The Basics You Need To Know About Rapid Tooling Process

By Author: James Murphy
Total Articles: 18
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With a new product, the challenge is to get it to the market as fast as possible, preferably ahead of your competition. Rapid tooling can help with that. The name itself can give you an idea on what it can do for you, and that is to produce the parts you need quickly. Also known as prototype tooling, it involves a rapid injection molding process to create the molds you will need to quickly create the parts you need. Besides speeding up your parts production, it helps cut production costs as the molds are reusable. That makes it useful for prototyping and testing, too, so you can check the strength, design, and durability of your design before you invest further in full production tooling.

Build prototypes and low volume parts

Rapid tooling is a great way to produce prototypes of parts and produce low volume plastic parts before you go into high volume and full-scale production. The same process is used for creating the insert, including the side actions, cavity, and core of the component.

Depending on mold’s material, you could produce hundreds and thousands of parts from just one tool. Reputable rapid ...
... injection molding services use aluminum or steel, with the latter being most recommended to ensure more value for your project, as it can produce more than double the parts than what the other material can.

Molds are designed to be strong

In the rapid tooling process, it is important to make sure that the mold is durable enough to withstand the injection molding process. Machines used for injection molding are measured by pounds per square inch that are clamped. So, if the material for the mold is weak, it may not be able to withstand that. Moreover, the mold should be able to handle hot plastic material as it is being injected.

Molds are carefully finished

Besides ensuring the strength of the mold, rapid prototyping service providers will also make sure that it is smooth to enable the plastic part to be cleanly ejected. Steel machined molds are also polished to ensure smoothness in creating rapid parts that are ready for prototyping, market testing, or low volume production of up to 100,000 components.

If you’re not sure whether it is the rapid prototyping solution for your project, consider getting in touch with the service provider. They will review your project for free and help you make an informed decision.

HLH Prototypes Co Ltd is a rapid manufacturing specialist focused on delivering high quality prototypes and low-volume production parts to varied customers across multiple industries. If your product is made from plastic, metal, or composite materials there is a very good chance that we have a rapid manufacturing solution for you. When it comes to rapid prototyping services speed is important but effective communication with the client and flexibility to their project needs are just as important for ultimate project success. Rapid manufacturing is only rapid if you get it right the first time. info@HLHPrototypes.com to start your free project consultation.

HLH Prototypes Co Ltd is a rapid manufacturing specialist focused on delivering high quality prototypes and low-volume production parts to varied customers across multiple industries. If your product is made from plastic, metal, or composite materials there is a very good chance that we have a rapid manufacturing solution for you. When it comes to rapid prototyping services speed is important but effective communication with the client and flexibility to their project needs are just as important to the ultimate success of the project. Rapid manufacturing is only rapid if you get it right the first time. info@HLHPrototypes.com to start your free project consultation.