Injection Molding DIY

One of my projects requires some plastic injection molded parts. Quotes for the molds came in around $15,000 which was way over budget for prototype parts. My solution was to build an injection molding machine to mount on my arbor press. I tested the machine with a simple spinning top mold before attempting to make the more complex molds for my original project. I used a cheap PID temperature controller, two 300 watt elements and a thermocouple. To use, I just set the desired temperature, drop in some plastic pellets or recycled parts, and press the melted thermoplastic into a mold.

Main body: machined from 1" thick plain carbon steel
Plunger: machined from 3/4" drill rod
Solid state relay: http://amzn.to/2u2oOi3
Two 120 VAC, 300 watt cartridge heating elements
Thermocouple: http://amzn.to/2uKOlts
PID temperature controller: http://amzn.to/2u6RPZu
Note: I highly recommend the book, "The Secrets Of Building a Plastic Injection Molding Machine" by Vincent Gingerly. Although I didn't follow his plans, it was a great resource to get started: http://amzn.to/2uKYJSc

• #education
• #injection_molding
• #temperature_control
• #pid
• #plastic
• #arbour_press
• #machining
• #diy
• #home_built