society of plastics engineers
SOCIETY OF PLASTICS ENGINEERS ROCKY MOUNTAIN SECTION – S18 August 2007
Vol. 60 No. 1
Rocky Mountain Section SPE Meeting: Tuesday, September 11th 2007 SPE Member “Show and Tell” Location: Panera Bread, 7739 Wadsworth Blvd., Arvada, CO. (See map below or call 303.420.7500) Board Meeting 6:00 PM, Dinner/Social 6:30 PM, Program 7:00 PM Menu includes soup, sandwiches, and baked goods. Plan on spending $5–$10 for dinner.
Message from the President A new program year is upon us, and we are committed to providing interesting and educational meetings and tours to boost our knowledge of plastics and manufacturing industries and processes. Bob Olsen Please let us know if you have any suggestions for tours or meeting topics. We’re trying something new and different for the first SPE program of this season. This is a “Show and Tell,” an opportunity for individuals to present anecdotes from their professional experiences in the plastics industry. Topics might include: • My proudest plastics accomplishment • My biggest goof with plastics • How did they make this? • Can they make this of plastic? • Did “American Inventor” goof in their 2006 program? • Other?
will be available, and also a projector and computer for Power Point, if needed. It would be very nice to also bring an actual model. Presentations can be 5-10 minutes, plus 5 minutes of discussion, depending upon supply/demand. If there is a big supply of presenters (hope so), we might do a second program of the same nature. So, if you have been hiding your great accomplishments, goofs or ideas in the closet, now is the time to expose them. Call Ray at 303-527-0344 or email him at [email protected]. Thank you, and I look forward to seeing you at the meeting.
—Bob Olsen Map to Meeting Location
Please plan ahead and prepare for this if you want to present. Please let Ray Hauser know something about your presentation, prior to September 4th. Ray will screen the topics and arrange the program. A flip chart with markers Rocky Mountain SPE Newsletter Volume 60, Number 1—August 2007
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Minutes of Board of Directors Meeting 7-10-2007, Rocky Mountain Section, SPE
Attendance: Bob Olsen, president; Jae Choi, Vice president and program chair; Souvik Nandi, Treasurer; Ray Hauser, secretary; Erin Evans, Newsletter chair; Roy Ince, Director. 1. Ray Hauser reported that all ballots received had voted in favor of the slate of nominees for officers and directors. See the following page for the current line-up. 2. Treasurer Souvik Nandi reported that we received three rebates in 2006 amounting to $530 each and in 2007 to date we have received $485. He didn’t have actual bank tally, but stated that the balance was about $2500. Board discussed and favored refund of Councilor expenses upon receipt and approval of expense vouchers. Bill Tobin said that his Council expenses at ANTEC in May were covered by others. Ray Hauser reminded the board that two signatures are required on all checks drawn on the account, which may be Treasurer, President or Councilor, no signature to be that of the payee. 3. The program for September 11 will be a “Show and Tell” with invitations to all on our mailing list to make 5-10 minute presentations of their plastics experiences such as: My proudest plastics accomplishment My biggest goof with plastics How did they make this? How can they make this of plastic? Ray will solicit speakers and set up the program with flip chart and markers on easel, and Power Point if needed, but will be absent that date. Jae Choi will be in charge. Announcements will go out about August 10, Sept. 1 and Sept 7. 4. Future program topics were suggested: Blowmolder Electron Beam Welding Plumbing Plastics Suppliers PolyOne or General Polymers 5. Possible plant trips were suggested: Parkway Products in Loveland Cobe Cardiovascular PTA Coorstek 6. Bob Olsen and Bill Tobin presented the SPE plaque to Ray Hauser as retiring Councilor, from Council meeting in May.
Rocky Mountain SPE Newsletter Volume 60, Number 1—August 2007
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Mold base selection
Machine Considerations
By Chuck Azzopardi, D-M-E Global Business Manager
Choosing the right mold base is not just about the part; the molding machine also comes into play. What type of machine will it run on? What are the volume requirements? Does the mold have a mold action device? What kind of ejection does it need? In addition to these questions, consider: • Height - Determine mold-base height based on the maximum daylight available in the press. • Stroke - Consider the maximum stroke required to eject the part from the mold. • Locating ring – Must match the platens of the machine where the mold will be running. The most common size is 3.99-inch OD. • Sprue bushing: Orifice and radius of the sprue bushing must match the machine nozzle. Use a highconductivity, copper-alloy bushing when sprue weight > part weight, when using sprue pickers or when minimizing scrap. • Clamp-slot: Must be compatible with the thickness of the top clamping plate on your mold base. Quickchange systems may require special bolster plates or a unique clamp slot.
