This is super cool, and maybe I don't know your target audience, but you don't need to frame this as being strong where 3d printing is weak. A lot of 3d printing folks will point out (legitimate) critiques like (1) were those actually the same thickness? was this a fair comparison? (2) you can print in very strong materials like Polycarbonate and PEEK, as well as durable materials like TPU, can you do that in injection molding? (3) how much post processing does injection molding require compared to 3d printing? When I print the part often just comes out done! You can avoid all of these critiques if you position yourselves as *complementary* to 3D printing instead of in opposition. So for example. "Ya, 3d printing is great, but what if you need equal strength along all dimensions regardless of layer lines? Use injection molding! Use Flovv!"
Love the comment. It's a small and niche market. Even if you print with very strong materials layer adhesion will always be a problem(the parts in the video are done with the same thickness saying that it would not have mattered if 3d print part was thicker because of layer issues. It was also printed at 55C chamber temperature). We are definitely not opposing the 3D printing thats why we have our own combination of it.
IM, in most practical and professional use cases, is superior to 3D printing, especially fused Deposition Modeling, every single time. You didn't say what technology you were printing in to have it come out "done." You didn't say how LONF that print takes in comparison to IM, nor did you state the material or its cost. Printing in PEEK and Polycarbonate? What consumer level machines do so affordably? The gripe hobbyists and consumer level "Makers" have with traditional IM is the upfront cost of a CNC mold and the skill barrier of CAD design, not how the quality, part cost, or production efficiency compares to 3D printing where you could even up waited 24 hours for one part that can be IMd in 10 seconds for a fraction of the cost. IM isn't intended for Hobbyists. It's for manufacturing a LOT of end use parts that are industry standard.
It is also unfair to compare the time lines. How long does it take to make a mould. Not that IM isn’t cool. They have some overlap but really serve different purposes. Certainly if you are making many parts, IM is vastly superior. For low volume I would generally prefer 3d printing unless there is a very specific reason why not.
You can't pour it from the bottle, it's a 2 component resin. Meaning you need to mix it to activate it. It takes time to manually mix it, then your mixing introduced air bubbles which you need to degas, then fill it into something like a syringe that can provide pressure so that you can fight the flow restriction of the mould (not every mould is flow restricted but many have to be), then fill that into a mould, it's an arduous and messy process. Due to how long the process takes, you need to work with slow resins, let's say pot life of 20 minutes, which will take about a whole day in the mould to become rigid enough to demould. This, if you had a resin with pot life of 1 minute, it could totally use that, and the item would be sufficiently pre-cured to demould in minutes. That's a bit of a pipe dream, realistically the fastest resin you can buy is maybe 5 minute one and it takes a little while, but a whole lot less than 20 minute type, meaning you can also cycle the moulds quicker, it's maybe a one hour wait not a day long wait. The mix nozzle here doesn't introduce air into the mixture once it gets primed.
@@SergeiSugaroverdoseShuykov Maximum capacity only 50ml and that syringe costs 2€ and is STILL finicky. You might construct something nice using disposable mix nozzles, but like... there it is, these guys have solved the problem for you. And while not cheap, it's also not expensive for the amount of work it can save over the medium term - provided it's reliable, which is something they have yet to prove.
How is this different from mixing urethane in a vat and pouring it with a funnel? If it flows like water into an open mold, it won't gain the benefits of mold pressure.
So how does it work? A few peristaltic pumps for resin plus another for the purge media? I see the clear nozzle has turbulent mixers like JB weld epoxy tips, then a control board to dose it in the correct ratio? If so that's a cool implementation! You could also consider an add on module, perhaps integrated with a slicer plugin, so when the molds are created an automatic top and bottom are generated with locating/retaining pins to hold the mold, and some kind of pressure transducer that interfaces with a thin wall section of the mold can detect when it is full, since peristaltic pumps might not be able to pick up on the resistance created by the backpressure of a filled mold. All this would look similar to a hydraulic press. It would also be relatively easy to implement a vacuum pump into the flow path to help ensure no bubbles, either direct in line or with a consumable silicone check valve that is placed in the flow path, so small batch production runs could be completed while maintaining the vacuum in the system. Just a though though :)
We are working on a software to automate the mold manufacturing at the moment we have a service called DaaS(design as a service) just for mold making. We are not worried about bubbles due to nature of RIM systems bubbles are not an issue. We don't use peristaltic pumps flow control(too little output with less control), cleaning wouldn't be possible with peristaltic pumps. System does have a vacuum pump on it. We will introduce automatic injection setting which will be adjusted before injection for manufacturing same parts.
@@NeckogIndustries Oh that’s awesome! You really are including a lot considering the price. Have you considered who, if any, influencers you will be sending them to? I can see some like punish props being able to really highlight this system.
