3D Printed Injection Mold

Sales & Application Guide

For: ProJet 3500 series

3D Printed Injection Molds

Sales & Application Guide

For 3D Systems Authorized Resellers Only Last Updated: 4/22/2015

 3D Printed Injection Mold
Sales & Application Guide
For: ProJet 3500 series

Overview
Selling the ProJet 3500 to companies to 3D print molds for injection molding is a large and virtually
untapped opportunity. This guide is provided by 3D Systems to help sales and technical sales people
understand the benefits, considerations and limitations of using plastic printed molds so you can
effectively sell and support 3DS printers for this application.

We have prepared a variety of resources to help you to succeed in selling into injection molding
applications:

Injection Molding Sales Resource Kit

Watch the recorded reseller-only webinar on selling into injection molding (IM) applications
Download a sample mold to print on the ProJet 3500 and use for benchmarks
Download an IM customer case study to share with prospects

Customer Webinar: Bi-Link Uses 3D Printed Injection Molds

Watch and then share this webinar recording with prospects

This guide is written specifically for printing molds on the ProJet 3500 HDMax in VisiJet M3-X material.
Other 3DS MJP printers (ProJet 3500, 5000, 5500X) can also print molds, though they are not discussed
here and we encourage you to print benchmark molds with these other printers as appropriate.

There are a number of companies using 3DS SLA printers (ProJet 6000 & 7000 and ProX 800 & 950) to
print molds as well. Accura Bluestone SLA material can be used to print exceptionally rigid, high
temperature molds in larger sizes. 3DS has not independently tested SLA for mold printing, though as
noted, many companies are using SLA for mold printing.

Contact your Channel Manager if you have questions beyond what this guide offers.

For 3D Systems Authorized Resellers Only Last Updated: 4/22/2015

 3D Printed Injection Mold
Sales & Application Guide
For: ProJet 3500 series

What Is Injection Molding?

Injection molding is a common manufacturing process to create plastic parts quickly and cheaply by
injecting molten thermoplastic into a mold cavity and allowing it to cool. Almost every plastic part that
you find in day to day life is injection molded: from the keys on your keyboard to the trim in your car.
Virtually every manufacturer uses injection molding to make some or all of their plastic components.

The mold cavity is the space created by the insides of two halves of tooling. This cavity is a negative
impression of the final part that will be created by injecting plastic into this space. For large production
runs, tooling is machined from metal (typically aluminum or steel). After the tooling halves have been
machined, they are mounted to mold plates which are then attached to an injection molding machine.
The injection molding machine will heat plastic in a reservoir to a specific temperature, depending on
the type of plastic being injected.
The molten plastic is then forced
(injected) into the mold cavity.
The plastic cools quickly inside
the metal tooling causing it to
harden and take the shape of the
mold cavity. Once the material
has hardened enough to retain
its shape, it is ejected from the
tooling (typically automatically
with ejector pins). Once the
finished part has been removed,
the tooling closes, forming the
mold cavity again and the
process repeats. The time
required to complete each of
these cycles is referred to as cycle time.

Figure 1: High-capacity production injection molding system

For 3D Systems Authorized Resellers Only Last Updated: 4/22/2015

 3D Printed Injection Mold
Sales & Application Guide
For: ProJet 3500 series

Benefits of 3D Printing Short-Run Molds

Making molds is a relatively new application of 3D printing that lets manufacturers create parts with
specific production thermoplastic properties quickly. Unlike directly printed parts, the parts produced
from 3D printed molds have identical properties to parts made in traditional injection molds. They are
made out of the exact same materials and perform no differently than other injection molded parts.

Printed molds are ideal for short production runs, and can be made far faster than any other mold. For
this reason, theyre being used to test fit and function of new designs where exact production
thermoplastic properties are required. The chart below shows the options available to manufacturers
for making a typical small plastic component:

Number of
Parts Mold Cost Part Cost Lead Time Material Capabilities

Direct 3D Printing 1-10 N/A $100.00 1 day 3D printed material

RTV Mold 10-50 $500 $10.00 3 days Polyurethane

Printed Tooling 10-200 $500 $3.00 2 days Production thermoplastics

Soft Tooling (CNC

aluminum molds) 200-3,000 >$2,000 $1.20 2 weeks Production thermoplastics

Hard Tooling (CNC

steel molds) 200-millions >$10,000 $0.50 6 weeks Production thermoplastics

As you can see, 3D printed plastic molds fit in a sweet spot between direct 3D printing or RTV molding,
and CNC-machined metal molds. The following needs are ideally addressed with 3D printed tooling:

DFM (Design For Manufacture)/prototyping

Urgent parts
Low volume runs
Digital inventory

Urgency in the prototyping phase is vital with 3D printed tooling. It is possible to design your
part/tooling, print it overnight and inject production materials the next morning. After a part is
produced, it can be review, modified, and a new part produced the next day.

