person who runs a injection molding company I am impressed. Not bad work

[@apieridgmail1515]

This is the Nicest Injection molding DIY machine I have seen on the net in my entire career. I've been an injection molder for 15 years.

[@ethedona]

Wow, the noises it makes are great, it would be right at home in a big factory. I've been following this project and it has turned out great.

[@AndysMachines]

Apart from the air compressor, which always kicks in when I'm not expecting it!

[@tomcatmeow69]

@@AndysMachines perhaps design a hydraulic motor into it to cut the compressor noise out. Good design though . I'm a wire harness manufacturer in Canada and I'm looking into overmolding on wires to make power cords for the North American commercial consumer market so I need a vertically opposed machine.

[@AndysMachines]

Or I could just buy a silent compressor! It's usually not a problem, except when I'm trying to video the machine and the compressor kicks in unexpectedly 😖

[@tombirge8632]

That's a damn fine piece of engineering sir.

[@AndysMachines]

Well thank you!

[@chrishayes5755]

easily the most impressive home injection molding system I've seen.

[@chrishayes5755]

btw make sure you tell people to sub to your channel. you'd be surprised how much effect that has.

[@720SLR]

Just tonight I found your channel, and can't stop watching your video , you are genius and joyful 👍❤ well done and keep going 👏 👍

[@gnatsum64]

I used to work for a company that did injection molding, and more recently I've gotten into 3D printing and CNC. I'm really fascinated with home garage maker tech, whether that is computer programing, playing with Arduinos, or building machines like this one. Having been around the big injection molds, I never really thought something like this might be possible. Thanks, and keep up the good work!!

[@wahabfiles6260]

"no audrinos here, just microcontrollers programmed in assembly" HOLY MOLY!

[@ray-charc3131]

I do like and used to use micro-controller in the application in this types of diy machines, coding in C and eariler in assembly. But ardrinuo is popular nowadays and readily and easily available, you can't avoid to use it. I did as well

[@dfn808]

I spend waaaay too time on here watching talented people do their thing, but it's worth it :). Awesome!

[@adinshankar7549]

conglomerating all electronics is not an easy task. Nice. Really a brilliant work of yours.

[@AlexanderDiraviam]

I have to say I have loved watching this series, and it will help me a lot with getting my products closer to mass production. You are a brilliant engineer!

[@sammayersvarczkopf2108]

the amount of knowledge and expertise that went into this series is truly mind boggling. incredible machine, can’t wait to see what else you make with it

[@tanello2]

As a person who doesnt run a injection molding company I am impressed. Not bad work

[@MuellerNick]

Very nice work! You paid a lot of attention to details as it seems. I'm quite impressed! I have been tinkering for years to build an injection molding machine. Your's is a great inspiration and pattern to start with. The only thing I would like to add is a feeder screw. This would help to more evenly heat the plastic. I see that you have put quite some effort into the nozzle to solve this problem. But my gutt feeling is, that the time the molten plastic travels through it is too short. But that's only a guess!

[@RoadRunnerMeep]

Awesome work, this is why I like DIY. Fabricate something yourself, the best thing about injection moulding is as long as you have the right mould you can make pretty much what you want

[@AndysMachines]

Thanks! Yes, and making the mould itself is a whole other area!

[@serafincastilla]

I've been waiting for this for centuries. I'm so happy to see it working properly

[@noviceartisan]

Wow, looks fantastically well designed! Love your DIY optical encoder for the plunger feed speed xD

[@l3d-3dmaker58]

you're programming this IN ASSEMBLY? omfg you're literally a magician lol, that's insane!

[@AndysMachines]

Not really, this is quite straightforward, just some maths for the PID routines for the heaters really, the display I'm using even has it's own character set so I don't have to program every letter byte by byte.

[@iliakuryakin]

@@AndysMachines can you write Rollercoaster Tycoon next?

[@AndysMachines]

@Ilia R I'll give that a miss thanks! 😁

[@MegaChekov]

Well done you must have a nice garden shed all the best to you and yours from John in Texas

[@tentandoumcover]

Awesome project, greetings from Brazil!

[@RedstoneClockworker]

I honestly wish I had this. I worked in an injection molding factory and I enjoy learning about the process. It did make me hate plastic more than I used to but this is a great way of recycling.