Teaching Tech, Makers Muse, 3D Printing Nerd…. and AuroraTech plus a few more. Get them review models. Huge audience and all of them top notch makers. Edited to add CNC Kitchen.
What is the max volume I should be able to expect? Can I do a car hood? Fender? Center console? With the elegoo orange storm giga unlocking large build volumes for 3d printed molds, the flovv seems like it could open a ton of doors in the automotive space.
Device has two 1 gallon tanks but as long as you fill the tanks you can continuously inject. We are planning a automotive part with glass fiber reinforcement. With polyurethanes you can produce composite panels under 1 hour(provided you have a mold)
@@austinlambert3994 Not without serious modification. As long as you keep the filling the tanks part under 5 minutes you can technically do it without anyone helping. It's better to have someone filling the tanks though.
Maybe it'll be handy to have 2 buttons on the nozzle. Holding both gives you highest flow, while releasing one gives you a lower flow rate to top up & prevent spills. Looking forward to see where this can go.
@@NeckogIndustries Proportional trigger might be more difficult to control reliably. It can be difficult to pay attention to the pressure besides paying attention to the mould, while using one or two fingers is easy. Worth testing one way and the other. Makes sense to also test with people who aren't very manually dextrous, less good at multitasking, and are not double action airbrush trained. And remember, the universe will always find a customer who's worse at things than you could ever imagine. Also you know what would be good? BUTTONS. Not touchscreen. I mean touchscreen is nice if you need to switch a ton of modes or finely adjust a ton of settings, there's a threshold of complexity where that's the only way, but come on, touchscreen and droplets of resin on your gloves, no, that's a combo one doesn't wish on enemy.
For this mold, PLA can be used as well since its thin structure prevents excessive temperature rise during curing. However, for thicker parts, the heat generated during curing can deform the mold. Therefore, we recommend using ABS, and sometimes PETG, for mold-making due to their better thermal stability.
@@NeckogIndustries What about PVA? One big problem with any injection mold is the design of the part has to allow the part being released. However, if you want your part to be made by urethan due to its strenght and other material propertys - could you print the mold with PVA with geometrys normaly not possible (of course, with chanels alowing air coming out, so everything can be filled) and than afterwards simply desolve the mold to release the object?
Nice video, and I appreciate the transparency about the process steps and cost. The big benefit of the technology here vs plastic injection molding is the basically unlimited shot size. I'm an engineer professionally but I also design miniatures and buildings for tabletop gaming on the side. I think with the large shot size this is a feasible solution for tabletop scenery that would otherwise break the bank in 3d resin or take days to print on FDM. Unfortunately, my hang up is the labor required to separate and clean the molds between casts. If I had a molding press with ejector pins, then we'd be golden.
We do M6 screws as ejector pins. It helps greatly with removing the part. The chess pieces we have on our website had these ejector screws on the mold. Slowly tightening them pushes the injected part-out. We will include this on the next video.
Its mentioned that the Flovv works with 3rd party resins, can you go into more detail on that? Does the touch screen allow you to set a mixing ratio? Does the colour pigment adding system allow you to select a percentage of the total volume/mass? Etc. For example, one product I use is 120:100 A:B +
We calibrate the mixing ratios for each third-party resin by taking into account the viscosity changes at different temperatures. The process of adding color is manual rather than automatic, as automating it would be prohibitively expensive to maintain reliably. Every manufacturer produces resins with different viscosity profiles that vary with temperature. Our device is calibrated specifically for each resin, although it would function reasonably well even without precise calibration. We are cautious about adding a pump-offset feature, as it would require customers to remove the nozzle and test it multiple times. However, we are open to feedback and will consider adding this feature if there is enough demand. The hose from the device to the tip of the nozzle is 2ft/60cm long, which is ideal for inserting the nozzle into a 3D printer or using it in a casting/injection system. We can offer a longer hose option, but this would increase the amount of scrap material. Please share your thoughts on this. You can use our system with our resins or Smooth-On, Polytek resins. We will continue to expand our library of supported materials based on customer requests. Thank you.
