Injection Mold Alignment Pins

Injection Mold Alignment Pins for desktop injection molding machines. These small, DIY injection molding machines have much easier to satisfy requirements. However, you want to ensure you keep the mold halves well aligned. I show the different ways I add these alignment pins.
Here are links to the pin and hole liner I used:
Pin: www.mcmaster.c...
Hole Liner: www.mcmaster.c...

[@ericbracamontes2534]

Your videos are extremely helpful. Thank you!

[@clypeum5063]

Nice Progress John! For easy locitet removal you can always heat the loctite up a bit. It will break down and you wont have to hardly punch them out at all. another nice tip is that you can get pins with internal thread. you can then use a slide hammer or a screw to get them out easy. Propper pins are alyways nicer but sometimes there isnt any space to fit the bushings. Greetings from Germany!

[@cskilbeck]

Love these videos, can't wait to see the Arburg in action.

[@wizrom3046]

Try heating the mold halves up in an oven before pressing the pins and bushings in. It will make it really easy. And a drop of lube on those hardened pins and bushings will help. 👍

[@JohnSL]

Yes, I certainly could do that. However, these don't need that much interference fit. I made another mold after this video and reduced the amount of interference, so they were much easier to push into the mold halves. I don't need them to be as tight as I made these.

[@heathenxyt]

Your arbor press handle is adjustable. Take off the ring on the left side and pull the gear out while holding the ram. Adjust to suit.

[@JohnSL]

Thank you! I tried that and it works great. This is actually why I started my channel, to learn from others. I don't know why I didn't figure that out before.

[@HarmanRobotics]

@@JohnSL You can also grind the bottom teeth off the ram, when you want a different handle position lift the ram fully and then the missing teeth give the pinion room to skip teeth so that you can orient the handle however you like.

[@TheBetterRyanKelly]

Cool video! Saw your channel on the MicroMolder group. Ill have to try some of the alignment pins/receivers on the MicroMolder system.

[@JohnSL]

Looking forward to seeing a post from you over there when you do. I've been watching that machine.

[@capnthepeafarmer]

One of my favorite tools for making precision holes is my Iscar ITS boring head. I have a CAT40 machine and I have a BHF MB50-63x87 boring head, it might be a little too big on your machine, so maybe a BHE MB32-32-53 would work for you. But I use my boring head WAY more than I thought I would, I can bore precision holes from 2.5mm all the way to 135mm with 2µm increments. And they are pricey, I bought mine used but it was well worth the investment to get a new level of accuracy for machining operations.

[@JohnSL]

I find that once I figure out the right compensation, I get very consistent results with just using an endmill. Sure, a boring head would be nice. But it might be too large and/or heavy for my tool changer. So I get by with what I have.

[@capnthepeafarmer]

@@JohnSL I think my TM3P tool changer is the same as yours and it can handle some very large tools. But Iscar (I'm biased) makes some very small boring heads like the BHF MB50-50X60 or the BHE or anything that can use the PICCO ACE BH boring head holder. I know I'm just a guy on the internet, but it's one of those tools that in hindsight really upped the precision and capabilities of my CNC machine and was a worthwhile investment.

[@michalsterling]

Very informative. Thank you.

[@jamesstork7462]

Hey John, My name is James. I think you have a really good thing going. It seems you need a set of "'over, under" reamers., You can get a set from Msc direct, reasonably and they will last you forever in aluminum. I think I've had my set for 20 yrs.. .124 thru .501 in a index. They work great.

[@JohnSL]

I have over/under reamers and that's what I used to use all the time. I like using the interpolation and cutter compensation in the mill because it gives me better control. Once I figure out what compensation I need for a hole, I can just enter that into the Fusion 360 CAM and I get consistent results every time. That's what I've been doing with the 1/4" dowel pins, and they come out of the machine every time exactly the way I want. Since this was the first time using these parts, I needed to figure out the right adjustment. I made a mold after this video using the pins and it was perfect.

[@andrewgiles6192]

Look up diamond pins, one bullet nose and one diamond is a great combo 👍

[@JohnSL]

They're on the same McMaster page and I thought about getting some. I'll have to try that in the future.

[@rhokdatroll]

Great video 👍🏻

[@JohnSL]

Thanks 👍

[@mechanismguy]

Love the content! Did you consider using a diamond-head guide pin for the second pin? This would avoid over constraint and might be less sticky to open.

[@DJPLAST2]

Check out “ROYAL PINS”, they offer a full assortment of pins with different diameters and head configurations, the pins should be installed with as much surface in contact to keep the pin straight and the head will not let them come out into the parting line. It can really ruin your day to have a pin end up in the parting line sideways when running in automatic mode, even with low pressure mold protect in place.

[@kokodin5895]

what would happen if you design dome or cone shaped aligment peatures into the part itself? you are making one part c section already so that almost an aligment by itself, but it means you have to remove material anyway so you could spare some for integrated aligment features but would they work or wear out too quickly, not enough accuracy in the mill?

[@David_11111]

yay

[@ploegmma]

You could try to play with cooling the pin and/or heating the mold.

[@JohnSL]

I could. Once I get the compensation dialed in, I get consistent result for the future. And I've reduced the interference so it's very easy now to use my small arbor press to push them in place.

[@dass1333]

Oh yea! Watch ya gonna do about it! Oh ok that works better.

[@jayttcorrea6207]

I love you channel but i hate imperial units 😂😂😂😂

[@JohnSL]

You and me both, actually. I'm trying to ensure my more recent videos always have text on screen to show both units.