1

Hello,

I have a very simple golf tee design that I would like to get a 3D printed mold for plastic injection molding. I have done some research and it is apparently possible, the main way I have found is using gypsum reinforced plastic or fiberglass reinforced plastic. Unfortunately I have not found much information on what printers are capable of using this material and if anyone has experience making these kinds of prints. Any help on this would be appreciated and if it leads to a solution I would be willing to hand out some free golf tee’s.

2

I think you are looking in the wrong direction - you should seek a molding house that specializes in small volume mold runs (someone like Protomold). These services are starting to use 3D printed molds where it makes sense, but you won’t be able to do anything yourself with a 3D printed mold if you don’t have injection molding ($$$) equipment.

You could use 3D printing to generate silicone molds for liquid casting (urethane, plaster, other resins and epoxies) for prototyping, but that’s about as far as you’ll get before investing in proper services.

3

Currently I am using silicone molds to resin cast however it has turned out to be a terrible way to try to produce even 100 units a day. I have the ability to test out molds on a manual injection mold machine, once I can see that it works I will invest in an injection mold machine of my own.

Does anyone know if FCS printed molds will hold up to the heat and pressure of a manual injection mold machine?

4

What injection machine do you have access. I have tough resin which should hold up for limited runs. The trick is to print the mold for your specific injection machine.

5

It is a LNS Tech 150A desktop injection molding machine. Here is a link to the companies website, I also found that they have aluminum blanks that have been hollowed out to allow a none metal mold to be inserted in the center.

http://www.techkits.com/model\_150/ordernow.html

6

Hey - Sorry, looks like you are a few steps ahead of me already. I would try a standard ABS (from any FDM hobby level machine) mold (high infill/nearly solid) in your injection machine. It might not work but it’s the best option for a quick test.

You could try finding someone with a Staratsys Polyjet machine to get a mold made from their “Digital ABS” material but it will be more expensive.

Is there something preventing you from just 3D printing all of the prototypes you need? Some of the “bot farm” style shops could probably crank out a few hundred golf tee sized parts relatively quickly.