@@NeckogIndustries thanks for the reply, that's some good information. I hear what you're saying with regards to calibration, although I guess I don't understand the material science well enough, I have used some incredibly viscous epoxies with 100:10 mixing ratios for example, as well as very 'thin' PUs with more standard 100:100 or 120:100 ratios. From your reply it seems you have calibrated and tested a selection of 3rd party resins to create the profiles? Does that mean the customer is locked in to whatever your library contains? What does that development plan look like in terms of what resins you'll support? Apologies these are quite detailed questions, but I wouldn't want to buy a device that appears to make my small scale manufacturing efforts significantly easier, to then find out I could only use it for 50% of my products due to a specific resin not being in the system. How difficult would it be to add a user set ratio to cater for all? Is there an upper viscosity limit the pump can handle? I understand the point about the pump offset / fill amount, however (ignoring temperature) the mould is always the same size per part, so after trial and error (or calculation on the flovv-e) it would be hugely beneficial to be able to set an injection amount, fill it and know that it's full, especially when using very fast cure resins. I assumed as much on the hose front, and in most cases probably not an issue. For my use case which is slightly above hobbyist my moulds are sitting at the bottom of a pressure pot and the flovv would be on the worktop so would need double that length at least. Excess scrap is a trade off but one I'd have to take. If the hose is replaceable maybe this could be an up-sell / optional extra, but wonder how that works with your calibration going from short to long hose. I am very encouraged by this, obviously I am looking at it for a small scale manufacturing setup rather than pure hobbyist scale, but with the ability to cast parts more easily I feel more and more hobbyists will start churning out parts and also need some of the requirements I'm proposing. Thanks
Yes for every resin, device is calibrated to that resins profile. Our plan is to support every resin including epoxies and platinum cure silicones. We were planning to lock resin profiles. But we have gotten few requests from different countries. We will have an open source material setting library with our customers. Small scale manufacturers is our market, so you can ask and provide input as much as you like. Adding a user set ratio is really easy also we are planning on it. Pump can basically pump whatever fluid we put even the silicones but with changed viscosity upper and lower flow limits change. Calculating the injection shot is already in the works. Even with the fast curing resins working time is not a problem since it comes out the nozzle mixed. It essentially delays the exothermic reaction. We will plan a longer hose option and test it. Longer hose means a bit more positive pressure on the pump end but since we run over-powered pumps this won’t be an issue. Priming and cleaning timings will change so scrap will increase.
@@NeckogIndustries couple of follow up questions before I put my deposit down 😅 I see you have to fill up the flovv resin tanks with your parts A and B, how does one go about emptying the tanks if not all resin is used / a different resin is needed / the machine will be standing for some time? Is there the possibility you could forgo the tanks and have hoses going direct to the containers the resin comes in (with a universal cap or similar)? Will you have EU retailers of your cleaning fluid? Or an alternative solution available? Thanks
You can ask as many questions as you want. No worries. 1.By removing the injection handle, you can run the fluids through the system into the containers. It's just three screws to take off. 2. You can unscrew the nozzle by hand, then empty one tank, followed by the other. This method is only possible with the least viscous fluids, and the containers must be special. Proper mixing isn't possible at low temperatures or with flexible resins. We work with a wide output range(flow range). If we were to use containers output control would be very limited. Yes, mold release and cleaning fluid will be available for the EU, shipped from our EU warehouse. We tried alternatives like acetone, but their cleaning performance was inadequate, and they are flammable, which is problematic.
Hand pouring: Introduces air into the resin. Reduces the work time. Resin is stays fresh inside the system Less material is used Takes much less time(from priming to filling the mold less than 5 seconds) Much less exposure to chemicals
@@NeckogIndustriesYou can degas the resin and compared to making a mold, all the other issues are trivial to solve. Maybe if I want a large number of parts, but otherwise I don't see the point of it has any significant cost to it. 100 bucks? Sure. 500 bucks? No way in hell.
I'd love to get this to make aero components for cars that I'm now making out of fiberglass which is insanely time-consuming with horrible noxious fumes. Can this make an entire rear spoiler, bumper or front spoiler? Side skirts? Basically what is the size limitation of this system?
There is no size limitation limit is 2 gallons; as long as you fill the system you are able to use continuously. Entire rear spoiler would be too heavy unless you have a inner core placed before(Like a closed cell foam or a inflatable inner core). Bumper and front spoiler would be ok.
It is compatible with 3rd party resins. Tough-cast has similar properties to our resins. You need to calibrate the priming and injection settings which take about 2 minutes then use the same setting.
I am confused as to why the machine is necessary. Can I not just pour liquid resin into the mold without a giant machine in my shop? This is a genuine question. I really would like some insight here because I am very much interested in casting durable parts exactly like this, but on a MUCH smaller scale.
Yes, you can pour resin by hand, but this machine makes the whole process way easier and more efficient, even for smaller projects. It helps keep the resin fresh by limiting its exposure to air, and it mixes and injects everything consistently, which makes for better quality and more durable parts. Plus, it keeps you from being exposed to the chemicals as much, which is a big win for safety. On top of that, it makes the process about 80% faster, especially when you’re doing multiple parts or more detailed casts. It’s basically taking something you can do by hand and making it quicker, safer, and with better results. It’s like bringing industrial precision into your home workshop without needing a huge machine. I
basically for two purposes.. 1- need multiple parts and pouring into a mold can be faster than 3d printing. 2- resin can have different properties so in some cases the resin material might be better than 3d printed materials.
