Mold Maintenance
When Assembling Molds, Patience is THE Virtue
Installing and fitting close-tolerance tooling requires patience, a steady hand, attention to detail, and the ability to “read” resistance.
Read MoreYou Think You Know Your Molds? Try These 10 Questions to Find Out for Sure
A mold repair technician’s job has always been to make molds run—anyhow, any way.
Read More
Troubleshooting Defects: Part I
Like the three other aspects of a typical mold clean/repair job (disassembly, cleaning, and assembly) there is usually more than one way to skin the cat of troubleshooting and correcting defects.
Read MoreEnhanced Software for Mold Maintenance
WEB EXCLUSIVE: New versions of two software programs for managing mold maintenance were introduced at the recent NPE show in Chicago by Progressive Components, Wauconda, Ill.
Read More
The Eight Stages of Mold Repair
While the mold was still being disassembled, two “cleaners” began pulling tooling out of plates and putting them into buckets in preparation for a good scrubbing—and I mean a scrubbing.
Read MoreHow to Determine Maximum Mold Cycle Counts
At my first production meeting with my new employer, I was told, “We want you to establish a preventive maintenance program that is based on maximum cycle counts for all our molds.” Then, before I could launch into an explanation of how best to determine maximum cycle counts, I was hit with the follow-up: “So, how many cycles do you think our molds can safely run before we need to clean them?”Leaving my crystal ball at home and unable to get my x-ray vision working, there was no way to answer this question with any real accuracy.
Read MoreWhy Not Just Let ’r Leak?
Here’s how a typical West Coast molding facility with 20 injection presses investigated the downtime impact of water leaks in the plant.
Read More
What Toolroom Maintenance Supervisors Need to Know-Part II
September’s “Mold Shop” column presented an overview of a mold maintenance supervisor’s need-to-know priorities.
Read More
Vacuum Venting Keeps Molds Running Longer
In tough economic times, facing hungry competition here and abroad, molders cannot afford to ignore preventable problems that slow cycles, cost machine downtime and mold maintenance, and waste material on reject parts.
Read More
Cleaning Molds in the Press Slashes Downtime
For a global electronics manufacturer with around-the-clock production, the ability to clean molds in the press without disassembly provided major productivity increases.
Read More
