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Proper Tooling & Injection Mold Maintenance at Abtec

Posted on November 17, 2021 by Abtec

Abtec has been providing custom injection molds and supporting tooling for various industries worldwide for more than 40 years. As a trusted global partner, we leverage cutting-edge technologies and advanced mold-making processes to produce precision injection molds within the shortest period of time. We also offer preventive mold maintenance solutions to guarantee the optimal performance of your molds and tools.

What Is Injection Mold Maintenance?

Injection mold maintenance refers to the scheduled cleaning and repairs done to keep an injection mold in optimum working condition. Maintenance can be done routinely over the life of the mold or whenever a problem arises. Regular maintenance helps eliminate the risk of down time due to part failures. Abtec Inc. provides life of the tool maintenance for tools built and run at Abtec Inc.

What Issues May Arise If Molds Are Not Maintained?

With time, molding processes wear a mold to compromise its quality and performance. Ideally, a fine layer of materials builds up, albeit slowly, on the mold surfaces and, if it is not removed, this deposit dents the tool. This results in a range of defects, including flashes that reduce efficiency.

What Are the Long-Term Benefits of Proper Injection Mold Maintenance?

You don’t have to wait until typical maintenance issues arise before undertaking appropriate maintenance on your injection molds. Undertaking regular preventive maintenance helps lower overall production costs while ensuring optimal performance of your equipment. The following are the long-term benefits of a properly maintained mold:

Better quality and longevity: High-quality equipment and tools are a costly investment. Continual mold maintenance guarantees better quality and longevity while reducing the total cost of ownership.

Prevents inefficiencies: Worn-out parts undeniably affect product quality. An effective way to avoid product imperfections and inefficiencies is to be diligent about performing preventive maintenance.

Cut costs: Failure to carry out mold maintenance results in significant repair or replacement costs. It is a lot cheaper to perform regular maintenance than to repair or replace a broken tool.

Common Defects of Molds from Poor Maintenance

Poor maintenance can result in a range of severe defects that affect the product’s safety, performance, and function. These defects include:

Burn marks

Burn marks on molds appear as black or rust-colored discoloration at the edge of a molded plastic part. Burn marks in injection-molded parts are caused by either trapped air or resin or overheating in the mold cavity during the injection.

Flash

Many manufacturers also refer to flash as “burrs” or “spew”. Flash refers to a condition with excess molding material appearing as a protrusion at the component’s edge. Such defect occurs because some materials flow out of the intended channels. They then enter the space that occurs between the tooling plate. Some may also flow in at the injection pin. Although it is a subtle defect, a flash may be an obvious defect is obvious on products and caused by improper exhaust system.

Injection Mold Design Services at Abtec

Abtec has been providing a range of custom injection mold tooling solutions that meet the needs of various industries and applications for more than a century! We have a well-equipped facility, highly experienced toolmakers, and engineers with expert skills to produce fabricating injection molds to suit our customers’ needs.

Abtec engineers work with a range of CAD formats, including CimatronE, Pro/E, SolidWorks, AutoCAD, and CADKEY. In addition, our mold fabrication processes also leverage the latest CNC machining technologies, including high-speed milling, wire EDM, and sinker EDM, to produce high-quality, economical molds in the shortest time possible. The types of molds available at Abtec include full chase molds, master unit die (MUD) molds, and more.

At Abtec, our tool designers understand all the steps to create and maintain quality molds that meet the stringent demands of your application while guaranteeing optimal performance. Contact us today for more info or to request a quote!

The Facts About Defense & Military Injection Molding

Posted on August 25, 2021 by Abtec

With more than a century of combined experience, Abtec Inc. provides quality plastic injection molding services to an array of industries. Our customers look to our parts to solve any number of production and manufacturing problems. They count on the versatility and efficiency of our equipment and team to fulfill a range of requests with quick turnaround times. Our expertise makes us well suited to deliver quality injection molded parts that meet the demanding standards of the defense and military sectors.

Applications, Benefits, & Info to Know!

Military, tactical, and defense industries rely on quality products to keep daily operations running smoothly. When new parts are needed, injection molding offers a fast and affordable production method. To suit the strict product standards of the military and defense industry, injection molding can be tailored to precise specifications, using the best materials and design practices to ensure every mission and training can be carried out the way it’s intended.

Benefits of injection molding for the defense and military sector include:

Dependability

Plastic injection molding can create complex parts, such as fittings and fasteners, that withstand everyday use while maintaining their integrity under harsh conditions.

