Decreasing Cycle Time Through Robotics…

Recently, I was working with a customer who was looking to reduce the cycle time of a particular process… Situation In this case, the customer was buying as many parts as the molder can produce. The ejected parts were sub-gated for part removal while the parts are being dropped onto a conveyor belt. Since the material was a TPO, the parts […]

The Depth of Eyebolts…

I received a quick question from a molder overseas via email… NG How deep should an eyebolt be screwed in when performing a mold change? My Response Although most bolt manufacturers recommend at least 1.5 times the bolt diameter… I believe threading the eyebolt at least 2 times the diameter will provide a much higher degree of […]

Minimizing Cooling System Cost…

I was recently asked the question… Tom Is it worth investing in a highly conductive mold material like QC7 to minimize cooling time? My Response You can reduce your cooling time a couple ways. The first way to reduce cooling time is to increase your rate of heat transfer. That means you must increase the […]

Degradation of ETPU…

I received this question yesterday… AS We are using Isoplast in a hot runner system. The press was shut down. When the sprue, manifold, and barrel heaters were turned on, the material started oozing as a white material covered in black specs. What would cause this behavior? My Response The material you are processing is a ETPU (engineering thermoplastic […]

Using Processing Aides with PP…

As a response to an earlier blog, I received this follow-up question… KD Are there any additives on the market that help to lower melt flow index MFI of polypropylene? My Response There are many additives that can be used with Polypropylene… but it requires research, and significant testing, into the application. I wish I could just […]