If you broke a printed part, it means you didn't bake it enough (low temperature) or chose the wrong material. Try buying good nylon and printing it at 260-280 degrees. You'll split this brick with this part)
That is a very nice idea but i do hate the amount of waste. With open air it is easier to just prepare the right amount of resin and vacuum chamber it to get the mixing bubbles out. Then pour into the mold with a thin fluid line to avoid picking up air during pouring. My cleaning consists of letting my flexible mixing cup harden out and tear out the remaining hardened resin. I do love 3d printing for quick molds, i even glued mold parts together to create larger molds than my printer can handle. I will keep an eye on this startup, i do like the idea.
why are you calling this an injection molding device? this is a hobby grade 2 part urethane resin mixer and distributor. its great and id love to have one, but its weird the way you are marketing this.
неправильно: 1) 3д печать = 10 часов +3д моделирование >> при необходимости изготовления массовых изделий литье металлом и тд. (2) youtube канал Folk Craft и тп. 2) Экструзия = 2*10 часов (при условии простой формы, либо 2..5*10 часов) + 10мин
He is correct filament 3D printing strength is pathetic compared to injection molding. People say oh abs nylon asa polycarbonate carbon fiber etc etc, but it turns out that most of these are actually weaker than good old PLA! They just have better heat resistance or chemical resistance maybe. And more difficult to print and really sensitive to humidity, a real pain. At any rate the so-called engineering filament printing still can't hold a candle to those same parts that have been injection molded or SLS nylon print. So really what this injection molding system is competing against is probably SLS machines, very expensive printers so you have to have things made by some kind of service bureau like shapeways and wait for in the mail. Of course one drawback is molding is quite an art form and you can't mold just any shape and you need slides and multiple parts etc whereas 3D printing can make about any shape you can imagine in one piece.
Do you know how much money I'd lose of I switched from 3D printing to injection molding?! $300 up front, cost of electricity, cost of filament, less than a day later, and I have a part I won't need to replace for years. Idk if I'll even watch the video with that intro. I've been rightfully very critical of 3D printing over the years as someone who uses it, but this just seems vindictive lol.
If a part is manufacturable via mold design, injection molding will be superior and cost effective long term if you are producing the same part repeatedly.
@@phreaktor Injection Molding is superior for scale of production, 3D printing is good for ultra complex geometries, one-off parts, and prototypes. They both have strengths and weaknesses, and for a desktop solution, 3D Printing is mostly superior to Injection Molding. Imagine making an ENTIRE mold for a part you're only going to make like once or twice. Then you have to store that mold, or throw it away for taking up too much space.
Looks very safe for u to use. No breathing protection, no glowes, no eye protection... And that machine spits out toxic resin and solvents... Good work, good work.. NOT!!!
This is a urethan injected part ... and this is one made from steel - bam bam, see its stronger. Sorry guys what the hell are you comparing? 3D Printing is for rapid prototyping and to some degree for functional parts. So its completely strange to do such a comparison. By the way how long did it take to prepare the two mold forms?
Now compare a part designed for 3d printing with injection molding. Oh wait, you can't mold actually useful shapes that better accomplish the intention of the part and molding is extremely restrictive in shapes that actually mold? Yeah that about sums it up. Don't straw man 3d printing.
@@alexportiiii6414 What they are doing is misrepresenting fdm. They can have the best product on the planet and I'll call them out for a strawman. "Look I used a 3d printer wrong" only makes them look bad.
This is super cool, and maybe I don't know your target audience, but you don't need to frame this as being strong where 3d printing is weak. A lot of 3d printing folks will point out (legitimate) critiques like (1) were those actually the same thickness? was this a fair comparison? (2) you can print in very strong materials like Polycarbonate and PEEK, as well as durable materials like TPU, can you do that in injection molding? (3) how much post processing does injection molding require compared to 3d printing? When I print the part often just comes out done! You can avoid all of these critiques if you position yourselves as *complementary* to 3D printing instead of in opposition. So for example. "Ya, 3d printing is great, but what if you need equal strength along all dimensions regardless of layer lines? Use injection molding! Use Flovv!"
Love the comment. It's a small and niche market. Even if you print with very strong materials layer adhesion will always be a problem(the parts in the video are done with the same thickness saying that it would not have mattered if 3d print part was thicker because of layer issues. It was also printed at 55C chamber temperature). We are definitely not opposing the 3D printing thats why we have our own combination of it.
IM, in most practical and professional use cases, is superior to 3D printing, especially fused Deposition Modeling, every single time. You didn't say what technology you were printing in to have it come out "done." You didn't say how LONF that print takes in comparison to IM, nor did you state the material or its cost. Printing in PEEK and Polycarbonate? What consumer level machines do so affordably? The gripe hobbyists and consumer level "Makers" have with traditional IM is the upfront cost of a CNC mold and the skill barrier of CAD design, not how the quality, part cost, or production efficiency compares to 3D printing where you could even up waited 24 hours for one part that can be IMd in 10 seconds for a fraction of the cost. IM isn't intended for Hobbyists. It's for manufacturing a LOT of end use parts that are industry standard.