Uniformity

Military and defense components must be uniform. Plastic injection molding can quickly produce many uniform parts that meet military specifications.

Lightweight

Plastic injection molded parts for military and defense applications are not only durable, but they are lightweight. Having lighter components allows soldiers to stay on station longer and have faster response times.

Military and defense components have no room for error, which is why the International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR) sets strict standards for a variety of projects. Compliance with these standards is crucial in ensuring dependability, uniformity, durability, and overall quality. Plastic injection molding at Abtec Inc. is fully compliant with ITAR, ensuring that our parts can be used for high-strength applications across the military, defense, and aerospace industries.

Plastic injection molding is used to manufacture the following parts for military use:

Headsets/radios
Antennas
Goggles
Aerospace filters
Flashlights
Scopes
Hooks/fasteners

Which Materials are Used in Plastic Injection Molding for Military & Defense?

Plastic injection molding is the ideal process for creating the above–mentioned items (and more) because plastic offers a durable and corrosion-resistant material that can withstand harsh environments.

Common plastic materials used for this process include:

Ultem®. This plastic is excellent for high-heat applications because it can operate at temperatures of up to 340° F without losing its strength or rigidity. It also offers excellent resistance against chemical and electric forces.
Noryl®. Noryl is a thermoplastic that can withstand temperatures up to 230° F. It’s easily made and has demonstrated impact resistance and low-moisture absorption.
Acetal. This is a general-purpose plastic that’s known for its dimensional stability, even in the face against other metals and plastics. It features a low water absorption point, excellent electrical properties, and a strong resistance to organic solvents.
Polycarbonate. Polycarbonate is a clear plastic that is tough, stiff, and easy to bond with solvent chemicals. It can be used for sight glasses and machine guards as well as face shields and clear manifolds. It also boasts excellent electrical resistance.
Polyphenylene Sulfide (Ryton®). High-performance engineering thermoplastic characterized by outstanding high-temperature stability, inherent flame resistance, and broad chemical resistance. Most PPS compounds are used for their combination of high-temperature stability, chemical resistance, dimensional reliability, and flame retardance.
Polyphenylsulfone (Radel®). Delivers the highest performance of sulfone polymers, offering better impact resistance and chemical resistance than polysulfone (PSU) and polyetherimide (PEI). The high heat resistance and excellent hydrolytic stability

The right plastic for a military application depends on factors such as intended use and how the part will be stored. At Abtec, we work with a wide range of materials and can help you determine the best option for your military application.

Plastic Injection Molding from Abtec, Inc.

Plastic injection molding creates precise parts that can withstand a range of demanding environmental conditions, making it an ideal production method for various military and defense products. At Abtec, Inc., we specialize in custom plastic injection molding, and we are ITAR-registered to ensure compliance with strict military standards. Regardless of your application, we can deliver durable and high-quality injection molded parts that meet your specific requirements and specifications.

To learn more about our plastic injection molding capabilities for the military and defense industry, contact us today.

Low-Volume or Short Run Injection Molding Solutions at Abtec

Posted on May 6, 2021 by Abtec

The process of bringing a new product to market involves many steps, including designing the component and creating prototypes to test out the design. After the design is finalized and the prototypes are evaluated, you may also want to produce a small number of pieces for internal or external product testing purposes before proceeding to full production. In the case of injection-molded components, one option for producing these pieces is short run injection molding—also known as small-volume, low-volume, or small-batch production. This production solution enables you to generate a limited batch that you can use to gauge market reaction so you can appropriately scale production to meet actual consumer demand.

Need help with a short-run injection molding project? The injection molding experts at Abtec are here to help! We can assist you at every step of your project, from design to prototyping to production, ensuring you receive the components you need how and when you need them.

Benefits of Short-Run Injection Molding

Short-run injection molding offers numerous benefits. For example:

It serves as a bridge between the prototyping and full production stages. Since short-run injection molding produces only a small number of pieces, it allows the production team to push out a product that can still be adjusted later on depending on its performance in the market.
It produces high-quality components. Since short-run injection molding accepts automation technology and utilizes low-cost, high-quality materials, it easily outputs superior parts and products at competitive prices.
It allows companies to reduce in-house inventory while meeting lead-time demands. Short-run production quickly produces finished components, so they can be sent back to the customer and introduced to the market in a shorter period. As a result, companies can have parts produced and delivered on an as-needed basis.

