Our Tooling team give their thoughts on how they can support customers with Tooling and Moulding enquiries

It is estimated it takes 10,000 hours to become a master at any specific skill. The ARRK Europe Tooling team currently has a combined 139 years in tooling and project management experience and counting.

If you are new to the design and production of moulded parts, and need support, or are an experienced engineer just looking for some feedback on tooling longevity and how to save some money on tooling – then give us a call. The benefits of using ARRK are, we will not only be able to assess your component and help with the design, but we also go that extra mile to ensure that you understand and take away critical design tips that you can hopefully use in the future.

Did you know?

Some materials are an-isotropic in their shrinkage behaviour (shrink one way more than the other)
The position and direction of the gates can affect the way a part shrinks.
Molten Plastic is a non newtonian fluid and actually gets runnier the harder you work it.
As plastic is driven round a sharp edge, sheer is created and brittleness and warp can increase.
You can actually design reliability into your tooling by including features into your component.
You can easily cost yourself thousands of pounds simply by putting a radius in the wrong place.
You can (within reason) precisely match a plastic part to any colour you wish.

Tool Design Phase

As a designer you have a clear picture in your mind of exactly what you want your part to do, and exactly how it is supposed to work. We endeavour to fully understand the product and the design intent to best advise you on tooling feasibility. It’s incredibly challenging to be able to see the 3D design in reverse (Tool Design) and understand the mechanisms that can be employed in an injection mould tool. Do you know the mechanism required to remove the core from a 90-degree bend, and do you know exactly what you can and can’t expect that bore to look like?

Tolerancing is always something that is best to address early on. Plastics have a very complex behaviour when they cool and shrink. It’s always difficult to know what tolerance you will be able to hit during design and if that tolerance will work with the mating product. It’s easy to over tolerance a part and create a quality nightmare further down the road. Do you know what tolerances you can reasonably expect on a part you are designing in relationship to the material chosen?

We can help with that.

Tooling Feasibility

During the feasibility phase, it’s easy to be pushed in a design direction that is favourable to the toolmaker or moulder. You may not want to share specifics with them that is proprietary but critical to the end design. Do you know the exact feedback you need to give, for example what shut out angles should you use to prolong the life of your tool? Do you know how to and what you can reasonably push back on to ensure that you still get the product you want, and the tooling is still robust and reliable?

We can help you with that.

Trialling and ongoing production/Quality

Do you know the difference between sheer marks and jetting? Do you know what moulding parameters can be changed to get rid of them. If a component splits under load through a weld line, do you know what steps can be taken to make the weld stronger? Do you know how to effectively report this and guide the toolmaker and the moulder to get what you want?

We can help you with that.

Enjoy the benefits we can offer you

At ARRK we pride ourselves in our skills and knowledge that we can offer to provide our customers with as much as a seamless stress-free experience as possible.

We understand that whether new to the injection moulding industry or a veteran, there is still huge trepidation when placing an order to have your components manufactured. We think the backup and knowledge of an experienced team, as well as a pre-vetted supply infrastructure is the best insurance money can buy.

We can help with that.