[@skostasx]

Your design is great. Congratulations grand master!

[@Johandyman]

I literally just watched the other injection molding videos on your channel and was sad there was no follow-up :D Talk about perfect timing! Love your solutions btw, great stuff!!

[@AndysMachines]

You turned up at just the right time!

[@arslanraja6793]

I have to be born again to DIY this . So cool.

[@azurehydra]

THAT IS SOOOO BADASS!!!! Freaking amazing work! Sounds great too!

[@angrygnome4779]

Must be an engineer. Nice job.

[@snozcocram]

Absolutely an impressive mechanical device. Next, an automated trimming and stacking delivery system.

[@haydenc2742]

Very very very cool! You so need to build you a silent air compressor out of an old fridge or AC compressor...not as much CFM, but if done right practically silent and can compress several hundred PSI with ease! Man I want one of those buttons :) Excellent design and build! Keep em coming!!!!

[@AndysMachines]

Thanks! Good suggestion about the air compressor. I actually do have a small one I built from a fridge compressor, but it can no way keep up with the injection moulder! I would probably need 2 or 3 of the biggest fridge compressors I could find, for now I'll just live with the noise of the regular air compressor. I actually did try selling some buttons on etsy (incognito), but nobody was interested 😥

[@fjs1111]

Really cool Andy.. I stopped using ASM except for when I have to do timing precise or optimizing of operations, everything else use a C or BASIC compiler for PICs. These days time is limited but still very valuable to know.

[@mnowak3340]

Nice work !!! I am CNC freak, Your machine is great !!! Respect You did not use Arduino, I use USBAsp programmer without Arduino bootloader (code in C) too. Great work !!!

[@douglaspierce7031]

this is a totally badass build!

[@살기좋은세상-m8b]

DIY molding machine! That is very amazing Your machine looks very cute even though its real exterior is not so modernized!

[@integratedstm]

I manufacture injection moulding Machine ... I couldn't make this in my back yard .. in my factory yes... My compliments

[@EmperorAst]

Very nice machine and presentation. PSUs from computers are my go to for powering electronics; all sorts of voltages to play with! Good to see I'm not the only using them for machines. I also like the concept of mold-in-mold (more visible in the previous video) but forgot to mention it; quick change to another mold. And of course, sensors everywhere. The more data the better the machine will know how and what it's doing! Great work.

[@AndysMachines]

Yes, I always save old PSUs. Even broken ones have useful parts in them, fans, capacitors, heatsinks etc.

[@bradselph6463]

I can't wait to see some more videos!!!! This video has driven me to design and start building a machine for my shop. Keep up the great work bud!!!!

[@PreciousPlasticMelbourne]

Good to see it finished! Really nice features 🤩

[@botbite]

Great job, beautiful machine. If you had time it would be awesome to have a video of the machine just cycling through it's process a few times with the focus on different parts of the machine. For example one shot would be just the clamping mechanism clamping and unclamping a few time, so we could fully appreciate it's movement and construction. Thanks again for sharing your project with us.

[@reforgedcriterion1471]

I am seriously inspired! It also shows that you don't need no $20,000 die to get the job done. I have hopes for building a cnc mill out of 3d printer parts yet! For molds anyway, and then I'm sure I could build the rest with my smithy.

[@AndysMachines]

Yes, you can often get very good results doing things simply, it just takes longer. Simple moulds don't even need a CNC machine, I've milled them with a manual mill, or circular shapes you can turn on a lathe and get a better surface finish than you would with a CNC mill. I converted a small bench-top mill to CNC for more complex stuff, but I see people using cnc routers built from aluminium extrusion doing very accurate work.

[@reforgedcriterion1471]

@@AndysMachines I'm sold. I've been looking at those 3018 cnc routers on amazon, they apparently get the job done, but require upgrades to work flawlessly. Apparently the stock router only runs at 1000 rpm

[@AndysMachines]

I've never used one of these types of cnc routers, though they are probably comparable to the first diy cnc machines I ever built (though probably more accurate than mine).You will want to take light cuts with small cutters, and for that you need a high speed spindle, 24-30k rpm, and for cutting aluminium you will need coolant, WD40 works well.