Injection Molding Services at Abtec

At Abtec, our team has over 100 years of combined experience designing and manufacturing high-quality custom plastic injection-molded parts and products. This gives us all of the knowledge and skills we need to assist with the various stages of short-run injection molding projects, including:

Mold Design: We use information age technologies and advanced mold-making processes to produce custom tooling solutions for your product problems. We can work with your existing drawings, sketches, models, parts, and molds or start from scratch to produce tooling designs. Some of the CAD formats we use include Cimatron, SolidWorks, ProE, AutoCAD, and CADKey.
Custom Tooling: Once the injection mold design is approved, our mold fabrication team uses the latest CNC machining technologies to manufacture the molds quickly without sacrificing precision or quality. We can produce molds for a range of thermoplastics, including ABS, HDPE, LDPE, PE, HIPS, TPU, and PET.
Prototyping: We create rapid prototypes of each component using 3D printing technology. These prototypes can be used to ensure form, fit, and function before the final injection molding tooling is built. We provide FDM printed prototypes in ABS, PLA, TPU, and many other materials and partner with other companies for additional prototyping options (e.g., SLA, SLS, and urethane casting).
Injection Molding: Our injection molding facility is run by experienced operators and equipped with machines with high repeatability and clamping pressures ranging from 28–240 tons. We can support molding operations involving up to 16 ounces of material per cycle. Whether you need small or large components in low or high volumes, we can meet your injection molding requirements.

Learn More!

Want more information on our short-run injection molding capabilities? Check out our Plastic Injection Molding FAQs page or contact us today.

Plastic Injection Molding for the Medical Industry

Posted on March 17, 2021 by Abtec

At Abtec, Inc., we specialize in custom injection molding, creating tools and parts for customers all over the world from prototype to large production runs. Plastic injection molding is a manufacturing process that involves injecting liquified plastic into a mold, allowing it to conform to the shape of the mold and harden to create a specific shape. This beneficial process has numerous applications in many industries, including the medical industry.

Components and devices for the medical industry must comply with strict industry standards and be made from durable, reliable, and FDA-approved materials. Plastic injection molding not only meets these criteria, but it also offers a host of additional benefits for the medical industry.

The Standards Met & Materials Commonly Used

Parts made for the medical industry must conform to strict standards due to the nature of their use. The FDA outlines different requirements for implantable devices and those being used for medical instruments, and other external use; therefore, it is crucial to consider your application when selecting a medical-grade plastic for the molding process. Other factors such as strength, resistance to heat and chemicals, and operating environment must also be considered when selecting a material to ensure that the part will hold up while in use.

Common medical-grade plastics that can be used with injection molding include:

PP. Heat and radiation resistance over extended periods
PEEK. Resistant to chemicals and high temperatures, resists fatigue and cracking, works well in radiation-prone environments, and easily sterilized.
Polycarbonate. Flexible, high heat resistance, transparent, UV resistance, durable, and resistant to flames.
Polysulfone. High temperature with high mechanical strength and rigidity. Good creep strength that is remarkably high over a wide range of temperatures.
POM. Resistant to multiple cleaning and disinfection agents, and to a number of solvents. It can be steam sterilized by medical industry’s usual methods, and will maintain good strength, stiffness, and dimensional stability.
PEI. Remarkably high creep resistance over a wide temperature and a high permanent operating temperature. Resistance to hydrolysis, along with dimensional stability
Polyphenylene Oxide. Strong with outstanding mechanical, thermal and electrical properties. Very low moisture absorption, low thermal expansion, excellent insulating properties, flame resistance, and dimensional stability over a wide range of service temperatures.
Polyphenylen Sulfide. A semi crystalline, high temperature thermoplastic polymer. Chemically resistant polymer with amazing mechanical strength, even at temperatures above 200°C (392°F), very stable dimensionally with low susceptibility to creep.

There are many benefits to injection molding for the medical industry, the most prominent being how easily and quickly supplies can be made. Unlike other materials, plastic can be easily injected into a mold to take almost any shape needed, curing into a durable piece of equipment with high levels of precision. This helps to keep prices low, allowing medical facilities to remain sufficiently stocked with important instruments without excessive costs. Cleanliness is also a benefit, as many of these plastics are easy to clean and sterilize without issue.

Abtec Provides Medical Injection Molded Parts

The injection molding process follows these steps:

Create a mold. Injection molding requires a pre-made mold for the material to be injected into. This can be a template for existing pieces or a custom design.
Inject. Pelletized resin which is heated to liquid, is injected into the mold. The plastic fills in the spaces within the mold, forcing out air through tiny vents along the sides.
Cooling. The melted plastic is cooled, allowing it to harden. This is done with a network of water pumps or air vents built throughout the mold that displace the heat from the plastic.
Remove and clean. Once hardened, the part is removed/ejected from the mold and the part is (if necessary) cleaned of any debris or bits of unnecessary plastic.

