Injection Moulding / Rapid Prototyping - Help with new product development
By ilikemax
Published: February 26th, 2011
Published: February 26th, 2011
Hi,
I'm in the process of developing products for a sport called Bike Polo. The sport has been around since the turn of the century on grass but has recently experienced a rennaissance on the hard court. Here's a great video about it: http://bit.ly/eTujsB
The initial product I'm building is a mallet head. Due to the nature of the sport, the heads must be very durable and stand up to the abuse of concrete, ball whacking and being run over by bikes. Typically, players make their own heads by using ABS plumbing tubing or HDPE pipe (from hardware store). These will last anywhere from a couple days to months, depending on intensity of play. Both materials work well but HDPE seems to wear better (I assume because it is softer?).
I have created a pretty slick 3D head design and want to build my products out of HDPE (or UHMW if possible). However, in order to get a playable product - one that I can take onto the court and test out without shattering - I need to create a very expensive mould - Or do I? Is it possible to create a rapid prototype out of HDPE that will have the same weight, feel and physical properties of an injection moulded part? I've done a bunch of research and the best I can find are ABS rapid prototypers, but I'm concerned it will not provide the durability I am looking for.
So far I have received mould cost estimates ranging from $15,000 (china) to $45,000 (US) to develop the mould. However, I would much rather invest $1000 - $2000 now for a rapid development than $15k and find out I have to re-tool.
I have already made an SLS prototype and tried it out on the court. Unfortunately it is way too brittle and does not give me an accurate representation of playability. I have attached a 3D rendering of the finished product to give you an idea of what I've created. Please note that the hourglass shaped caps on the ends are separate pieces.
Any recommendations on processes, suppliers, materials etc would be highly appreciated.
Thanks,
Max
| Attachment | Size |
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| Northern_Standard_POLO_endcap.JPG | 31.18 KB |
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You need to contact a plastic
You need to contact a plastic injection mold shop with experience in prototypes and developing plastic products for entrepreneurs. Check out www.premierplasticmolding.com
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hello Max, there are severial
hello Max, there are severial options you could decide:
1)CNC cut the part from a plastic sheet
2)RIM Molding process
3)Injection molding prototype
http://www.China-mould-maker.scom
Hi Max, As said above
Hi Max,
As said above machining a prototype from a solid block of the chosen production material will be the closest representation of a production part. However there will be slight differences between a machined part and a moulded part but ask your moulder what these differences are likely to be and maybe write something on the purchase order for tooling saying that the moulded part must be perform as per the machined prototype.
Having looked at the rendered visual it might be worth looking into whether rotational (roto moulding) would be applicable to this design as i know the material you have specified above would be available and tooling cost would be a lot less than injection moulding.
There are lots of moulders and mechinists you can bring up in seconds on the internet so speak to them all but don't believe everything they say.
Hi Max, if you need help in
Hi Max, if you need help in making a new mould that is much cheaper, please go to www.tetraflow.com
I would go with Bill's
I would go with Bill's suggestion of machining the prototypes. If you have a 3-D model and a machine shop in the area they should be able to do this at a reasonable cost.
Here's what I'd suggest: Your
Here's what I'd suggest:
Your problem is that you want a production quality prototype. this is an oxymoron.
MACHINING OPTIONS
Get yourself a chunk of HDPE or UHMW.
(1) Go to someone who can do Laser cutting. and pray
(2) machine what you want out of the block
MOLDING OPTIONS
(3) you can, with a rapid prototype, cast an RTV silicone set of cavities with a hand loaded core. You then place it in a steel chase. You can then with a awful amount of scrap inject molten PE. Keep in mind your RTV silicone will want to tear after a few parts.
(4) skip the RTV rubber and make your cavities out of dental casting plaster with a hand loaded core. You might get 10 shots out of it.