injection moulding design help and advice on sla models - 1 of 2
These pages aim to give you some injection moulding design help and advice on sla models to avoid some common pitfalls caused by incorrect part design and save you both time & money. They're not intended to tell you what can/not be achieved, as most designs, features & materials can be accommodated - at a price. 1.  One way of saving yourself time and money, is to make your own CAD models, preferably in 3D. You can then send them in DXF, DWG, IGES, Pro-Engineer or SolidWorks format for us to give you more accurate quotes, create tool drawing/s and to manufacture mould tools with. If you prefer, you could get a design company to create the CAD models for you, but ensure you choose one that has experience of designing an injection moulding  Alternatively, we could do this for you, which has a number of advantages - a) we understand your needs and can adapt the design, if necessary, to ensure that it can be injection moulded and b) by getting our company to design your part, you can have greater piece of mind and save time & money, as once approved, we can also make the mould tool and mouldings.
2.  If you'd like to see what your part will look like before having a tool made, we can use the CAD files to make solid models of your parts - stereolithography or sla models   To make the sla models a machine reads the 3D CAD data & then uses a laser & a resin to build up sla models in layers until the final model is made - you can use this to e.g. test the 'fit' in your assembly. If needed, sla models can then be used to make a Polyurethane mould and 10-20 vacuum cast models made in a resin close to the final moulding material & colour	Mouldings (red) & sla models can be assembled to test 'fit'.

General injection moulding design help and advice

1.  To help avoid sink marks (depressions) in the injection moulding and make it easier to manufacture, keep wall thickness' even and avoid thick areas by coring it out. As a guide, joining walls should be 50% of the thickness of the thickest section. 2.  If possible, try to state generic material types on drawings e.g. 10% Glass Filled Polycarbonate rather than trade names e.g. Lexan 500R - if you prefer, please state e.g. Lexan 500R or equivalent. Also, try to specify a material that adequately deals with your needs, rather than one that greatly exceeds them. This enables us to purchase the material you need from more than one manufacturer and thus, keep lead times to a minimum and save you money by keeping our injection moulding prices to you at the same level for longer. For help with choosing materials, please view our injection moulding material guide. 3.  Consider the environment the injection moulding is going to be operating in - will it need to have e.g. a certain mechanical strength, be clearly colour coded or protected from ultraviolet light or static damage ? If so, ensure that you state these requirements when you ask for a quotation, as without them, incorrect materials are likely to be suggested, inaccurate quotations given & even costly tool modifications incurred.

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