WHITE PAPER

Low-Volume Rapid Injection

Molding With 3D Printed Molds
This white paper provides methods and guidelines for using stereolithography (SLA) 3D printed
molds in the injection molding process to lower costs and lead time. Through five real-life case
studies with Multiplus, IPC, Novus Applications, Braskem, and Holimaker, you’ll learn how this
hybrid manufacturing process enables on-demand mold fabrication to quickly produce small
batches of thermoplastic parts.

July 2022 | formlabs.com

Contents

Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3

Injection Molding. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3

Fast Fabrication of Short-Run Injection Molds . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4

Method . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5

Process Workflow. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5

Design Guidelines. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6

3D Printing Guidelines. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7

Mold Post-Treatment and Assembly Guidelines. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8

Injection Guidelines . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8

Case Studies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10

Multiplus Injection Molded Hundreds of PP and ABS

Parts for Electronic Housing in Three Days . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10

IPC Technical Center Injected Thousands of PP

Parts with Fine Texturing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14

Novus Applications Injection Molded Hundreds

of Threaded Caps With a Rigid 10K Resin Three-Parts Mold . . . . . . . . . . . 22

Braskem Fabricated Thousands of End-Use

Mask Straps in a Week . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27

Holimaker Produces Hundreds of Prototypes and Pre-Production

Parts With a Desktop Injection Molding Ecosystem. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31

Conclusion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35

FORMLABS: Low-Volume Rapid Injection Molding With 3D Printed Molds 2

Introduction
INJECTION MOLDING
Injection molding is one of the leading processes for manufacturing plastics. It is widely used
for mass-producing identical parts with tight tolerances. It is a cost-effective and extremely
repeatable technology that yields high-quality parts for large series. It can produce volumes from
1,000 to 100,000+ parts at very low unit costs. Injection molding has a short cycle time, with each
machine capable of building new parts every 15 to 60 seconds. It is a fast, intensive process
where high heat and pressure are involved to melt thermoplastic and force it inside a mold.

Because of these extreme molding conditions, the tools are traditionally made out of metal by
CNC machining or electric discharge machining (EDM). These are expensive industrial methods
that require specialized equipment, high-end software, and skilled labor. As a result, the
production of a metal mold typically takes four to eight weeks and costs anywhere from $2,000
to $100,000+ depending on the shape and the complexity of the part.

For smaller part quantities, the cost, time, specialized equipment, and skilled labor required to
fabricate the mold out of common tooling metals and using traditional manufacturing methods
often makes injection molding at this scale unobtainable. However, there are alternatives to
machining molds out of metal. Leveraging 3D printing to fabricate injection molds for prototyping
and low-volume production significantly reduces cost and time compared to metal molds, while
still producing high-quality and repeatable parts.

3D printing is a powerful solution to fabricate injection molds rapidly and at a low cost. It requires
very limited equipment, saving CNC time and skilled operators for other high-value tasks in the
meantime. Manufacturers can benefit from the speed and flexibility of in-house 3D printing to
create the mold and couple it with the production force of injection molding to deliver a series
of units from common thermoplastics in a matter of days. Product development teams benefit
from the ability to iterate on the design before investing in hard tooling. They can even achieve
complicated mold shapes that would be difficult to manufacture traditionally, enabling designers
and engineers to be more innovative. 3D printed molds can also be easily replaced as the
design evolves and in case of failure.

Even though 3D printing molds can offer these advantages when used appropriately, there are
still some limitations. We should not expect the same performance from a 3D printing polymer
mold as from a machined metallic one. Critical dimensions are harder to meet, cooling time is
longer because the thermal transfer occurs slower in plastic, and printed molds can easily break
under heat and pressure. However, companies across multiple industries are continuing to
implement 3D printed molds into their short-run injection molding workflows, enabling them to
quickly produce hundreds to thousands of parts. From designing functional prototypes with end-
use materials, to fabricating parts during pilot production, or manufacturing end-use parts, 3D
printing injection molds is a cost-effective and quick way to produce parts in limited quantities.

FORMLABS: Low-Volume Rapid Injection Molding With 3D Printed Molds 3

Watch our video to see how you can produce parts with 3D printed injection molds.

FAST FABRICATION OF SHORT-RUN INJECTION MOLDS

Stereolithography (SLA) 3D printing technology is a great choice for molding. It is characterized by
a smooth surface finish and high precision that the mold will transfer to the final part and that also
facilitates demolding. 3D prints produced by SLA are chemically bonded such that they are fully
dense and isotropic, producing functional molds at a quality not possible with fused deposition
modeling (FDM). Desktop and benchtop SLA printers, like those offered by Formlabs, simplify
workflow as they are easy to implement, operate, and maintain.