It is also unfair to compare the time lines. How long does it take to make a mould. Not that IM isn’t cool. They have some overlap but really serve different purposes. Certainly if you are making many parts, IM is vastly superior. For low volume I would generally prefer 3d printing unless there is a very specific reason why not.
@@NeckogIndustries tpu 3d printed parts don't have layer adhesion issues
Why you will need a "beer dispenser" when you can pour directly from the bottle that resin?
You can't pour it from the bottle, it's a 2 component resin. Meaning you need to mix it to activate it. It takes time to manually mix it, then your mixing introduced air bubbles which you need to degas, then fill it into something like a syringe that can provide pressure so that you can fight the flow restriction of the mould (not every mould is flow restricted but many have to be), then fill that into a mould, it's an arduous and messy process. Due to how long the process takes, you need to work with slow resins, let's say pot life of 20 minutes, which will take about a whole day in the mould to become rigid enough to demould.
This, if you had a resin with pot life of 1 minute, it could totally use that, and the item would be sufficiently pre-cured to demould in minutes. That's a bit of a pipe dream, realistically the fastest resin you can buy is maybe 5 minute one and it takes a little while, but a whole lot less than 20 minute type, meaning you can also cycle the moulds quicker, it's maybe a one hour wait not a day long wait. The mix nozzle here doesn't introduce air into the mixture once it gets primed.
@@SianaGearz mixing syringes are existing btw
@@SergeiSugaroverdoseShuykov Maximum capacity only 50ml and that syringe costs 2€ and is STILL finicky. You might construct something nice using disposable mix nozzles, but like... there it is, these guys have solved the problem for you. And while not cheap, it's also not expensive for the amount of work it can save over the medium term - provided it's reliable, which is something they have yet to prove.
@@SianaGearz fast resins have tons of issues. If you go through the trouble if making a mold, you can wait for 10 min pot life
That thing sounds like a giant Terminator attacking a gas station.
How is this different from mixing urethane in a vat and pouring it with a funnel? If it flows like water into an open mold, it won't gain the benefits of mold pressure.
What benefit is added with mold pressure with a low viscosity material?
I like that it sounds like an eldritch horror
Nice. Just one comment. PLEASE get rid of the looped music. It's annoying and messes with the sound of your voice. Otherwise, good luck!
very nice update video showing the flovv more and the injection process.
So how does it work? A few peristaltic pumps for resin plus another for the purge media? I see the clear nozzle has turbulent mixers like JB weld epoxy tips, then a control board to dose it in the correct ratio? If so that's a cool implementation!
You could also consider an add on module, perhaps integrated with a slicer plugin, so when the molds are created an automatic top and bottom are generated with locating/retaining pins to hold the mold, and some kind of pressure transducer that interfaces with a thin wall section of the mold can detect when it is full, since peristaltic pumps might not be able to pick up on the resistance created by the backpressure of a filled mold. All this would look similar to a hydraulic press. It would also be relatively easy to implement a vacuum pump into the flow path to help ensure no bubbles, either direct in line or with a consumable silicone check valve that is placed in the flow path, so small batch production runs could be completed while maintaining the vacuum in the system.
Just a though though :)
We are working on a software to automate the mold manufacturing at the moment we have a service called DaaS(design as a service) just for mold making. We are not worried about bubbles due to nature of RIM systems bubbles are not an issue. We don't use peristaltic pumps flow control(too little output with less control), cleaning wouldn't be possible with peristaltic pumps. System does have a vacuum pump on it.
We will introduce automatic injection setting which will be adjusted before injection for manufacturing same parts.
@@NeckogIndustries Oh that’s awesome! You really are including a lot considering the price. Have you considered who, if any, influencers you will be sending them to? I can see some like punish props being able to really highlight this system.
Teaching Tech, Makers Muse, 3D Printing Nerd…. and AuroraTech plus a few more. Get them review models. Huge audience and all of them top notch makers. Edited to add CNC Kitchen.
A lot of people upset at the shot at 3D printing 😂 y'all got stock in Bambu Lab or something?
What is the max volume I should be able to expect? Can I do a car hood? Fender? Center console?
With the elegoo orange storm giga unlocking large build volumes for 3d printed molds, the flovv seems like it could open a ton of doors in the automotive space.
And any chance we can see some form of external tank option if we want to go over the 2 gallon limitation?
Device has two 1 gallon tanks but as long as you fill the tanks you can continuously inject.
We are planning a automotive part with glass fiber reinforcement. With polyurethanes you can produce composite panels under 1 hour(provided you have a mold)
@@austinlambert3994 Not without serious modification. As long as you keep the filling the tanks part under 5 minutes you can technically do it without anyone helping. It's better to have someone filling the tanks though.
@@NeckogIndustries I'm very excited for that video.
Maybe it'll be handy to have 2 buttons on the nozzle.