Plastic tooling is ideal for low volume runs. When making the first iterations of a new product design, a
customer will only need a few parts for testing. Directly producing 3D printed parts is an option unless
production thermoplastic properties are necessary for the initial parts. If exact production

For 3D Systems Authorized Resellers Only Last Updated: 4/22/2015

 3D Printed Injection Mold
Sales & Application Guide
For: ProJet 3500 series

thermoplastic properties are required, tooling is necessary. Historically this requires making soft tooling
molds (usually in aluminum) which takes significant time and expense, and might need to be scrapped
depending on design changes. Today, printing plastic molds for this early design phase is much faster
and less expensive.

If a production run requires only a few hundred parts, then 3D printed plastic molds are also a viable
production option. Many manufacturers are thrilled about the possibility of moving their inventories of
hundreds or thousands of molds into a digital inventory that is stored as 3D data and can be printed
on-demand. Digital inventory frees companies from having to hold physical inventory of tooling molds
or components. When an order for an infrequently used plastic component comes in, they can simply
print another mold and produce the part.

Application Considerations
Part design adjustments
There are two main differences between Metal and 3D
printed tooling, thermal conductivity and mechanical
strength. These are important characteristics to take into
account in the part and tooling design process.

Thermal conductivity: Metal is a good thermal

conductor which means it transfers heat quickly.
Plastic is a poor thermal conductor which means it
transfers heat slowly. For plastic, heat transfer is
slow, so plastic molds do not cool as quickly.
Mechanical Strength: Metal is stronger than plastic,
therefore higher clamping pressures and injection
pressures can be applied to metal tooling.

Figure 2: Injected Plastic Part in Mold

There are certain features that are challenging to mold with plastic tooling. Be aware of these features
when designing the part that will be Injection Molded:

Thin walls. The injected parts walls should be > .080 (2mm) in order to survive the injection process.

Tall/long parts. Parts should be < 4 long (100 mm). Creating parts that are longer than this is possible,
but not recommended due to inconsistency of part quality.

For 3D Systems Authorized Resellers Only Last Updated: 4/22/2015

 3D Printed Injection Mold
Sales & Application Guide
For: ProJet 3500 series

Large parts. Parts should to be smaller than 3 in3 (49 cm3). Again, larger parts are possible but not
recommended due to inconsistency of part quality.

Deep draws. Deep draws are not recommended, draws should be < 1 (25.4 mm). Deeper draws are
possible but not recommended due to inconsistency of part quality.

Mold Design Considerations

Types of gate. We recommend using a tab or fan gate, which are low pressure gates. They will help keep
a consistent injection pressure to prevent damage to the mold. Do not use direct hot gates with plastic
printed tooling. Direct contact with the injector will cause the tooling to distort.

Consistent walls. Just like with metal tooling, it is important to keep part walls a consistent thicknesses.
This is done to control part
shrinkage and preserve the
accuracy of injected parts. If
possible, shell out thick
sections of parts to give a
consistent wall thickness.

Short Draws. It is
recommended that you
design the parts to have
short draws. Deep draws
make it difficult to eject
parts from the tooling due
to the surface contact. Figure 3: Molds printed on the ProJet 3500 HDMax in VisiJet M3-X material

Large Draft Angle. Typical draft angles for metal tooling are 2-3, for Plastic tooling we recommend 5 to
allow easy part ejection.

No cooling channels. Because plastic is a thermal insulator, cooling channels in the mold are inefficient
at removing heat. They will also weaken the mold because of the voids they create.

Remove sharp corners. Sharp corners on parts make them difficult to eject from the tooling. We
recommend putting a radius on all corners of the tooling (interior and exterior) to help in the ejection
process.

Vent holes. Design vent holes into your mold so that trapped air may escape. If air is trapped, it will lead
to undesired results and possible damage to the tooling. We recommend using parting-line-vents (vents
running along the parting line) approximately 0.005 (0.127mm) deep.