[@lazguevara151]

I dint think there is another channel I find myself coming back to more than yours, im looking for that terminator fix!

[@metzindustries3235]

Love the design. Giving me some ideas to use on my machine with the auger feed

[@ActionBOX]

I am quite impressed with this machine. What would you guess is the total weight?

[@AndysMachines]

Maybe around 50Kg for the machine itself, a bit more for the stand and other parts.

[@kee.1984]

What a great design! I espacially like, that you use a Piston mechanism for injection instead of the usual injection screw. This should really help when using irregular shaped recycled material which tends to feed badly in screw mechanisms as far as I heard.

[@miszcz310]

This is really inspirational, thank you for sharing your efforts.

[@husubaba7586]

Buy or DIY??? I'm just starting my research and this is the question on my mind. I want to produce a product that is roughly 5cm x 5cm x 10cm in size. If the business is successful, the annual production volume could be high, but for now the future is uncertain. I think I can do something like what you did in the video with a lot of research and effort (and I can also get support from you through comments during this process). I have very little knowledge of plastic injection molding and I don't know what criteria to use to evaluate the pros and cons for the "Buy Or DIY" question. I read that you review comments even for old videos, so I hope you will read this one and find it worth responding to. Thank you.

[@AndysMachines]

I review every single comment! If you are mechanically inclined and already have some machine tools (or access to them) I would DIY. You can also often buy, quite cheaply, old machines that require only a little work to get them running. But first you need to understand/learn what's involved in producing what you want to make, so you need to do a lot of reading followed by some experimentation. Be prepared for some failure and disappointment along the way!

[@husubaba7586]

@@AndysMachines I think I'll do it. I'm trying to concentrate on research right now. Thanks for responding. If I get stuck, I can write below this comment and ask for your help.

[@Bigredkarl]

Very good and instead of a plunger use a screw the screw compression of the plastic will create most of the melting heat needed

[@AndysMachines]

I did try a 3 stage compression screw in my previous machine, but couldn't get it to work reliably. That's why I went with the more simple plunger.

[@daviddaddy]

Incredible! Beautiful work! I really want a couple of those giant buttons!!! Seriously send me some please! Lol.

[@deshorin3710]

Waw, salute for this job, applause for you sir

[@ray-charc3131]

2 tons clamping force, watch out the safety, safety measure is necessary. It all goes automatically, you are superior ! Especially, you know to use toggle mechanism to increase the required force. If you can use larger pneumatic cylinder, higher injection pressure can attain, then bigger parts or parts of more complicated shape can be injection moulded

[@MakenModify]

What a great project! I've built a manual machine but this is a completely different level. Might have to try to built a fully automated one too. Very inspiring ;)

[@Sky-nl9cu]

I liked your design, more optimal than others, where the screw is pressed. But why didn't you put the pneumatic cylinder on the matrix closing? It would be a complete beauty!

[@pierke110]

Andy, you have make a really nice mechanical, pneumatic, electronic machine. Thumps up!

[@DFEUERMAN]

Incredible! To help with ejection, you might want to add a spinning nylon bristle-brush positioned by the sprue

[@robsciuk729]

Well done! Can you comment on the fact that you used a linear actuator to clamp the mold, and a pneumatic actuator to press the plastic? Why not use the same mech for both?

[@AndysMachines]

Good question! The injection really needs both the force and speed of pneumatics, I could have used air to actuate the toggle clamp as well, but I prefer the greater control over speed and positioning that an electric linear actuator gives. Also I didn't have a suitable pneumatic cylinder for the clamp, but I did have an old treadmill motor and some parts to build a linear actuator.

[@kompittu-restaurant]

Please give full tutorial on this. Brilliant work.

[@MegaCadr]

Any videos of making molds? Great result, btw.

[@JanTuts]

I definitely don't need it, but I definitely do want one...

[@geoffcrumblin7505]

Amazing home built machine.

[@leec2106]

I worked in injection molding off and on for years before I retired, I was skeptical that you would not get the pressure you would need. I am very glad I was wrong. I ran a machine that was a top feed like yours is, but it did have a screw drive like the horizontals you see most places today. Maybe you know this but dry your plastics, water in the plastic will cause you all kinds of headaches. So far I am very impressed, I look forward to seeing your next video. What is your max mold insert size of your carrier? It looks to be around 3.2 inch by 3.2 inch and 3/4 inch thick or 80 mm by 80 mm by 20 mm thick per side or overall 40 mm thick. Should be good-sized mold for a lot of things.