In the process of selecting a mold, most people pay more attention to certain details, such as the core and cavity. But the wrong mold base can severely limit a mold’s productivity. Proper attention to choosing the base itself will lead to greater profitability and cost-effectiveness, which is why we’re providing you with the following information about mold base selection.
Mold Base Styles Standard Styles • A-Style – This four-plate design is the most common. Moldmakers will typically machine through pockets in the "A" and "B" plates to accept just about any kind of core and cavity insert. • B-Style - A two-plate economy version of the AStyle. These are best used when part design can be machined directly into the cavity plates. Its compact configuration is also useful whenever overall mold height is limited. Special-Purpose Mold Bases • X-Style – A three-plate base, the stripper ("X") plate engages the edge of a part and pushes it off the core. The X-style is typically used when molding round parts like cups, caps and containers. • AX-Style – Similar to an A-Style, but used for parts requiring core detail in the cavity side of the mold. When the mold opens, the core detail is pulled so the part remains on the ejector side of the mold. • T-Style - This three-plate mold base operates with two parting lines and is used to separate the part from the runner in a tool. This configuration allows runners to be ejected separately from the part being produced.
Know Your Steel Types • • • •
No. 1 steel - Machines easily and permits faster, smoother cutting. Best for short-run, low-cavitation production. No. 2 steel - Ideally suited for retaining multiple cavity and core inserts for medium to long production runs. No. 3 steel - Exceptionally clean and easily machined and polished. Ideal for cutting core and cavity details directly into the mold plate. No. 7 steel – Best for humid environments, corrosive plastics or clean-room requirements. Stainless, easily machined and corrosion resistant.
Rocky Mountain SPE Newsletter Volume 60, Number 1—August 2007
Consider Supplier’s Capabilities Just as important as finding the right steel and mold base style is having the right supplier. Look for these value-added offers that save you time and money. • Off-the-shelf availability, same-day shipment or quick delivery programs allowing you to receive you mold bases on time, keeping your delivery dates for your customers. • Special machining capabilities can help smaller shops that don’t have the volume or resources to get a big bore mill and larger shops that don’t want to assign time and equipment to mold base machining. Every shop benefits by having more time to concentrate on cavity and frame work. • Contour roughing services allow moldmakers to receive bases with nearly 90 percent of the material cut out for the part without the need for an insert, again saving valuable time. • Parting-line preparation requires special tools and resources that many shops don’t have. Mold base suppliers should be able to provide that service. To talk to a D-M-E mold base specialist in your area, please call 800-626-6653 or email [email protected]. DM-E is proud to be an essential resource to moldmakers and molders by providing them with mold bases and advice to meet increasingly demanding lead times and cost challenges. Visit www.dme.net to learn more.
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Rocky Mountain SPE Officers 2007—2008
Rocky Mountain SPE Board of Directors 2007—2008
President: Bob Olsen — Protogenic, 303.453.3990
Councilor: Bill Tobin —WJT Associates, 303.604.9592
Vice President: Jae Choi —Avaya, Inc., 303.538.4149
Director: John Dorgan —Colorado School of Mines, 303.273.3539
Secretary: Ray Hauser — Ray Hauser Expertise, 303.527.0344
Director: Roy Ince —Bayer Material Science, 303.449.7883
Treasurer: Souvik Nandi —Johns-Manville, 303.978.2427
Director: Wally Zavitz —303.422.1847
Immediate Past President: Klaus Gleich —Johns-Manville, 303.978.2286 Social Committee Chair: Wally Zavitz —303.422.1847 Membership Chair: Martin Stojkovic —Krauss-Maffei Corp., 859.283.7451 Newsletter Chair: Erin Evans —Syncroness, 303.995.2744 Program Chair: Souvik Nandi —Johns-Manville, 303.978.2427
Rocky Mountain SPE Newsletter Volume 60, Number 1—August 2007
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Vol. 60 No. 1
Rocky Mountain Section SPE Meeting: Tuesday, September 11th 2007 SPE Member “Show and Tell” Location: Panera Bread, 7739 Wadsworth Blvd., Arvada, CO. (See map below or call 303.420.7500) Board Meeting 6:00 PM, Dinner/Social 6:30 PM, Program 7:00 PM Menu includes soup, sandwiches, and baked goods. Plan on spending $5–$10 for dinner.
