Injection Moulding

Injection Moulding Manchester

Injection Moulding


Our 3D printing services also cover injection moulding. It is one of the most common manufacturing processes in the plastic industry. Here, we inject molten plastic materials under high pressure, in molten form, into a mould cavity. It hardens as it cools, and then the mould is opened and formed plastic pieces are taken out.
Injection moulds themselves are blocks with cavities, which determines the shape of the products being made. At 3D Printing Manchester, our efficiently carried out injection moulding process offers us low cost-per-part, repeatable outcomes, and minimal waste of the injected material. Especially when going into mass production of designs.
Our mould-making process is extensive, and for this, we go through required precise planning and execution while adhering strictly to the client’s deadlines, iterations, and expectations for part quality. A mould can be made up of many complex cavities, inserts, and cooling channels. Our mould tools have the ability to withstand repeated impact and exposure to high-temperature polymers, making wear-resistance a critical feature. An injection mould is a very complex assembly and must be built to withstand very high pressures.

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What is Injection Moulding?


For a number of processes, we take pride in our unique injection moulding processes. This ranges from clamping, dwelling and the injection process itself. Clamping unit consists of a metal plate. Our process begins with the mould being clamped together under high pressure to accommodate the injection and cooling processes. Then we go into the Injection Process, where our molten plastic, which has been melted from pellet form in our machine, is injected under high pressure into the mould through either a screw or ramming device. Dwelling is then done once the molten plastic has been injected into the machine, by applying more pressure to make sure all the mould's cavities are filled, using hydraulic or mechanical pressure. After that we leave the plastic to cool and solidify within the mould. After cooling, the movable metal plate is separated from the fixed metal plate to separate the mould. This process is completed by the use of rods, a plate, or an air blast to remove the plastic component completely from the mould. This process used at our printing service has the principal advantage of the ability to scale up our production en masse.

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Injection Moulding Process


Our 3D printing Manchester injection moulding process is unique and different due to a number of reasons; we produce very low scrap rates relative to traditional manufacturing processes, which mostly cut away substantial percentages of an original plastic block or sheet.
Unlike other processes, our injection moulding process is very repeatable. That is, the second part of our product is going to be identical to the first one. This is ideal for brand and product consistency and reliability for high volume production.
At 3D printing services Manchester, we create products with highly enhanced strength, high efficiency, and detailed processes in line with clients expectations. We also have an edge over competitors due to our ability to cut our client’s costs as our automation helps to reduce overheads significantly. These are the reasons why, at 3D printing Manchester, you are well assured to receive the best quality of services. ​

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Materials for the Injection Moulding


The most common material for an injection mould is high grade steel. However, we are currently developing 3D printed composite moulds which could be suitable for smaller production runs. This would finally provide a financially viable solution for tens or hundreds of unit production quantities!

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Plastic Injection Moulding Manchester


Injection moulding is very versatile and as a result almost any material could be suitable for injection moulding. Glass, plastic, metals or composites. However, by far and away the most common is plastic due to the range of plastic types and properties which can be obtained from different types of plastics, along with its costs.

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Frequently Asked Questions

  • What 3D print files do you accept?

    The standard file type for a 3D image will be an STL file.  If you have another type please let us know or send it through and we can see if we can convert it and then run it through our 3D printing software which will enable us to know how much material will be required, how long it will take to print and as a result allow us to provide you with an accurate quote.

  • Is there a between 3D printing and additive manufacturing?

    The two terms are often used instead of each other and as a result, most people will take them to mean the same thing and as such exchange them as synonyms. However, taking literal definitions 3D printing is describing that 3D printing process is used which will form an object by printing layer upon layer of the material on top of each other whilst additive manufacturing is a wider term that describes any process which causes the material to be added together to create an object. So 3D printing is one type of additive manufacturing, others include electron-beam manufacturing and selective laser melting, which are much less common than 3D printing and as a result additive manufacturing is generally taken to mean 3D printing. Additive Manufacturing is used more frequently to refer to 3D printing in industrial and commercial environments and typically 3D printing machines, such s ours, cater for a much wider range of printing materials such as carbon fibre composites which will have more industrial uses.

  • What if I don't have a 3D file?

    No problem - in fact, it's quite common, especially for budding innovators. Our design team can take your 2D drawings or photos, or in the case of legacy parts a broken item and recreate it!

    We don't use 3D scanners as our experience of trialling these is that recreating our own files is more accurate and cost-efficient.

  • How large can you 3D print?

    Our commercial-grade printers can print items to the approximate size of a shoebox. This is the maximum size for a single print run. Whilst this will limit what can be produced we have on a number of occasions printed larger items by splitting the product into parts which then fit together to form a single larger item. The will not be applicable for all scenarios but again out design team can advise on whether or not this could be feasible for your particular item.

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