[@AndysMachines]

You're right, the pressures are a lot lower than industrial machines, with the current barrel I can get a maximum pressure of around 2500psi though I can still get good results at a lot less. Yes, I know about moisture in the plastic, thanks. The maximum size mould I can use is 100mm x 100mm (4in square). The ones I am using in the video are 20mm thick per side, but I can increase this by moving the clamp plattens outwards and can go up to approx 100mm total thickness.

[@TheMadMagician87]

Very nice work, well done! What do you intend to use it for? As I understand these things, the hardest and most expensive part of this (in the long run) is the production and maintenance of the mould(s). How do you plan to make mould(s), particularly if they need coolant channels or some such? I'm guessing you can't just cast and machine a mould due to porosity and the pressure exerted on the mould in operation, so presumably you either have to forge and machine or just machine them from bought stock? Irrespective, very good work on the machine, quite a cross disciplinary set of knowledge required to build that!

[@AndysMachines]

Thanks! I use for making small plastic parts of a few grams. I machine the moulds from aluminium either manually or on my small CNC. As the parts are small I haven't yet needed to add cooling, in fact I have to preheat the moulds to bring them to working temperature.

[@SerendipitySue]

Is there a pressure sensor on the piston? What is the maximum force for injection piston? You said the clamp can do 5 tons.

[@AndysMachines]

No pressure sensor on the piston, the pressure is adjusted by adjusting the air pressure with a regulator. The maximum pressure it can inject plastic at is 3000psi.

[@siriusleto3758]

Great project

[@koatlsin]

This person is awesome .

[@jaimebarragan5606]

BRAVO ! super machine !

[@JustSterugglin]

Nice work! The stuff I build is never this advanced. To much thinking for me to add sensors and computers. Lol Hope you can sell lots of buttons.

[@AndysMachines]

Stuff I build is often too advanced and just becomes a headache! The buttons are more of a test, just a simple object I can use to get the machine dialled in, wasn't really planning on selling them but I guess they are interesting.

[@santoshbhatkar7867]

Excellent work. Love to see more machinnes and products...

[@BrianCSC]

First of all, an excellent machine, I have followed this project for a long time and what a great development you have achieved. Segundo wanted to know if you are thinking of sharing the plans of this machine or the sketches that you have generated in the design process, it would be very useful for the people who want to make one of these.

[@AndysMachines]

Thanks! Yes, I do have some plans for the machine on my Patreon, but it's not a complete guide on how to build one from scratch. I think the best you can take from my builds is inspiration and a few snippets of important information, but I can't teach an absolute beginner to build a finished machine. Then again, if you want to build something like this, you probably already have the skills necessary and a good idea of what's involved.

[@gulfumimdad44]

Sir please make a video who can we fit the sensor on injection molding machine completely

[@gwheyduke]

Really nice work. I have been thinking about building a similar sized injection machine for small aluminum parts. Maybe heat the aluminum seperately then pour it in on "shot" at a time. I think the injection tube and mold would need to be pretty hot, perhaps heated with a propane gas flame.

[@AndysMachines]

That sounds more like aluminium die casting, yes I think it would work, the injection part would definitely need to be hot, the mould not necessarily as hot. If you haven't already seen it, check out Olfoundryman's gravity die-casting videos here on KZbin.

[@krunalpilojpara6009]

Hi sir, i am plastic engineer by profession & i am working as shift engineer at injection molding plant. I am totally amazed by your work. Hats off to you 👏👍👌 Can you answer that how much it cost to you ? Also i need plans to build one working model for me if it is possible.

[@raufrauf1030]

Thanks for sharing

[@julias-shed]

That's excellent. But why do you need so many buttons? 🤔😃

[@AndysMachines]

Because I'm not very good at sewing them on 😕

[@chuxxsss]

Looks like your optical sensor are out of a photocopier? Lot of hard work in that design.

[@AndysMachines]

Yes, they are standard optical switches I recycled, probably from an old printer. I always save parts like this for re-use.

