Disposable inserts with a 1/64- to 1/32-inch nose radius are most effectively employed for turning graphite. A positive rake insert without a chip control groove is preferred. Cutting fluids and/or coolants are not recommended. Adequate and well-maintained fixturing, rigid tool setup and well-adjusted machine tools always provide superior results. […]
Most information for turning graphite applies to milling with inserted cutters. Disposable inserts with a 1/64″ or 1/32″ nose radius are most effectively employed for milling graphite. A positive rake insert is recommended. Cutting fluids and/or coolants are not recommended. Adequate and well-maintained fixturing, rigid tool set-up and well-adjusted machine tools always provide superior results. [...]
The same general practices of machine tool maintenance, fixturing and rigidity of tool setup recommended for turning apply equally well for milling. Short tool extensions and properly adjusted machine tools are essential to good performance. […]
There are many degrees of electrode fabrication,and a moldmaker’s first step is to decide what level of participation he or she wants to have. He poses the following questions: […]
People like hot runner molds if they behave. Behave means that the process doesn’t change over time, as it does with multi-process disease. There are two easy tests to detect multi-process disease: […]
Hot runner molds are great. Everyone knows that. We eliminate runners, grinding them and reprocessing them. So what’s the issue? All hot runner molds are not created equal. We have all seen the application where using a hot runner mold resulted in more scrap and more regrind instead of its elimination. Why would this be? [...]
One of the basic requirements for successfully molded parts is that we must have cavity balance in order to achieve process robustness and fast cycle times that are necessary to be profitable in today’s competitive, global market. In this article we will take a basic look at good and bad cavity layouts and runner designs. [...]
There are three main runner shapes that are used: (1) full round (2) half round and (3) trapezoidal with each one having certain qualities and performances that may be needed to support delivery of the plastic to each cavity. […]
When selecting gate location (regardless of whether the tool features a cold or hot runner system), balanced and even filling of the molded part is the top priority. Cold runner gating provides the moldmaker with simplified integration in terms of selecting the optimal gate location, […]
Although a more expensive capital investment upfront, a hot runner system is a significantly more cost-efficient means to keep production costs to a minimum over the long run. […]