For 3D Systems Authorized Resellers Only Last Updated: 4/22/2015

 3D Printed Injection Mold
Sales & Application Guide
For: ProJet 3500 series

Recommended Printing Process (on ProJet 3500 series)

Recommended print material: VisiJet M3-X. We recommend VisiJet M3-X due to its high Heat
Deflection Temperature (HDT).

Print molds using high resolution mode. Higher resolution print modes have smoother side walls which
are required for the ejection process. For ProJet 3500, we recommend using UHD mode.

Orientation. Orient the molds so the parting line and mold cavity face upwards. This will provide the
best surface quality on these critical faces.

Alignment. Tooling may distort a little depending on

the geometry. Visijet M3-X is a very strong, heat
resistant material. This strength can cause internal
stresses in the parts that may lead to slight
distortion during post processing. When placed
under clamping pressure during the injection process
the molds flatten and align properly. If your machine
has a low clamping pressure or tool alignment is
vital, threads and bolts can be added to assist with
clamping the molds.

Figure 4: Add threaded holes in the mold and use bolts to ensure alignment

Post Processing. Follow the standard post processing guidelines for molds printed in VisiJet M3-X.

Annealing for Visijet M3-X: Using a ProJet Finisher, heat the parts up to 100C for approximately 1 hour.
You will notice the part becomes wet to the touch; we call this sweating and it is normal. Follow the
steps below to remove the sweat from the part while it is still hot. We have found kitty litter is the most
effective for this.

A. Place a container of kitty litter in the oven with your parts as they heat up. This keeps the kitty
litter at the same temperature as the part.
B. After about 30 minutes of heating, place the part in the kitty litter with the mold cavity facing
down. Since the kitty litter is hot, it prevents a thermal shock to the plastic parts. The kitty litter
will wick the sweat off the plastic parts.
C. Allow 15 minutes for the kitty litter to absorb the sweat.
D. Remove the tooling from the oven to cool for approximately 15 minutes.
1. Remove any kitty litter which is stuck to the plastic part while the part is still hot. As the
plastic parts cool they shrink, the kitty litter may get stuck in small spaces.
2. Use compressed air, nylon brushes, or a dental pick to remove stuck kitty litter.

For 3D Systems Authorized Resellers Only Last Updated: 4/22/2015

 3D Printed Injection Mold
Sales & Application Guide
For: ProJet 3500 series

Compatible Thermoplastics
Virtually every injectable thermoplastic has the potential to be injected with molds printed on the ProJet
3500. There are no theoretical limitations; molds printed on the ProJet 3500 have withstood injection
temperatures of 675F (350C). The molds may be able to withstand temperatures greater than this, but
it is untested. 3DS customers have successfully shot parts in all of these production-grade materials:

Elastomers
Polypropylene
Polyethylene
Styrene
High Impact Styrene
Polycarbonates
Liquid Crystal Polymer (LCP)

The materials above are listed from easiest to most difficult. Elastomers are the easiest materials to
successfully use with plastic tooling, with LCPs requiring the most care to successfully injection mold.

For 3D Systems Authorized Resellers Only Last Updated: 4/22/2015

 3D Printed Injection Mold
Sales & Application Guide
For: ProJet 3500 series

Running Injection Molding Equipment with

Printed Molds
Setting up the injection molding machine

Mounting the printed molds. In general there are two

different mounting methods:

A. Mounting to a plate: Less initial investment,

allows for quick swap of tooling. You will need
to design bolt holes into the printed mold to
allow you to bolt it to the mounting plate.
B. Mounting as an insert inside a plate: This is the
preferred method because you can get a larger
number of shots per mold and it allows for
greater clamping force which can lead to better
quality parts. This is because the plate supports
the side walls of the mold. You will need to
machine a plate with a cutout in it that the
printed tooling will sit in.

Loading material. Depending on the type of molding

machine, material is either loaded into a hopper or
compartment where it is fed into a heating chamber to
prepare to be shot into the mold cavity. This material Figure 5: Low volume injection molding machine perfect for
use with printed molds
typically will come in pellet form that is easily poured
into the hopper. It will be heated until it becomes soft. As the plunger pushes the material through the
nozzle it quickly changes to a liquid state before entering the tooling.

