I was always puzzled by your reluctance to polish, as this is also a way to show your customers "quality". Nice to see you actually found it relaxing, and your parts will show a much higher level of workmanship. Watching your videos makes me want to try plastic injection. Maybe I'll have a real use for my Taigmach :)
That was the main thing I used my "Taigmach" for... I started with a small desktop molding machine I can easily pick up and have been working my way up. And my reluctance to polish was party that I didn't know how. And when I asked a couple people, they said let the machine do it. Now that I've learned how, it will be part of my toolkit.
My Father was a Tool maker and he always sent mould tools out to be pollished. But I do remember helping out when I was young touching up the polish after he had ground out some damage or to remove scratches caused by careless Die Setters. I can testify that polishing hardened steel is a real task especialy with old fasioned carburundum paste. The way he showed me to clean debris out of detailed areas was to wash out with a little white spirit and then meths (I think thats mineral spirits and denatured alcohol in merikan😊) and brush dry with a soft artists paint brush. When doing hand work on a mould it is worth while masking the mateing faces of the mould to avoid acidental damage. It also helps to stop rounding over the parting line when polishing perpendicular surfaces.
@@cre8itgroup903 Your talking about nearly 40 years ago. Our own moulds were generaly run untill they were worn out or superceded. As far as I remember when they were off the machines they were just spayed with a generous amount of mold release as they would only be on the shelf for a couple of weeks at most and it would come off in the first few cycles while the machine was being set up. My dad used to swear by rocol high pressure press tool lubricant for press tools and machinery that were being stored. I don't remember if he used it on molds but I doubt it as it's hell to get off. Hope this helps.
Mold polishing need a lot of patience, avoiding the edges of the cavity to get dull is utmost important. A 2000 grit of sandpaper put under a small hard wooden stick or bamboo, formed like a chisel would make a mirror finished. Followed by diamond paste 1 micron on a felt. I'm a plastic injection moldmaker for 20 years.
Polished quite a bit of Aluminium over the years. Not molds but for cosmetic/appearance on machined or pressed/formed parts plus castings (motorcycle & car parts - wheels, engine covers, etc.). I'm surprised that you're starting with such fine abrasives. We typically use 400 or 600 grit paper to remove machining marks & then go straight to a cloth mop (buff) with something like a Tripoli polishing compound. Maybe then something finer to bring out the shine. Where we can't use a mop/buff (as you couldn't inside a mould cavity) we use a polishing paste on cloth. If we have to get into corners we might use mounted felt wheels or Cratex impregnated rubber wheels in a Dremel (or similar). Quite easy to put unwanted grooves or ripples in with those though. Oh & paper towels can scratch a mirror polished surface!
Started tool & die apprenticeship in '62 at a mold shop, still there 2 days a week. Single to 16 cavity production molds of hardened tool steel until the 90s then added aluminium for prototyping runs. Milled, surface ground and EDM surfaces were polished to SPE-SPI requirements. Plaques were available to illustrate the results. We would start with dry polishing stones, then wet paper and finish with compound on felt. We always used the same direction per grit, crossing at 90 degree for each grit grade reduction. Small areas were polished with hardware store wooden dowels or hobby stores balsa sticks ground to a chisel shape. The final polish wants to end with all surfaces being worked the same direction. The toolmaker removed the cutter marks before handing the tool to our 3 full time polishers. If it was a lens core or cavity we dry stoned it then sent it to a professional lens company for hard chrome and finish polishing. Venting tip. If you have a problem gas burn on a vented mold you can sometimes increase the vent by carefully using a few strokes of course paper on the part line near the burn. Direction to be 90 degree from the cavity and care not to round over the cavity's edge!
Thanks for the info. I have never encountered burning in my molds. That may be because my machines don't have enough injection pressure. Or that I have vents.
John get some Mother’s Aluminum polish. After you get your mold smooth by sanding/swabbing. Get q-tips along with Mother’s Aluminum Polish! Will make it a mirror finish with ease! Hope this helps.
Thanks for the tip! I looked into it and they seem to sell it as a one-step polish. I'm not sure how that would work, but might be worth a try next time.
JohnSL it’s a paste. You get a rag to apply and polish. Then another rag to clean just like waxing a car. Use it all the time for my Aluminium molds and it makes it like a mirror. You can buy it at autozone or other auto parts store for like $6-$8 dollars.
