To mold or not to mold...help is appreciated

[JayB14]

Hey everyone. New to this forum. I recently started my own firearms accessories business. And I am looking for help from someone experienced in injection molding. My engineer hit a snag. We were primed to pull the trigger on the mold and decided to have one more round of 3d prints produced. The engineer was unhappy with a small thing and made a couple tweaks. Now the part seems to crack. Could we have reached the strength limit of the 3d print material and if we produce the product it will be fine or did he create a stress point now. The mold is $80k so big risk...

 

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[Vadim26]

Hey everyone. New to this forum. I recently started my own firearms accessories business. And I am looking for help from someone experienced in injection molding. My engineer hit a snag. We were primed to pull the trigger on the mold and decided to have one more round of 3d prints produced. The engineer was unhappy with a small thing and made a couple tweaks. Now the part seems to crack. Could we have reached the strength limit of the 3d print material and if we produce the product it will be fine or did he create a stress point now. The mold is $80k so big risk...

I don’t know what your part is, how complicated it is or what it’s made from, but here’s my idea.

Have the part itself machined, and use it for your testing and getting feedback.

It might seem like a waste of money paying for this machining just to get 1 part, but you can get what you want for much less than $80k, and decide if injection moulds are worth pursuing.

 

[JayB14]

I don’t know what your part is, how complicated it is and what it’s made from, but here’s my idea.

Have the part machined, and use it for your testing and getting feedback.

It will be be a waste of money paying for this machining just to get 1 part, but you can get what you want for much less than $80k, and decide if having injection mold plates is worth creating.

Thanks for the reply. We are essentially creating a polymer part as a metal alternative. We can easily create a metal one that works, but cost would be much higher ($10-$15 per) vs a polymer one, which will cost us $3-$5.

 

[jackBruh]

Impossible for us to help without numbers or details. Materials, dimensions, thicknesses, use case, 3d printing process etc. Ask your engineer, or if they don't know then seek a manufacturing engineer experienced with polymers. A consulting call with the right person will give you the answers you seek and save you time and money

 

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[Kid]

Have a look at Fiber™
The system is costly to buy so maybe you would find someone that has one and ask him to print.
It uses "Continuous carbon fiber or fiberglass tape" in filament and claims to be stronger than steel.

Not sure how small a part you want is and how small this 3d printer can produce but its something to check.

 

[Sethamus]

The engineer should be telling you where the stress points are. Modeling allows you to replicate the forces being exerted on it. Now if you are unsure what/where the forces are coming from then that is a different problem. As Jack mentioned there are many variables, so maybe doing something like @Kid mentioned is an option if the price is lower than metal.