Injection plastic mold is ubiquitous as a manufacturing process - in fact, most plastic products in the world today are made by injection molding. While it is an ideal technology for large-scale production needs, traditional CNC machining of metal molds is costly and has long lead times for low-volume production.

    For prototyping and low-volume production (approximately 10-1000 parts), 3D printed injection molds offer a time-saving and cost-effective solution. They also support more flexible manufacturing methods, allowing engineers and designers to test mold designs, easily modify them, and then continue to iterate on their designs at a faster rate while being orders of magnitude cheaper than traditional CNC machining.

   Here's what you need to prepare, including:

1. High-performance desktop SLA 3D printers, such as Formlabs' Form 3. Form 3 produces precise molds with crisp features and smooth surface finishes, resulting in high-quality final formed parts. In addition to DIY injection molding, SLA 3D printers are also a valuable asset for prototyping and other applications throughout the product development process.
2. A 3D printing material that can withstand the temperature and pressure on the mold during the injection molding process. We recommend the following materials for Formlabs SLA 3D printers:
3. Rigid 10K Resin is an industrial-grade, highly glass-filled material that provides a solution that can handle a wider range of geometries and injection molding processes. High-temperature resins are suitable for injection molding. This material is more brittle but is recommended for materials with high forming temperatures and reduced cooling time.

    Grey Pro Resin has a lower thermal conductivity than High Temp Resin or Rigid Resin, which results in a longer cooling time, but it is softer and can wear out over hundreds of cycles.

4. Desktop injection molding machines, such as Galomb Model-B100 or Holipress. There are many desktop injection molding machines on the market with different costs. Many lower-cost mold makers use manual plungers, while some more expensive units use screw or pneumatic systems.

    Taizhou Huangyan Jinhong Plastic Mould Parts Co., Ltd. is an injection mold maker from China Ejector sleeve, its own plastic mold factory specializes in the production of plastic compression springs, positioning components, and other products.