Experience injection molding with everyday objects! 2/2
- SANKO GOSEI
- 3 days ago
- 2 min read
In the previous article we created a mold for replication.
This time, let's actually pour resin (UV resin) into that mold and mold it!
(1) Match the core mold and the cavi mold.
If there is a gap, resin will flow through it and cannot be molded properly.
In addition, there is a possibility that the mold will open due to the injection pressure of the resin, so tie the mold with tape or string to prevent it from opening. This is known as mold clamping in injection molding.
(2) Resin injection
Resin is injected through the gate. (The black liquid is UV resin.)
A point to note at this point is to check that the resin has filled to the end. Using transparent Oyupla makes it easier to check areas that have not been filled.
Also, if you try to force the resin to flow, burrs will appear from the gaps in the mold, making post-processing more difficult. However, it is better than a short (unfilled) mold, so it is better to pour the resin to the extent that some burrs appear.
(3)Curing of resin
Use a UV-LED light to harden the UV resin.
The curing time will be about 2 minutes, but if the mold is thicker, the effect of the light will be reduced, so please irradiate the light fully from each direction.
(4) Mould release.
After confirming that the UV resin has cured, open the mold and remove the molded product.
The molded product is harder than the oyupla, so it is easy to release the mold by deforming the oyupla.
However, if you want to make several pieces, deform the mold too much and the subsequent molding may not be successful, so remove the mold with minimal deformation.
(5) Secondary processing.
The released molded product was almost filled, but cannot be used as it is because of burrs and bubbles.
Process the molded product using a cutter knife, file, etc.
This was the first replication, but we were able to confirm that it was well formed.
This is a very simple experiment, but you can learn the basics of injection moulding, so why not give it a try if you are interested?