My campus has a machine similar to the one behind you at the end of the video. Where can i get more info on that machine? I want to learn about it and try to use it.
For small batch pellet drying, maybe an old school hot air popcorn popping machine? I’m thinking the small table top type which blows hot air straight up through a mesh screen
I like using green triangles to knock things down and then porcelain spheres to really smooth things out. You have to be careful not to round off your parting line edges too much or your will get a duckbill parting line
My understanding is that the media would most likely not be able to get into all places. So do you use masking tape or something else to protect the parting line?
Packing tape or quality electrical tape works great. High temp powdercoating tape also works great. Cover the mold mating surface with tape. Cut away the mold cavity with a sharp #11 blade.
Seems I cannot find the Micro-Mark 83244 online, do they still make it. can you provide me with more information on this product. Any help would be appreciated.
They both work great!! We have used objet's high temp 3D print material for molds . Its best to use a aluminum mud box to keep them together. Same thing goes with epoxy molds. We used BJB material. Worked great for quite a few parts if you keep to tool cool.
@@cre8itgroup903 Thanks for your reply. That's great to hear! Aluminum mud frame - check! - How many parts are you able to get off of Objet molds? And epoxy molds? (I'm aware geometry plays a large role.) I'm trying to determine the all-in cost per part.
I'll say < 50 but we made over 200 collars and 240 base plates for a project and could have done more. Remember good draft is your friend and you don't want any thin wall mold features. They don't deal with the heat very well.
I was always puzzled by your reluctance to polish, as this is also a way to show your customers "quality". Nice to see you actually found it relaxing, and your parts will show a much higher level of workmanship. Watching your videos makes me want to try plastic injection. Maybe I'll have a real use for my Taigmach :)
That was the main thing I used my "Taigmach" for... I started with a small desktop molding machine I can easily pick up and have been working my way up. And my reluctance to polish was party that I didn't know how. And when I asked a couple people, they said let the machine do it. Now that I've learned how, it will be part of my toolkit.
My Father was a Tool maker and he always sent mould tools out to be pollished. But I do remember helping out when I was young touching up the polish after he had ground out some damage or to remove scratches caused by careless Die Setters. I can testify that polishing hardened steel is a real task especialy with old fasioned carburundum paste.
The way he showed me to clean debris out of detailed areas was to wash out with a little white spirit and then meths (I think thats mineral spirits and denatured alcohol in merikan😊) and brush dry with a soft artists paint brush.
When doing hand work on a mould it is worth while masking the mateing faces of the mould to avoid acidental damage. It also helps to stop rounding over the parting line when polishing perpendicular surfaces.
Do you remember what they used to coat the steel tooling for storage?
@@cre8itgroup903 Your talking about nearly 40 years ago. Our own moulds were generaly run untill they were worn out or superceded. As far as I remember when they were off the machines they were just spayed with a generous amount of mold release as they would only be on the shelf for a couple of weeks at most and it would come off in the first few cycles while the machine was being set up.
My dad used to swear by rocol high pressure press tool lubricant for press tools and machinery that were being stored. I don't remember if he used it on molds but I doubt it as it's hell to get off.
Hope this helps.
Thanks for the information on cleaning the debris. I was wondering the best way to do this. I'm glad I don't have to polish these to a mirror finish.
Mold polishing need a lot of patience, avoiding the edges of the cavity to get dull is utmost important. A 2000 grit of sandpaper put under a small hard wooden stick or bamboo, formed like a chisel would make a mirror finished. Followed by diamond paste 1 micron on a felt. I'm a plastic injection moldmaker for 20 years.
Polished quite a bit of Aluminium over the years. Not molds but for cosmetic/appearance on machined or pressed/formed parts plus castings (motorcycle & car parts - wheels, engine covers, etc.). I'm surprised that you're starting with such fine abrasives. We typically use 400 or 600 grit paper to remove machining marks & then go straight to a cloth mop (buff) with something like a Tripoli polishing compound. Maybe then something finer to bring out the shine. Where we can't use a mop/buff (as you couldn't inside a mould cavity) we use a polishing paste on cloth. If we have to get into corners we might use mounted felt wheels or Cratex impregnated rubber wheels in a Dremel (or similar). Quite easy to put unwanted grooves or ripples in with those though. Oh & paper towels can scratch a mirror polished surface!
