processing tips

best practices

INJECTION MOLDING: How to Mold Living Hinges With No Flexing Required

Here are the five critical, intertwined components that must be perfected for a living hinge that doesn’t need to be flexed upon ejection.

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EXTRUSION: Orientation: The Good and the Bad

Depending on what you are trying to accomplish, molecular orientation can have a positive or negative impact on your part. Here’s how to control it.

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INJECTION MOLDING: Purging: A to Z

Use these steps as a guide to minimize the time and money it takes to switch materials and color on your presses.

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best practices

EXTRUSION: Better Mix In Means Better Mix Out

Segregation or de-mixing of polymers and additives can be a big problem in single-screw extrusion. Here’s why it happens, and how to fix it.

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processing tips

TOOLING: The Tool’s Impact On the Molding Process

Flash, venting, cooling, gating, or sticking problems? Better to fix the tool than distort your process.

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EXTRUSION: How Slow Can You Go?

Larger screws designed for high outputs will generate a variety of problems if run too slowly. Here’s why.

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processing tips

INJECTION MOLDING: Processing Nylon…and Other Problems

As moisture content in this and other hygroscopic resins varies, so will your viscosity and process. Here’s how to deal with these issues

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Postindustrial

Is Your Granulator Helping You Maximize Your Profit?

It’s easy to take a scrap granulator for granted. Many people do. But getting the most value out of your production scrap requires both a granulator design and a preventive-maintenance program that are appropriate to the way you use the granulator.

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best practices

INJECTION MOLDING: Gate Freeze Study: Danger in a Name?

The test actually determines the hold time needed to mold repeatable parts, and it should be done regardless of whether the gate freezes or not.

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polyolefins

Cyclic Olefin Copolymer: Alternative Resin For Medical Packaging

With Barex production winding down, processors serving the medical market are eyeing replacements. Some have already commercialized new packages with COC.

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