A guide to plastic molding

Usually plastic molding refers to a technique called plastic injection molding. This process is deployed in order to create plastic pieces by injecting molten plastic into a metallic mold, which is usually made of steel. After the plastic has cooled down, the mold will be opened. The newly formed plastic part is then released. You could do this yourself, but it is also possible by hiring an injection molding service. Below you can learn more about plastic molding. 

Common uses 

You now essentially know how plastic injection molding works, what can it be used for? Well, injection molding is a great solution for a number of manufacturing challenges. It can be utilized for prototyping, for example. But mass production is possible with the help of injection molding too. In fact, most of the used plastic parts around the world are created by plastic injection molding. Examples of these products are keyboards and bottle caps. However, there are many more items that are created by injection molding them. One of the biggest benefits offered by this process is its cheap price per unit. Designing and creating the mold is expensive, but afterwards pieces can be manufactured at a very low price and a very high speed. 

Cost

Even though the parts created by injection molding are cheap, an injection mold itself is quite expensive. These molds can cost anywhere from 1 thousand to 100 thousand dollars. An average mold usually costs between 10 and 20 thousand dollars. The return on investment is extremely important for these projects. The bigger the project, the quicker you are going to recoup the upfront cost of the mold. There are a few factors that have a big influence on the cost of your injection molding: complexity, material, part size, and quantity. 

Material

As mentioned above, the cost of a plastic injection molding project is partially based on the material. There are a few plastic materials that are commonly used for this manufacturing technique are PVC, polypropylene, polyethylene and acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS). However, you might need to use a different plastic for your project. This is the case since all materials have different physical properties. It is therefore important to understand which material needs to be used, which depends on the application of your item. However, there definitely is a plastic material that is perfect for your project. You do not have to worry about that.