Thanks for the detailed information. Definitely useful.
Started tool & die apprenticeship in '62 at a mold shop, still there 2 days a week. Single to 16 cavity production molds of hardened tool steel until the 90s then added aluminium for prototyping runs.
Milled, surface ground and EDM surfaces were polished to SPE-SPI requirements. Plaques were available to illustrate the results.
We would start with dry polishing stones, then wet paper and finish with compound on felt. We always used the same direction per grit, crossing at 90 degree for each grit grade reduction. Small areas were polished with hardware store wooden dowels or hobby stores balsa sticks ground to a chisel shape. The final polish wants to end with all surfaces being worked the same direction. The toolmaker removed the cutter marks before handing the tool to our 3 full time polishers.
If it was a lens core or cavity we dry stoned it then sent it to a professional lens company for hard chrome and finish polishing.
Venting tip. If you have a problem gas burn on a vented mold you can sometimes increase the vent by carefully using a few strokes of course paper on the part line near the burn. Direction to be 90 degree from the cavity and care not to round over the cavity's edge!
Thanks for the info. I have never encountered burning in my molds. That may be because my machines don't have enough injection pressure. Or that I have vents.
@@JohnSL Proper process parameters are also helpful.
John get some Mother’s Aluminum polish. After you get your mold smooth by sanding/swabbing. Get q-tips along with Mother’s Aluminum Polish! Will make it a mirror finish with ease! Hope this helps.
Thanks for the tip! I looked into it and they seem to sell it as a one-step polish. I'm not sure how that would work, but might be worth a try next time.
JohnSL it’s a paste. You get a rag to apply and polish. Then another rag to clean just like waxing a car. Use it all the time for my Aluminium molds and it makes it like a mirror. You can buy it at autozone or other auto parts store for like $6-$8 dollars.
My campus has a machine similar to the one behind you at the end of the video. Where can i get more info on that machine? I want to learn about it and try to use it.
For small batch pellet drying, maybe an old school hot air popcorn popping machine? I’m thinking the small table top type which blows hot air straight up through a mesh screen
That's an interesting idea, if you can keep the heat down to 100C. It should certainly make drying faster.
One Smooth mushroom.
Maybe a vibrating tumbler with some fine grit would speed up the process?
I like using green triangles to knock things down and then porcelain spheres to really smooth things out. You have to be careful not to round off your parting line edges too much or your will get a duckbill parting line
@@cre8itgroup903 Yes I meant to mention that too, about rounding the parting lines . . the finish facing pass would be better left until last.
My understanding is that the media would most likely not be able to get into all places. So do you use masking tape or something else to protect the parting line?
Packing tape or quality electrical tape works great. High temp powdercoating tape also works great. Cover the mold mating surface with tape. Cut away the mold cavity with a sharp #11 blade.
Have you tried PCD endmills?
I haven't. what's the advantage of PCD other than better tool life?
@@JohnSL I have seen some amazing mirror like finishes with them in Datron videos.
@@JohnSL th-cam.com/video/solcDh5mi0I/w-d-xo.html
@@JohnSL Sorry I meant MCD Mono crystalline diamond.
Seems I cannot find the Micro-Mark 83244 online, do they still make it. can you provide me with more information on this product. Any help would be appreciated.
Search for "micro surface polishing swabs" and you'll find some different sources for them.
@@JohnSL thanks
Hey John, do you think it's possible to run 3d printed or epoxy molds on a Morgan press?
They both work great!! We have used objet's high temp 3D print material for molds . Its best to use a aluminum mud box to keep them together. Same thing goes with epoxy molds. We used BJB material. Worked great for quite a few parts if you keep to tool cool.
@@cre8itgroup903 Thanks for your reply. That's great to hear! Aluminum mud frame - check! - How many parts are you able to get off of Objet molds? And epoxy molds? (I'm aware geometry plays a large role.) I'm trying to determine the all-in cost per part.
@@cre8itgroup903 Also, what kind of flashing do you get with these molds?
I'll say < 50 but we made over 200 collars and 240 base plates for a project and could have done more. Remember good draft is your friend and you don't want any thin wall mold features. They don't deal with the heat very well.
Keep the heat down and wet lap the halfs before and its pretty much the same if you don't go crazy on the pressure