At the design stage of molds, designers must take into account technological capabilities so that the effect of their work can be physically created. The next step is to prepare the mold for production, starting with the selection of appropriate technological processes, including also heat treatment, through the selection of machines, tools and a semi-finished product, up to the appropriate cutting parameters. When selecting the above components, the type of material from which the mold is produced and its hardness at various stages of the manufacturing process should be taken into account.
Depending on the advancement of the mold, machining is divided into several stages. One of them is the implementation of the so-called “holes” – these are the elements of the mold responsible for its attachment, positioning, material supply and mold cooling. Contrary to appearances, this stage is not easy. We often deal with difficult-to-cut materials, while the tolerances imposed by designers are high. The properties responsible for mold cooling also cause a lot of problems because they are usually deep holes that require special tools, e.g. deep hole drills. The next step is the rough machining of the forming space. When using classic machining strategies, this stage usually took a lot of time, which generated cash. We currently use HSM paths for roughing, e.g. VoluMILL. These strategies are based on trochoidal path geometry, which allows obtaining much better conditions in the cutting zone, and thus the use of very high parameters. We save time and money thanks to this type of treatment.
The last and most important stage is mapping the forming surface. This stage must be carried out accurately and precisely, because the quality of the product obtained depends on it. At this stage, the tools used and parameters matched to them are very important. Do not forget to use the right machine that will allow you to achieve the planned quality. The last stage is burdened with a lot of responsibility, because any mistake at this stage can cause irreparable damage, and thus loss of the amount of time and money invested, because the previous stages have already been completed.