Holding both gives you highest flow, while releasing one gives you a lower flow rate to top up & prevent spills.
Looking forward to see where this can go.
Makes sense. A proportional trigger would probably be better. We will look into that. Thank you for the input.
@@NeckogIndustries Proportional trigger might be more difficult to control reliably. It can be difficult to pay attention to the pressure besides paying attention to the mould, while using one or two fingers is easy. Worth testing one way and the other. Makes sense to also test with people who aren't very manually dextrous, less good at multitasking, and are not double action airbrush trained. And remember, the universe will always find a customer who's worse at things than you could ever imagine.
Also you know what would be good? BUTTONS. Not touchscreen. I mean touchscreen is nice if you need to switch a ton of modes or finely adjust a ton of settings, there's a threshold of complexity where that's the only way, but come on, touchscreen and droplets of resin on your gloves, no, that's a combo one doesn't wish on enemy.
Looks great but I am curious, why ABS and not PLA for the mold?
I dont see any functional difference and its much easier to print with PLA
For this mold, PLA can be used as well since its thin structure prevents excessive temperature rise during curing. However, for thicker parts, the heat generated during curing can deform the mold. Therefore, we recommend using ABS, and sometimes PETG, for mold-making due to their better thermal stability.
@@NeckogIndustries What about ASA?
ASA works too.
@@NeckogIndustries What about PVA? One big problem with any injection mold is the design of the part has to allow the part being released. However, if you want your part to be made by urethan due to its strenght and other material propertys - could you print the mold with PVA with geometrys normaly not possible (of course, with chanels alowing air coming out, so everything can be filled) and than afterwards simply desolve the mold to release the object?
@@oleurgast730 We should make a video on that. It would work really nicely.
Nice video, and I appreciate the transparency about the process steps and cost. The big benefit of the technology here vs plastic injection molding is the basically unlimited shot size. I'm an engineer professionally but I also design miniatures and buildings for tabletop gaming on the side. I think with the large shot size this is a feasible solution for tabletop scenery that would otherwise break the bank in 3d resin or take days to print on FDM.
Unfortunately, my hang up is the labor required to separate and clean the molds between casts. If I had a molding press with ejector pins, then we'd be golden.
We do M6 screws as ejector pins. It helps greatly with removing the part. The chess pieces we have on our website had these ejector screws on the mold. Slowly tightening them pushes the injected part-out. We will include this on the next video.
@NeckogIndustries Very clever solution. Looking forward to more videos.
If I understand what you are talking about, why wouldn't you print the cores then vacuum mold from sheets of thermoplastic?
Its mentioned that the Flovv works with 3rd party resins, can you go into more detail on that? Does the touch screen allow you to set a mixing ratio? Does the colour pigment adding system allow you to select a percentage of the total volume/mass? Etc.
For example, one product I use is 120:100 A:B +
We calibrate the mixing ratios for each third-party resin by taking into account the viscosity changes at different temperatures. The process of adding color is manual rather than automatic, as automating it would be prohibitively expensive to maintain reliably.
Every manufacturer produces resins with different viscosity profiles that vary with temperature. Our device is calibrated specifically for each resin, although it would function reasonably well even without precise calibration.
We are cautious about adding a pump-offset feature, as it would require customers to remove the nozzle and test it multiple times. However, we are open to feedback and will consider adding this feature if there is enough demand.
The hose from the device to the tip of the nozzle is 2ft/60cm long, which is ideal for inserting the nozzle into a 3D printer or using it in a casting/injection system. We can offer a longer hose option, but this would increase the amount of scrap material. Please share your thoughts on this.
You can use our system with our resins or Smooth-On, Polytek resins. We will continue to expand our library of supported materials based on customer requests.
Thank you.
@@NeckogIndustries thanks for the reply, that's some good information.
I hear what you're saying with regards to calibration, although I guess I don't understand the material science well enough, I have used some incredibly viscous epoxies with 100:10 mixing ratios for example, as well as very 'thin' PUs with more standard 100:100 or 120:100 ratios. From your reply it seems you have calibrated and tested a selection of 3rd party resins to create the profiles? Does that mean the customer is locked in to whatever your library contains? What does that development plan look like in terms of what resins you'll support?
Apologies these are quite detailed questions, but I wouldn't want to buy a device that appears to make my small scale manufacturing efforts significantly easier, to then find out I could only use it for 50% of my products due to a specific resin not being in the system.
How difficult would it be to add a user set ratio to cater for all?
Is there an upper viscosity limit the pump can handle?
I understand the point about the pump offset / fill amount, however (ignoring temperature) the mould is always the same size per part, so after trial and error (or calculation on the flovv-e) it would be hugely beneficial to be able to set an injection amount, fill it and know that it's full, especially when using very fast cure resins.
