# Injection Mold



## lotsasteam (Jan 3, 2008)

http://www.injectionmolder.net/

Checking on lower priced IJ machines just in case my $ 5000 MG Dental injection unit breaks down i came up on the above posted link,looks like a relative low cost investment to produce decent plastic parts (for a club or workshop)


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## s-4 (Jan 2, 2008)

I used a very similar device (perhaps the same one) back in college ten years ago. The quality was fairly decent, although I seem to remember the capacity was fairly small. This one is 1 cubic inch.


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## Garratt (Sep 15, 2012)

1 cubic inch by volume.
Maximum mold size: 4.00" w x 2.63" h x 2.50" d (100 x 66 x 63) mm.

No price listed and you can't add one to the shopping cart to find out. Brilliant sales technique! 

Andrew


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## riderdan (Jan 2, 2014)

What a coincidence: I ran across that site last week while searching for Mold-A-Rama info. I agree the site isn't overly useful. I believe these run between $500-$1000--there's a pretty nice one on kickstarter for ~$600.

I'd prefer to mold parts rather than paying Shapeways prices for 3D printed parts with FDM quality. At some point, FDM's resolution will get better and parts will require less processing to get a finished piece, but for now I think I'll hold off. Especially since the whole 3D printing world is still at a point where prices are going down and quality up rather quickly.

One disadvantage to the injection molding machine listed is that they say that the molds must be pre-heated for a lot of popular molding materials. That eliminates the ability to easily use inexpensive plaster molds for limited run production. It also increases the cycle time because you have to heat the mold, pour and cool the piece, remove it from the mold, and then re-heat the mold before you can cast a another.


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## lotsasteam (Jan 3, 2008)

a simple toaster oven will do the preheating !


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## Dick Friedman (Aug 19, 2008)

There are 3D printers that print with resin. I understand they are not very fast (neither are ones that use plastic filaments), but they might be useful for making a dozen or more of something.


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## Wizard69 (Feb 4, 2016)

lotsasteam said:


> http://www.injectionmolder.net/
> 
> Checking on lower priced IJ machines just in case my $ 5000 MG Dental injection unit breaks down i came up on the above posted link,looks like a relative low cost investment to produce decent plastic parts (for a club or workshop)


Having spent a few years doing die casting and a bunch more where part of my job involved the service of injection molding machines, i would suggest that such a machine is less than ideal for modeling. 

There are a couple of reasons, actually a lot of reasons but I will hit on a few.


The injection volume is very low.
There is no provision for die heating or cooling depending on the material you are using.
The use of colorants requires the extrusion prices to mix the materials completely.
Dies can be very expensive to make and maintain.
 Used injection molding machines are available all over the place
If you really wanted a injection molding machine, of this size, you could DIY one as simple as this for a fraction of the price.
There is a similar device out there that retakes a drill press for manual injection molding. For example: http://easyplasticmolding.com/index.html
If you want to go the DIY route there is: http://gingerybookstore.com/InjectionMoldingAttachment.html The Gingery series is most interesting covering an entire machine shop.
If you want to see something really cool in the way of DIY machines try: 





I could go on but the point I'm trying to make is that there is a lot of variety in small injection molding machines out there. combine that with a lot of used equipment on the market and you have many opportunities for a club owned machine.


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