Injecting with thermoplastic. Usually it takes a few shots to tune the machine for each mold and
material combination to get the exact shot amount, pressures and temperatures. Typical settings that
can be adjusted:

Injection pressure pressure with which the material is forced into the tooling.
Pre-Injection (hopper) temperature temperature at which the material is held before injection.
This temperature is right at the melt temperature of the material to get it into a soft state.
Injection (nozzle) temperature the temperature at which the material flows into the tooling.
This temperature is usually 30-50F hotter than the hopper temperature, causing the material to
become liquid allowing it to flow better.
Clamping pressure the pressure that the Injection Molding Machine applies to the tooling to
make sure it stays shut and resist the internal (injection) pressure of the material that would
otherwise open the mold.
Injection time this is the length of time used to force all the material into the tooling.

For 3D Systems Authorized Resellers Only Last Updated: 4/22/2015

 3D Printed Injection Mold
Sales & Application Guide
For: ProJet 3500 series

Molding Process Adjustments

Allow for longer cycle times. Because a plastic tool is a
thermal insulator, you must decrease the cycle time. This
allows more time for the part to cool and fully solidify
before ejection from the tooling. If parts do not have
enough time to cool then you can see
inaccurate/deformed parts.

Use the minimum pressure and temperature settings

prescribed for the injection material.

Figure 6: Plastic part made with a 3D printed mold

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 3D Printed Injection Mold
Sales & Application Guide
For: ProJet 3500 series

Glossary
Alignment pins: Pins that are used to align all parts of a mold to ensure accuracy and proper injection.

Cycle time: The time it takes to produce a single part. Time it takes for the full injection and ejection
process to occur. This can vary from 4 seconds to over a minute.

Clamping force: Amount of force used to hold the mold together

Cooling lines: Channels through the tool that allow water to flow through to remove heat from the
tooling. For plastic tooling it is not recommended because it weakens the tool.

Core: Male element in a die which produces a hole or recess in a part.

Core pins: Pins that are inserted into the tooling to create holes in the final part.

Daylight opening: distance between two mounting plates in the open position.

Draft angle: The degree of taper of a side wall or the angle of clearance designed to facilitate removal of
parts from a mold.

Ejector plate: Retainer into which ejector pins are assembled.

Ejector Pins: Pins that are used to push the part out of the mold after the Injection Process. Ejector Pins
are attached to an ejector plate

Fillet: A rounded filling of the internal angle between two surfaces.

Flash: Residual plastic attached to a part along the parting line

Gate: Part of the tooling where the liquid plastic enters the mold cavity

Fan gate: A shallow gate wider than the runner from which it extends, gives consistent injection
pressure

Flash gate: Usually a long gate extending from a runner which runs parallel to an edge of a molded part
along the flash or parting line of the mold

Hardness: The hardness of a material as measured by the Shore Durometer.

Injection Pressure: Pressure at which Material is shot into the mold cavity. Typical Injection pressure is
between 10,000-20,000 PSI

Inserts: A different layout of tooling that is inserted into the mounting plate as opposed to being
mounted on the face of the plate

Mounting plate: The plates that the molds are attached to which directly mount to the IM machine.
Multiple tools can be attached to mounting plates to allow for multiple parts per shot.

Mold Cavity: The Negative space in the mold that is created when the Tooling is fitted together. The
Mold Cavity will be filled with Plastic when the material is injected.

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 3D Printed Injection Mold
Sales & Application Guide
For: ProJet 3500 series

Molding material: Thermoplastic material to be injected into the molds to form parts.

Mold release: A lubricant used to coat a mold cavity to prevent the molded piece from sticking to it and
thus facilitate its removal from the mold. Also called release agent.

Parting line: Mark on a molding or casting where halves of the mold met in closing.

Plastic melt temp: The temperatures that the injection plastic melts at.

Plunger: Part of an injection press that applies pressure on the plastic material to push it into the
chamber.

Purging: Used for changing materials by ejecting one material from the cylinder of an injection molding
machine by forcing it out with the new material to be used for injecting process.

Runners: In an injection or transfer mold, the channel that connects the sprue with the gate to the
cavity.

Shot size: The amount of plastic that a machine can inject in a single shot. For printed molds, this is
typically 0.3 - 16 ounces (8 - 450 grams).

Shrinkage: Change in dimensions between a part and the mold cavity from the injection process. This is
typically expressed in, inch by inch.

Sprue Bushing: is an attachment to the tooling that directs the molten plastic to the cavity

Tool temp: The temperatures of the tooling, this is important to consider because if too much heat is
transferred to the plastic tools then the parts can distort from the temperature.

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