The mold manufacturing process for injection molding is referred to as mold tooling. Many molding shops offer mold tooling and design as a service on top of full production injection molding. The majority of these molds are made of steel, but they can also be manufactured from aluminum.

Mold tooling can be an intricate challenge as each mold is made up of many different parts. In this article we will explain the mold manufacturing process and the exacting details needed to complete the perfect mold.

Note: The molds/injection molding process mentioned in this article will reference book molds on a vertical injection molding machine.

Mold Base: A mold base is made up of two or more metal plates. These are called clamp plates and hold all of the internal aspects of the mold in between them. The bottom clamp plate rests on the insert moclick nowlding machine table and contains support pillars for the ejector plate. The top plate is what the machine’s nozzle will press down on to receive the plastic resin.

Ejector Plate: The ejector plate is a moving part that assists in lifting the molded product out of the cavity. The plate itself has pins connected to it that fit through the rest of the mold and gently push the part up when it is finished. The plate keeps the pins together so they lift all at the same time. The ejector plate gets pushed up by the press knockouts attached to the machine.

Ejector Retainer Plate: This plate is a relatively thin sheet of metal that fits over the ejector plate. The retainer has holes for each injector pin and acts as a support for them.

“B” Plate: The “B” plate supports the mold cavity/core in place and is what the top half (“A” plate) of the mold closes on. The “B” plate is the final piece to the “B” half of the mold, which is sometimes referred to as the “live half” as it contains the ejector system

(everything mentioned above).

“A” Plate: The “A” plate, along with the “A” half does not contain any moving sections. This is the top section of the mold that closes on top of the “B” half and receives the plastic resin from the machine.