Message from the President A new program year is upon us, and we are committed to providing interesting and educational meetings and tours to boost our knowledge of plastics and manufacturing industries and processes. Bob Olsen Please let us know if you have any suggestions for tours or meeting topics. We’re trying something new and different for the first SPE program of this season. This is a “Show and Tell,” an opportunity for individuals to present anecdotes from their professional experiences in the plastics industry. Topics might include: • My proudest plastics accomplishment • My biggest goof with plastics • How did they make this? • Can they make this of plastic? • Did “American Inventor” goof in their 2006 program? • Other?
will be available, and also a projector and computer for Power Point, if needed. It would be very nice to also bring an actual model. Presentations can be 5-10 minutes, plus 5 minutes of discussion, depending upon supply/demand. If there is a big supply of presenters (hope so), we might do a second program of the same nature. So, if you have been hiding your great accomplishments, goofs or ideas in the closet, now is the time to expose them. Call Ray at 303-527-0344 or email him at [email protected]. Thank you, and I look forward to seeing you at the meeting.
—Bob Olsen Map to Meeting Location
Please plan ahead and prepare for this if you want to present. Please let Ray Hauser know something about your presentation, prior to September 4th. Ray will screen the topics and arrange the program. A flip chart with markers Rocky Mountain SPE Newsletter Volume 60, Number 1—August 2007
1 of 4
Minutes of Board of Directors Meeting 7-10-2007, Rocky Mountain Section, SPE
Attendance: Bob Olsen, president; Jae Choi, Vice president and program chair; Souvik Nandi, Treasurer; Ray Hauser, secretary; Erin Evans, Newsletter chair; Roy Ince, Director. 1. Ray Hauser reported that all ballots received had voted in favor of the slate of nominees for officers and directors. See the following page for the current line-up. 2. Treasurer Souvik Nandi reported that we received three rebates in 2006 amounting to $530 each and in 2007 to date we have received $485. He didn’t have actual bank tally, but stated that the balance was about $2500. Board discussed and favored refund of Councilor expenses upon receipt and approval of expense vouchers. Bill Tobin said that his Council expenses at ANTEC in May were covered by others. Ray Hauser reminded the board that two signatures are required on all checks drawn on the account, which may be Treasurer, President or Councilor, no signature to be that of the payee. 3. The program for September 11 will be a “Show and Tell” with invitations to all on our mailing list to make 5-10 minute presentations of their plastics experiences such as: My proudest plastics accomplishment My biggest goof with plastics How did they make this? How can they make this of plastic? Ray will solicit speakers and set up the program with flip chart and markers on easel, and Power Point if needed, but will be absent that date. Jae Choi will be in charge. Announcements will go out about August 10, Sept. 1 and Sept 7. 4. Future program topics were suggested: Blowmolder Electron Beam Welding Plumbing Plastics Suppliers PolyOne or General Polymers 5. Possible plant trips were suggested: Parkway Products in Loveland Cobe Cardiovascular PTA Coorstek 6. Bob Olsen and Bill Tobin presented the SPE plaque to Ray Hauser as retiring Councilor, from Council meeting in May.
Rocky Mountain SPE Newsletter Volume 60, Number 1—August 2007
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Mold base selection
Machine Considerations
By Chuck Azzopardi, D-M-E Global Business Manager
Choosing the right mold base is not just about the part; the molding machine also comes into play. What type of machine will it run on? What are the volume requirements? Does the mold have a mold action device? What kind of ejection does it need? In addition to these questions, consider: • Height - Determine mold-base height based on the maximum daylight available in the press. • Stroke - Consider the maximum stroke required to eject the part from the mold. • Locating ring – Must match the platens of the machine where the mold will be running. The most common size is 3.99-inch OD. • Sprue bushing: Orifice and radius of the sprue bushing must match the machine nozzle. Use a highconductivity, copper-alloy bushing when sprue weight > part weight, when using sprue pickers or when minimizing scrap. • Clamp-slot: Must be compatible with the thickness of the top clamping plate on your mold base. Quickchange systems may require special bolster plates or a unique clamp slot.
