4 Ways to Mould Plastic Products

Did you know that you could lower the cost of a plastic product and increase its performance by selecting the most appropriate way to make that product? Read on and get an overview of the common ways through which products can be made from plastic. Use this information to select the most suitable moulding process for your products.

Blow Moulding

Blow moulding refers to a process of making plastic products by injecting air into a plastic tube so that it adopts the shape of the cavity into which it has been placed. This method is ideal for making small plastic products that have a void inside them. Examples of such products include plastic bottles, jugs and balls.

Vacuum Forming

Vacuum forming is also called thermal forming. The process starts with a plastic sheet being heated to the desired temperature so that it can be formed or shaped easily. The heated plastic is then placed onto a mould using vacuum suction power. The suction force makes the plastic sheet alter its shape so that it fits onto the mould. The material is then cooled before the manufactured part is removed from the mould. This method is suitable for making larger parts that don't have intricate shapes and voids within. Examples include trays, refrigerator liners and lids of all kinds.

Custom Injection Moulding

Custom injection moulding is similar to thermal forming. However, injection moulding can be used to make parts with intricate geometries while thermal forming is better suited to parts that tend to be flat. Injection moulding works best for parts that don't have voids inside them. It is also good for products whose walls are of uniform thickness. The method entails pouring molten plastic into a mould. The mould is then shut so that the plastic conforms to its shape. After cooling, the finished part is extracted from the mould. Examples of parts made in this way include valves for industrial machinery.

Rotational Moulding

Large components that have internal voids can be made efficiently using rotational moulding. The process involves slowly pouring molten plastics around a mould so that the part gradually takes shape. Examples of products that can be made using this method include rubbish bins, boat hulls and oil tanks.

Assess the specific products that you would like to make so that you can select the best method to make those products. You will then be able to select the right moulding equipment that will produce those components cost-effectively.

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Recycling Copper From Industrial and Manufacturing Machinery

Hi, my name is Skip. I have always been handy – I've been tinkering with things as long as I could walk. I don't agree with the throw-it-in-the-rubbish culture. Why do that when you can recycle, repair or reuse almost everything? A lot of my buddies work in factories, and, over the years, we've had a lot of fun debates on this topic. Many of the factories where they worked just seemed to throw out the machines or sell them for really cheap to foreign factories. I argued that you can repair them more easily than you realise sometimes while other times you can profitably tear up the machines and recycle the materials. I wanted to share this info, so decided to start a blog.

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