[@mrsiddique9286]

Good work 😊

[@Lopkanato]

Hi I'm very impressed with your project well done, how much does it cost to build machine like that and what skills would you need to complete such a project like that thank you

[@AndysMachines]

I actually built it quite cheaply as I used mostly things I had to hand and didn't need to buy many components. Though I suppose this way does take longer and requires more fabrication skills.

[@otismelvin6551]

At the 4:35 time stamp you added a compressor. What is the purpose of the compressor or being used for? Is it to give added clamp force pressure while pressing? Or is it to create a vacuum environment in the heated chamber to remove air bubbles from the plastic before pressing to create more accurate parts?

[@AndysMachines]

The compressor just provides air for the pneumatic ram that injects the plastic. I said *air compressor* at the moment the compressor started running as it's quite a loud sound on the audio. The compressor runs every few minutes to top up it's air tank whenever the pressure drops.

[@ericlotze7724]

How fast can is "cycle" (i don't know the right word) with the buttons it seems around every 15 secs or so?

[@AndysMachines]

It depends on the size of the part and how long the injection takes, with this size part it's around 15-20 seconds, but then after 3-4 parts it needs to stop to reheat the new plastic that was added to the barrel (barrel cools down). The next thing I'm going to try is adding an extra heating delay of 10-15 seconds after each part and see if it will cycle continuously. One or two moulded parts per minute is plenty for me.

[@MrThomBeck]

Cycle is the right word, Eric

[@alexchiosso221]

Wow! This machine architecture is quite distinctive and amazing. What you did with the micro controller is amazing too no question at all. I've worked while ago in the electronic retrofit of injection moulding machines and I've to say that you did something crazy good. The toggle clamp architecture for the open/close movement is very original designed but effective. The injection encoder in quadrature configuration is genial. The plasticizing area for the material seems to be short related to the size of the material feed. Have you tried with a different granularity size and a different injection speed? Sorry for the question I'm just curious. :-) Thank you so much for this piece of top level DIY engineering.

[@AndysMachines]

Yes, I've tried with many different variables. Originally I wanted it to use recycled shredded flakes (quite large and irregular) and though I did finally get it to work acceptably, it does work much better with pellets but really needs a smaller feed auger for these.

[@alexchiosso221]

@@AndysMachines Hi Andy. Have you tried to use a weighing system to feed the material? Maybe in this way you don't need a screw to feed. You can weigh the material and download it to the infeed hole [the material weight is related to the quantity you need to inject].

[@blackwizardgaming4311]

hey nice machine you made there but how much did it actually cost and how do you make the moulds, am thinking of building one myself but i'm just not sure yet

[@AndysMachines]

It didn't actually cost a great deal as I made almost all of the components myself so only had to buy the raw materials (steel tubes etc.) I also used whatever found/repurposed items I had already (car window motor, dead treadmill). It did take a long time to build though. Thebutton mould in the video is quite simple and I turned and milled it manually, more complex ones need making with a CNC machine.

[@blackwizardgaming4311]

@@AndysMachines that's a good thing to hear do you by any chance have some cad files or a build guide on paper I can follow?

[@AndysMachines]

I do have some cad files for the clamping mechanism on my Patreon, that's one of the more critical parts. The rest I didn't actually draw as it kind of evolved as I built it.

[@wildniscamper7276]

holy shit! this is dope! mechanik and software AND you did it in real c direct on an mct.. awesome job! how long did it take you to get to that point?

[@AndysMachines]

Not Even C, it was all programmed in assembly. This was about my 3rd attempt to build this machine over a period of several years (in between other projects).

[@wildniscamper7276]

@@AndysMachines right on! did that stuff in school... way toooooo much work to get things to run in assambler.. bitshifting and masking ports and stuff is cool but so much work...

[@tinmanx2222]

Excellent video series. Are you going to publish plans?

[@AndysMachines]

I have some plans on Patreon, but not the complete machine, just the main clamping section. The design of the other mechanical parts can be varied to suit your own needs.

