At least to some extent, asking about the cost of pla […]
At least to some extent, asking about the cost of plastic injection molds is similar to asking "how much is a car?" Is your mold Pinto or Porsche? And don't forget that the price of molds is just the beginning. In order to determine the overall plastic injection cost of any project, you must also consider raw material, operating and maintenance costs in the future.
The cost of making plastic molds
The decisive factor of mold cost is the combination of part size, complexity, material and expected quantity. For example, if you need 1,000 gaskets per year, we recommend that you use a single cavity mold, which means that one washing machine can be produced per machine cycle. In this case, the price of the mold may be between 1,000-2,000 US dollars.
However, the need for 100,000 Xbox controllers per month is another matter. For this requirement, we will build a 12-cavity hardened "family" mold that will make four fronts, four backs and four button trees in each cycle. Of course, this type of mold has a cost. You'd better invest 60 to 80,000 USD or more!
These examples are extreme, but they illustrate the expected cost range. Your particular part is probably somewhere in between.
Plastic injection molding price guide
As a plastic injection molding company that provides a full range of services from concept design to completion of manufacturing molds, the price of each job we complete may vary greatly.
But we know that injection molding price estimation is essential for any successful project.
Therefore, we have compiled the following price guides to help you budget for the mold. Examples of injection molding costs are classified by type (rapid prototyping, insertion tool, high productivity tool) and difficulty (basic, intermediate, advanced).
Injection material cost
When choosing which plastic injection mold cost, material selection is another consideration. For example, any plastic product made of glass fiber filled material will wear out most common molds. Only molds made of hardened tool steel can withstand injection molding of glass fiber fillers.
Plan the next project
If you have set a target price for the part, please let the mold maker know. They can design the mold accordingly and plan the right number of cavities to reach that price. The more cavities (or parts manufactured in each cycle), the cheaper the price of the parts and the higher the output.
Although you don't need to know every detail of the available mold types, it is always a good idea to be prepared. Providing your mold maker with basic knowledge will help them build the best tool for your project. We recommend that you find a mold manufacturer with production capacity. The production company doesn't want to create a place where the mold is insufficient, because they know it must be used.