Originally Posted by william_c  Hello,
Frist I would like to say hi to everyone, As I just found this great site and I am very happy I did :-)
Now I am going to try and explain what exact help I need, I wanted to start my own little side business injection molding toy parts in hard ABS plastic. I have done things with rubber type molds with resan but wanted to take it to the next step were I can even supply maybe a cheap service to hobby people or inventors.
I was looking into things that can be used at home like Destop injection machines, Desktop cnc machines ect.. So what I want to do is have the ability to
Reverse engineer? Scan a part to create 3D cad data
Take my stl. files and use it to cut the mold
Create my own metal molds for injection molding
make like up to 100-2000 plastic parts
So can anyone please help me on how I can get the ball rolling? As also does anyone know if there is a service were I can get my 3D data set up to be mold ready were maybe if i had a machine to cut the molds i could input the files and away we go? or is there a software that can set up the molds so they mork for me? or anyone that can make small metal molds like this for cheap?
So I am not a expert but am trying to learn as my dream is to have a little factory were I can make a prototype,molds and the parts :-) . Thanks and take care.
William, |
You really didn't mention budget anywhere. Obviously cheaper is better (duh) but what are you really prepared to put into something like this? Mold work is very demanding, both in terms of machine and software. Then you mention 3D scanners and you are into a whole other world, not to mention the whole "reverse engineering".
Depending on complexity you are talking many thousands of dollars in software alone. Is this something you'd figured into the plan?
I'm not trying to discourage you, but rather to point out the tremendous investment needed to be at all competitive in such a field. I built a benchtop mill, own CAD software, and have limited access to CAM software. I cut plastic molds for casting plastic resin into (prolly similar to what you mention). It works well on the small hobby type scale. To go bigger for me would involve a significant cash outlay. I'm not even sure you can get the results you want from a "home" injection molding system, the pressures the pro ones use seem like it would be difficult/dangerous to try and replicate at home on the cheap.
Perhaps you might tell us what you have access to now in terms of tools and software, then we might be able to give some pointers towards the right direction.