[@GuardianLords]

Its a bit too slow for production, but it looks pretty cool. The part detection is neat. How much did it cost to make and how long? How many parts per hour? (specifically the button)

[@AndysMachines]

Yes, it's not really intended to be a production machine, otherwise I would have built it to use commercial pellets rather than shredded household plastics. It didn't cost a lot to build as I constructed most of the parts myself and used components I either already had or bought used. The only new parts I bought were the heater bands, some of the steel and some electronic components. As for parts per hour, the large buttons in this video, which are 12g each, it will do around 100-150 per hour (assuming no interruptions). Smaller objects it will do faster, but not much more than 200 per hour max.

[@ericlotze7724]

Ya did it!

[@ericlotze7724]

I'm going to go post this on "Precious Plastic" 's discord channel, they'l love this i bet.

[@AndysMachines]

I did take a look at their discord channel a while back (via an invite) but it doesn't seem to work for me now, not sure why.

[@ericlotze7724]

@@AndysMachines they renamed for some goofy rebranding type thing (still same content+people) discord.gg/x5ueSMAp tell me if that link works; they can expire i think for security?

[@AndysMachines]

I click on 'accept invite' and just get a blank grey screen with bubbles floating around, which is what happened before. Maybe I need to register properly for Discord now. Yes, I know about the 'One Army' thing.

[@ericlotze7724]

@@AndysMachines ah ok, yeah you do need an account i think.

[@marianomontiel]

Amazing!!! Very well made. Would love to make one for much much larger pieces. How much did it cost to make?

[@askquestionstrythings]

beautiful, just beautiful

[@th3engineer]

Just fantastic. Can you show the clamping mechanism in your next video?

[@AndysMachines]

The clamp is shown in more detail in the first video in this series: kzbin.info/www/bejne/jXSop52ImdCdqLc

[@excitedbox5705]

That is really cool. Does the injection nozzle have a valve to build pressure or is it purely plunger controlled?

[@AndysMachines]

The nozzle does have a valve but only to stop the plastic leaking out when the barrel is in the up position. There is only pressure inside when the plunger pushes down on it.

[@mytube1000javed]

Wow great achievement. Where are the plans or blueprint to make one?

[@AndysMachines]

I do have plans for the clamping mechanism on my Patreon. I haven't produced any other plans as the design changed and evolved as I was building it.

[@beanboy504]

@@AndysMachines If you ever get around to finishing the plans I would be extremely interested! Definitely worth joining Patreon for! You could release each part of the machine as a separate design and spread it out over a few months.

[@AndysMachines]

I'm still experimenting with the machine and may make further small changes. I released plans of the clamping mechanism as I felt that was complete and I couldn't improve on it further. Most of the other parts I've built I've had to modify or change in some way and I don't want to release further designs until it's thoroughly tested and proven.

[@beanboy504]

@@AndysMachines Sounds like you want to be very proud of any plants you put out, I can definitely respect that. Looking forward to seeing more!

[@backyardcnc]

awesome work! wish I had the time and drive to duplicate it!

[@SlattFpv]

Love your work !

[@aleethanone6904]

awesome! i dream of making stuff like this.

[@treeman0013]

I'm wondering if you are planning on making a kit, instructions, a tutorial, or selling this type of machine in the future?

[@AndysMachines]

I don't really make and sell kits or complete machines. I do have some plans for the main part of this machine on Patreon, but I think the best you can take away is ideas from my videos.

[@stefandebruijn3167]

Hmm. Just wondering - how do you measure the clamping force? Load cells? Where?

[@AndysMachines]

I measure the stretch in the two main bars using the digital dial indicator you can see at 1:28

[@stefandebruijn3167]

Oh that's not what I expected at all. I noticed the dial gauge earlier and did a bit of math. Why did you go decide to go with a dial gauge like this and not just a simple cylindrical load sensor? If you use a two of them you can even check if the two screws are equally stretched?

[@AndysMachines]

I did consider a load cell, but the dial indicator was just easier. Knowing the cross section and length of the bars it's easy to calculate the load from the deflection (that's how I calibrated the clamp when I built it) and digital dial indicators output serial data that is easy to read with a microcontroller. A properly sized load cell would probably give a reading with much more resolution but ones that directly measure even hundreds of Kg (not tonnes) are very expensive. So I would have probably used a smaller one with some sort of lever arrangement - and then I'd need a dial indicator to calibrate it! (Then again I could also add a lever mechanism to the current dial indicator to get more resolution).