I assumed as much on the hose front, and in most cases probably not an issue. For my use case which is slightly above hobbyist my moulds are sitting at the bottom of a pressure pot and the flovv would be on the worktop so would need double that length at least. Excess scrap is a trade off but one I'd have to take. If the hose is replaceable maybe this could be an up-sell / optional extra, but wonder how that works with your calibration going from short to long hose.
I am very encouraged by this, obviously I am looking at it for a small scale manufacturing setup rather than pure hobbyist scale, but with the ability to cast parts more easily I feel more and more hobbyists will start churning out parts and also need some of the requirements I'm proposing.
Thanks
Yes for every resin, device is calibrated to that resins profile. Our plan is to support every resin including epoxies and platinum cure silicones. We were planning to lock resin profiles. But we have gotten few requests from different countries. We will have an open source material setting library with our customers.
Small scale manufacturers is our market, so you can ask and provide input as much as you like. Adding a user set ratio is really easy also we are planning on it.
Pump can basically pump whatever fluid we put even the silicones but with changed viscosity upper and lower flow limits change.
Calculating the injection shot is already in the works. Even with the fast curing resins working time is not a problem since it comes out the nozzle mixed. It essentially delays the exothermic reaction.
We will plan a longer hose option and test it. Longer hose means a bit more positive pressure on the pump end but since we run over-powered pumps this won’t be an issue. Priming and cleaning timings will change so scrap will increase.
@@NeckogIndustries couple of follow up questions before I put my deposit down 😅
I see you have to fill up the flovv resin tanks with your parts A and B, how does one go about emptying the tanks if not all resin is used / a different resin is needed / the machine will be standing for some time?
Is there the possibility you could forgo the tanks and have hoses going direct to the containers the resin comes in (with a universal cap or similar)?
Will you have EU retailers of your cleaning fluid? Or an alternative solution available?
Thanks
You can ask as many questions as you want. No worries.
1.By removing the injection handle, you can run the fluids through the system into the containers. It's just three screws to take off.
2. You can unscrew the nozzle by hand, then empty one tank, followed by the other.
This method is only possible with the least viscous fluids, and the containers must be special. Proper mixing isn't possible at low temperatures or with flexible resins. We work with a wide output range(flow range). If we were to use containers output control would be very limited.
Yes, mold release and cleaning fluid will be available for the EU, shipped from our EU warehouse. We tried alternatives like acetone, but their cleaning performance was inadequate, and they are flammable, which is problematic.
Oh this will be a gamechanger
what benefits are these using the injection over just pouring it in there?
Hand pouring:
Introduces air into the resin.
Reduces the work time.
Resin is stays fresh inside the system
Less material is used
Takes much less time(from priming to filling the mold less than 5 seconds)
Much less exposure to chemicals
@@NeckogIndustriesYou can degas the resin and compared to making a mold, all the other issues are trivial to solve. Maybe if I want a large number of parts, but otherwise I don't see the point of it has any significant cost to it. 100 bucks? Sure. 500 bucks? No way in hell.
I'd love to get this to make aero components for cars that I'm now making out of fiberglass which is insanely time-consuming with horrible noxious fumes.
Can this make an entire rear spoiler, bumper or front spoiler? Side skirts?
Basically what is the size limitation of this system?
There is no size limitation limit is 2 gallons; as long as you fill the system you are able to use continuously.
Entire rear spoiler would be too heavy unless you have a inner core placed before(Like a closed cell foam or a inflatable inner core). Bumper and front spoiler would be ok.
would it be suitable for miniatures and tabletop themed molds ? or is it more likely for prototyp building ?
For miniatures you would need silicone molds. It's can be used for both.
Thanks for the video. Which brand / type of mold release paste do you use?
It's our own formula.
does your device work with other resins for example Tough-Cast 75D?
It is compatible with 3rd party resins. Tough-cast has similar properties to our resins. You need to calibrate the priming and injection settings which take about 2 minutes then use the same setting.
@Neckog Industries If you’re looking for Beta testers please let me know.
Nice video, thanks :)
that giant plug at the end...
I am confused as to why the machine is necessary. Can I not just pour liquid resin into the mold without a giant machine in my shop? This is a genuine question. I really would like some insight here because I am very much interested in casting durable parts exactly like this, but on a MUCH smaller scale.
Yes, you can pour resin by hand, but this machine makes the whole process way easier and more efficient, even for smaller projects. It helps keep the resin fresh by limiting its exposure to air, and it mixes and injects everything consistently, which makes for better quality and more durable parts. Plus, it keeps you from being exposed to the chemicals as much, which is a big win for safety.
On top of that, it makes the process about 80% faster, especially when you’re doing multiple parts or more detailed casts. It’s basically taking something you can do by hand and making it quicker, safer, and with better results. It’s like bringing industrial precision into your home workshop without needing a huge machine.
