[enricosanchez]

Hi CNCzone, I handmake wooden cookware products in Australia. I have recently made the decision to rework some of my products to be injection molded with silicon & nylon. My first project is a mixing spoon (for cooking), the spoon has a nylon spine with a silicone coating and is about 300mm long.

I need tools made up for the injection molding, but I'm unsure of prices and procedure. I have a quote here for AU$16,500 ( same in US$ ) for production of the two molds required to injection mold the mixing spoon. This price seems a little high seeing as though the tools would be made in Shanghai, however I'm concerned about the quality of the tooling though. Do I really need to spend that much? Quality is my priority!

[roninB4]

Hi CNCzone, I handmake wooden cookware products in Australia. I have recently made the decision to rework some of my products to be injection molded with silicon & nylon. My first project is a mixing spoon (for cooking), the spoon has a nylon spine with a silicone coating and is about 300mm long.

I need tools made up for the injection molding, but I'm unsure of prices and procedure. I have a quote here for AU$16,500 ( same in US$ ) for production of the two molds required to injection mold the mixing spoon. This price seems a little high seeing as though the tools would be made in Shanghai, however I'm concerned about the quality of the tooling though. Do I really need to spend that much? Quality is my priority!

I been part of the purchase process of injection molds for a major OEM auto supplier. Like many things, it depends upon who/where you have it made. You haven't mentioned anything else about the product detail, mold life, or the mold construction itself so it's hard to say whether your quoted price is high or not. Does the price include designing the product itself? If you expected rock bottom prices for quality work I can tell you that you need to do more reading. Have you taken the time to create CAD files of the product? You can shop the files around for pricing. Rest assured that when you have something made in China you may/may not get what you paid for. I've seen decent molds come from China, I've also seen crap. If you can't be there to verify what steels are being used then I guess it's a matter of how much faith do you have in what is unseen. If the design needed H13 for a couple of detail sections and they substitute CRS how will you know? When the trial parts are run who is responsible for the obligatory adjustments? When the company running the mold says the mold is flashing because of an insufficient design how will you know whether the mold maker or the molding company is at fault? There are many questions that you need to be able to answer before you pull the trigger on this just to keep yourself out of trouble. If you don't know much about molds then my advice is to find someone that does you can trust (your results may vary). If you don't know much about manufacturing in China then you need to do more reading. I worked for an international giant and that didn't prevent "things" from happening. What will prevent you from getting similar or worse treatment? Arming yourself prior will be your best bet, knowledge will be your best friend. Good luck.

[enricosanchez]

Thanks for your reply and info,
My reading of your advice is that until I learn more about the technical side of the process, I should find someone trustworthy and possibly pay a little more.

I'm responsible for the design of the product as well as the associated CAD files, which i'm currently building in Rhino. I provide those designs to an Australian company, who deals with a company in China to get the tools made up. The injection molding will be done in Australia.

Are there any questions you'd recommend asking this company about the tooling and production before I hand over my money & designs? Also can you recommend any reading?

[harryn]

IMHO, outsourcing to China can be a benefit - IF - you know a LOT about what you are doing, and have the resources to be on -site at the supplier.

If you lack either of these, then consider to have the tooling made by a firm where you can freely and easily interact with the mold maker. These guys know a lot, and already made many mistakes, so that you don't have to make as many on your nickel.