[@The_Foolish_Fool]

This is an old video, so I may not get a response, but could you not have just used another air cylinder on the mold clamping part instead of the motor?

[@AndysMachines]

I read every comment, even on older videos! I'm sure I've answered this before, yes an air cylinder would have worked and would have been quite easy as I'm already using compressed air, but the electric motor allows me better control of the speed and position of the clamp which is useful eg. for ejecting parts.

[@The_Foolish_Fool]

@@AndysMachines I see, thank you for the response.

[@mehmetgul8686]

incredible

[@ShamoyRahman]

Make a Patreon, we would love to support your work. Also, please open-source some parts of the design for us or please work on a small open source manual injection molding machine so we can build some ourselves.

[@AndysMachines]

I already have Patreon (link at end of video) and I have some of the designs for this machine on there, and also a CAD drawing of my manual injection moulding machine in one of my other videos.

[@ShamoyRahman]

@@AndysMachines Yeah I tend to skip through videos a lot. Patreon link in comments would get you a lot more subscribers. And I'll check those out.

[@shootermcgavin3858]

Man o man this is awesome! Are you making this open source? I want to get started on one right away. I have a case design that I am 3d printing but want to DIY injection mould, and this automated machine is perfect. Amazing work! WOW!!

[@AndysMachines]

Thanks! I don't really do 'open source' This project is too complicated for me to produce all the plans for somebody else to be able to recreate it from scratch. I think the best you can do is take inspiration and a few key details from my builds. I do have some plans and CAD models on Patreon for this machine, but just the clamping section/mould. The rest you can build to suit your own use and of course you don't need to make it fully automatic.

[@gerixxx1]

This is crazy good, very nice!!

[@mihailucian409]

no offense but i did not understand the statement "no arduinos here,just microcontroller programmed in Asm". First of all arduino it's not a microcontroller. The Arduino Board uses a way higher level of technology during manufacturing proces if you compare with your made at home in the backyard boards and thrown in an old computer case.The period when the board were made using FeCl has passed. you could have done all that with an arduino nano and a HX711 24bits analog to digital converter using a much smaller space. with arduino you could have use a 7" display with touch screen to design your own buttons so it's way supperior. But...your CPU seems to be ATmega328P which might have been programmed in arduino IDE removed from the socket and installed on your board. If it's not so,please tell me what microcontroller have you used? Congrats on the time spend for doing this.Cheers!

[@AndysMachines]

Yes, you're right. Arduino is the 'easy' way, but not necessarily the best. I haven't used any pre-made boards programmed in arduino IDE using libraries written by somebody else. I've soldered and coded everything myself, every byte of every routine written in assembly language. I'm using the same processor as an arduino and I know the way I do it takes much longer and is more work, but I like to understand and be in control of everything that's going on at the lowest level, this gives me much more flexibility. I've looked at .hex code produced by the arduino IDE and it's really poorly optimised, I can write the same thing using a fraction of the space and it will run much faster, the only way to do that is to code it in assembly. Check out my EDM project where I've used a 3.5" colour LCD screen. I've seen this same screen used with arduinos (in fact the screen is designed for arduino use). My screen updates the display much faster and I'm only running the atmega at 8MHz, not 16MHz that arduinos run at.

[@mihailucian409]

There are cases when datasheet and Assembly is the way to go i agree,but for your specific situation it would have been easier the way i told you. I want to make a point atmega328P,atmega2560 are extremly underrated. they offer you infinite posibilities at low cost. By the way,if you want speed you have some shortcuts in Arduino IDE,pins cand be accesed by their address also.I saw vectorial control of AC motors by generating 3 phase sinewaves and works well.

[@AndysMachines]

Completely agree, they are very underrated. People often assume they need to use a raspberry pi with several shields when a single microcontroller would be more than capable and actually faster, more reliable and better in many other ways.

[@bt2u4u]

Are you planning to use or sell this machine? We're a small enterprise looking for a an injection molding machine using recycled plastics. The precious plastics machines are ok but they're not very productive.

[@AndysMachines]

I built this machine for my own use. Yes I'm aware of the Precious Plastic machines, they are basic but they are designed to be built by anyone with cheap materials that can be found anywhere.

[@gregwmanning]

Impressive