I
I would be interested in reviews by the usual 3d printing nerds
I like how the camera man was the only one smart enough to wear gloves. PPE...ahhh...my skin or eyes aren't on fire so I should be fine.
When is it going to be released?
20 June Kickstarter with end of the year deliveries.
OK, we'll wait to end of year after you fulfill the Kickstarter campaign.
so you have a printed part and a mold ? I dont get it
It's a desktop injection system with a purpose formulated mold release to use 3D printed molds.
basically for two purposes.. 1- need multiple parts and pouring into a mold can be faster than 3d printing. 2- resin can have different properties so in some cases the resin material might be better than 3d printed materials.
Pump sounds like the war of worlds walkers
If you broke a printed part, it means you didn't bake it enough (low temperature) or chose the wrong material. Try buying good nylon and printing it at 260-280 degrees. You'll split this brick with this part)
That is a very nice idea but i do hate the amount of waste. With open air it is easier to just prepare the right amount of resin and vacuum chamber it to get the mixing bubbles out. Then pour into the mold with a thin fluid line to avoid picking up air during pouring. My cleaning consists of letting my flexible mixing cup harden out and tear out the remaining hardened resin. I do love 3d printing for quick molds, i even glued mold parts together to create larger molds than my printer can handle. I will keep an eye on this startup, i do like the idea.
why are you calling this an injection molding device? this is a hobby grade 2 part urethane resin mixer and distributor. its great and id love to have one, but its weird the way you are marketing this.
Technical term is reaction injection molding or RIM.
Anyone else get War of the Worlds vibes
неправильно:
1) 3д печать = 10 часов +3д моделирование >> при необходимости изготовления массовых изделий литье металлом и тд. (2) youtube канал Folk Craft и тп.
2) Экструзия = 2*10 часов (при условии простой формы, либо 2..5*10 часов) + 10мин
He is correct filament 3D printing strength is pathetic compared to injection molding. People say oh abs nylon asa polycarbonate carbon fiber etc etc, but it turns out that most of these are actually weaker than good old PLA! They just have better heat resistance or chemical resistance maybe. And more difficult to print and really sensitive to humidity, a real pain. At any rate the so-called engineering filament printing still can't hold a candle to those same parts that have been injection molded or SLS nylon print. So really what this injection molding system is competing against is probably SLS machines, very expensive printers so you have to have things made by some kind of service bureau like shapeways and wait for in the mail. Of course one drawback is molding is quite an art form and you can't mold just any shape and you need slides and multiple parts etc whereas 3D printing can make about any shape you can imagine in one piece.
Cool product
I didn't get how it's better than hand mixing, but ok...
Definitely not bubble free, the urethane will need to cure under pressure in a pressure pot to be bubble free.
But your 3d printing the mold. So in all actuality this took you more like 20hours and 10 minutes to make...😂
You're
That mold will last a few pieces . Too much work for just some piece of plastic. 3d printing all the time. I worked with Rim molding for years
oh you use diaphram pump
Do you know how much money I'd lose of I switched from 3D printing to injection molding?! $300 up front, cost of electricity, cost of filament, less than a day later, and I have a part I won't need to replace for years. Idk if I'll even watch the video with that intro. I've been rightfully very critical of 3D printing over the years as someone who uses it, but this just seems vindictive lol.
If a part is manufacturable via mold design, injection molding will be superior and cost effective long term if you are producing the same part repeatedly.
@@phreaktor Injection Molding is superior for scale of production, 3D printing is good for ultra complex geometries, one-off parts, and prototypes. They both have strengths and weaknesses, and for a desktop solution, 3D Printing is mostly superior to Injection Molding. Imagine making an ENTIRE mold for a part you're only going to make like once or twice. Then you have to store that mold, or throw it away for taking up too much space.
Looks very safe for u to use. No breathing protection, no glowes, no eye protection...
And that machine spits out toxic resin and solvents... Good work, good work..
NOT!!!
This is a urethan injected part ... and this is one made from steel - bam bam, see its stronger. Sorry guys what the hell are you comparing? 3D Printing is for rapid prototyping and to some degree for functional parts. So its completely strange to do such a comparison. By the way how long did it take to prepare the two mold forms?
This video is not as good as you think it is.. it's missing ALOT.
A lot*
"3D Print" layman term for rapid prototyping NOT manufacturing.
Urethane is not toxic ?!?? You do not need safety equipment?
Now compare a part designed for 3d printing with injection molding.
Oh wait, you can't mold actually useful shapes that better accomplish the intention of the part and molding is extremely restrictive in shapes that actually mold? Yeah that about sums it up.
Don't straw man 3d printing.
what they are doing is pretty cool. PU has extreme properties you cant get with FDM. take a step back
@@alexportiiii6414 What they are doing is misrepresenting fdm. They can have the best product on the planet and I'll call them out for a strawman. "Look I used a 3d printer wrong" only makes them look bad.