In the process of selecting a mold, most people pay more attention to certain details, such as the core and cavity. But the wrong mold base can severely limit a mold’s productivity. Proper attention to choosing the base itself will lead to greater profitability and cost-effectiveness, which is why we’re providing you with the following information about mold base selection.
Mold Base Styles Standard Styles • A-Style – This four-plate design is the most common. Moldmakers will typically machine through pockets in the "A" and "B" plates to accept just about any kind of core and cavity insert. • B-Style - A two-plate economy version of the AStyle. These are best used when part design can be machined directly into the cavity plates. Its compact configuration is also useful whenever overall mold height is limited. Special-Purpose Mold Bases • X-Style – A three-plate base, the stripper ("X") plate engages the edge of a part and pushes it off the core. The X-style is typically used when molding round parts like cups, caps and containers. • AX-Style – Similar to an A-Style, but used for parts requiring core detail in the cavity side of the mold. When the mold opens, the core detail is pulled so the part remains on the ejector side of the mold. • T-Style - This three-plate mold base operates with two parting lines and is used to separate the part from the runner in a tool. This configuration allows runners to be ejected separately from the part being produced.
Know Your Steel Types • • • •
No. 1 steel - Machines easily and permits faster, smoother cutting. Best for short-run, low-cavitation production. No. 2 steel - Ideally suited for retaining multiple cavity and core inserts for medium to long production runs. No. 3 steel - Exceptionally clean and easily machined and polished. Ideal for cutting core and cavity details directly into the mold plate. No. 7 steel – Best for humid environments, corrosive plastics or clean-room requirements. Stainless, easily machined and corrosion resistant.
Rocky Mountain SPE Newsletter Volume 60, Number 1—August 2007
Consider Supplier’s Capabilities Just as important as finding the right steel and mold base style is having the right supplier. Look for these value-added offers that save you time and money. • Off-the-shelf availability, same-day shipment or quick delivery programs allowing you to receive you mold bases on time, keeping your delivery dates for your customers. • Special machining capabilities can help smaller shops that don’t have the volume or resources to get a big bore mill and larger shops that don’t want to assign time and equipment to mold base machining. Every shop benefits by having more time to concentrate on cavity and frame work. • Contour roughing services allow moldmakers to receive bases with nearly 90 percent of the material cut out for the part without the need for an insert, again saving valuable time. • Parting-line preparation requires special tools and resources that many shops don’t have. Mold base suppliers should be able to provide that service. To talk to a D-M-E mold base specialist in your area, please call 800-626-6653 or email [email protected]. DM-E is proud to be an essential resource to moldmakers and molders by providing them with mold bases and advice to meet increasingly demanding lead times and cost challenges. Visit www.dme.net to learn more.
3 of 4
Rocky Mountain SPE Officers 2007—2008
Rocky Mountain SPE Board of Directors 2007—2008
President: Bob Olsen — Protogenic, 303.453.3990
Councilor: Bill Tobin —WJT Associates, 303.604.9592
Vice President: Jae Choi —Avaya, Inc., 303.538.4149
Director: John Dorgan —Colorado School of Mines, 303.273.3539
Secretary: Ray Hauser — Ray Hauser Expertise, 303.527.0344
Director: Roy Ince —Bayer Material Science, 303.449.7883
Treasurer: Souvik Nandi —Johns-Manville, 303.978.2427
Director: Wally Zavitz —303.422.1847
Immediate Past President: Klaus Gleich —Johns-Manville, 303.978.2286 Social Committee Chair: Wally Zavitz —303.422.1847 Membership Chair: Martin Stojkovic —Krauss-Maffei Corp., 859.283.7451 Newsletter Chair: Erin Evans —Syncroness, 303.995.2744 Program Chair: Souvik Nandi —Johns-Manville, 303.978.2427
Rocky Mountain SPE Newsletter Volume 60, Number 1—August 2007
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