Abtec, Inc. is at the forefront of medical injection molding and can produce parts or fittings for a large number of applications. We’ve worked closely with our customers to manufacture top-of-the-line moldings and products, including:

Ventilators for use during the COVID-19 pandemic
Parts for radiological cancer treatment
Catheter locks
Medical Equipment Housings
& and, a plethora of parts for a variety of medical devices

Additionally, our on-site cleanroom facilities are frequently in use to eliminate contaminants from parts that are designed for use in laboratory and research facilities.

Medical Plastic Injection Molding from Abtec, Inc.

Plastic injection molding is an invaluable manufacturing technique for the medical industry and beyond. This process allows many parts to be created from medical-grade plastics in a fraction of the time it would take to do so by hand or with other methods. With numerous options for plastic types and applications, medical injection molding continues to be an integral part of industry.

To learn more about our plastic injection molding services for the medical industry, contact us today. You can also email any questions directly to us at sales@abtecinc.com.

Is 3D Printing Better Than Injection Molding?

Posted on February 9, 2021 by Abtec

Advanced technology gives companies more options when it comes to producing plastic components. Plastic injection molding and 3D printing are two of those options, and they both have their advantages, depending upon the application. While 3D printing is relatively new and attention-grabbing, plastic injection molding is still a trusted solution for precision manufacturing.

3D Printing vs. Plastic Injection Molding

It helps to understand the difference between these processes:

3D Printing: As an additive manufacturing process, layers of material are put together to create the final shape as designed in a digital file.
Injection Molding:A proven process for 150 years and counting, injection molding starts with the creation of a mold. The materials are melted, then injected into the mold where it’s left to cool and harden into the finished product.

When determining which process is right for your product, you need to consider the pros and cons of each. 3D printing is great for small production runs and prototyping of small parts or components. Because there’s no mold that has to be created, it’s easy to make changes to the digital design—giving you lots of flexibility when perfecting a new product or when producing something you know you will make changes to on an ongoing basis.

As a newer technology, there are occasional glitches to the process that can interrupt production. 3D printing is also more likely to leave ridges and small defects in the product and 3D printing tolerances are not tight, so you may not end up with precise replicas if you’re creating multiple units.

Plastic injection molding is ideal for larger production runs of all types of components—big or small, simple or complex. After the mold is created, you can work quickly to produce hundreds or thousands of high-quality components with consistent precision. The bigger the run, the lower the cost per unit.

Once built, it can be costly to make changes to the mold. Which is why it is important to perfect the design before tooling begins. This is where 3D printing and custom injection molding work well together: 3D printing can be used for experimenting and prototyping, then you can ramp up production with injection molding.

Chances are, you use products every day that are made with 3D printing and injection molding:

3D Printing Applications

Clear braces
Hearing aids
Football helmet liners
Bicycle frames
Razor handles
Jewelry
Mascara brushes
Shoe insoles
Biodegradable pens
Eyeglass frames
Unique shower heads
Custom car accessories
And more

Injection Molding Applications

Mop heads
Equipment housings
Vending machine components
Medication trays
Insulators
Roofing vents
Raised flooring panels
Deck fasteners
Bird feeders
Toilet seats
Barbecue grill accessories
Serving pans
Children’s furniture
Collectible models
Point-of-purchase display racks
Flower pots
And more

Choose Custom Injection Molding with Abtec, Inc.

With about 100 years of combined experience, Abtec, Inc. offers custom injection molding and a variety of secondary operations and support tooling to our clients in the pharmaceutical, food and beverage, aerospace and defense, telecommunications, and medical industries, among others. We specialize in innovative solutions for even the most complex designs.

High-quality injection molding starts with a great mold design, and our engineers can help with that, along with material selection and tooling recommendations, to ensure you get the components you need. With state-of-the art technology and a dedicated team of experts, Abtec is a trusted plastics partner around the globe.

Both 3D printing and plastic injection molding have their place in manufacturing, and there are many opportunities for these technologies to work together for the benefit of the client. For high-volume runs of small or large components, injection molding has the advantage of being efficient and cost-effective and offering precise replications of the product. Take a look at our blog to learn more about custom injection molding and how we can help with your next project, then contact us to get started.