Formlabs Rigid 10K Resin is an industrial-grade, highly glass-filled material that serves as an ideal
molding material for a wide variety of geometries and injection molding process conditions. Rigid
10K Resin has a heat deflection temperature (HDT) of 218°C @ 0.45 MPa and a tensile modulus
of 10,000 MPa, making it a strong, extremely stiff, and thermally stable molding material that will
maintain its shape under pressure and temperature to produce accurate parts.

Rigid 10K Resin is Formlabs' go-to material for printing sophisticated molds for injection molding,
which we will showcase with three case studies in this report. French industrial technical center IPC
ran a research study and printed thousands of parts, contract manufacturer Multiplus uses it for low-
volume production, and product development company Novus Applications has injected hundreds
of intricately threaded caps with a single Rigid 10K Resin mold.

High Temp Resin is a material that can be considered as an alternative to Rigid 10K Resin for molds.
This resin has an HDT of 238°C @ 0.45 MPa, the highest among Formlabs resins, allowing it to
withstand higher molding temperatures. It can print at 25 microns layer height and will perform better
on thin walls and fine details. However, molds printed in High Temp Resin are more brittle than from
Rigid 10K Resin and will break much earlier under pressure.

This report will go through a case study with Braskem, a petrochemical company that ran 1,500
injection cycles with one mold insert printed with High Temp Resin to produce mask straps.
The company printed the insert and placed it inside a generic metallic mold integrated into the
injection system. Our final case study with French startup Holimaker proposes a desktop injection
molding workflow to produce dozens of parts using various resins.

This white paper will first give a general overview of the workflow, design guidelines, and best
practices for 3D printing molds for injection molding. Then, it will go into the details by covering five
case studies on how each firm found success with its 3D printed molds.

FORMLABS: Low-Volume Rapid Injection Molding With 3D Printed Molds 4

Method
PROCESS WORKFLOW
INJECTION MOLDING PROCESS WITH 3D PRINTED MOLDS
1

4 6

5 7
3

1 Design the mold 2 Mold 3D printing 3 Mold assembly 4 Mold clamping 5 Injection 6 Cooling 7 Demolding

There are a few things you should take into account when using 3D printed injection molds:
• Dimensional accuracy of the mold: it is important to note that the dimensional accuracy of a 3D
printed polymeric tool may not be as good as a metal machined tool. However, it is possible to
post-process (sand or machine) the 3D printed molds to reduce size variations.
• Breakage or cracking of the mold under pressure and heat: 3D printed molds typically have a
shorter lifetime than metal molds and therefore are recommended for lower volume production.
• Cycle time: the cooling time is longer than with a metallic mold as the thermal transfer occurs slower in plastic
parts. Cooling methods such as using compressed air can help reduce cycle time with 3D printed molds.
• Demolding process:
• Adhesion of the part to the mold can cause deterioration of the mold during extraction.
Demolding agents can be used to assist with this part of the process.
• Flashing may occur and slow down the demolding step. This is an excess of material coming out of
the mold during the injection when the mold is overfilled, or if the parting plane is not perfectly flat.

These issues can be mitigated by reducing the injection pressure, changing the CAD file, or adapting
the demolding process. These three parameters will largely influence the success of the operation.

The type of injection press does not have a significant influence on the process. Automated
small-scale injection molding equipment such as the desktop machine Micromolder or the
hydraulic machine Babyplast 10/12 are good solutions for producing small parts. If you are new to
injection molding and are looking into testing it with limited investment, using a benchtop manual
injection molding machine such as the Holipress or the Galomb Model-B100 is a good option.
Some of our customers have recommended systems from Minijector, Morgan or APSX as well.

A broad range of thermoplastics can be injected with 3D printed molds such as acrylonitrile
butadiene styrene (ABS), acrylonitrile styrene acrylate (ASA), polyamide (PA), polycarbonate (PC),
polyethylene (PE), polyoxymethylene (POM), polypropylene (PP), thermoplastic elastomer (TPE) or
thermoplastic polyurethane (TPU). A low viscosity material will help reduce the pressure and
extend the lifetime of the mold. You should also consider:

FORMLABS: Low-Volume Rapid Injection Molding With 3D Printed Molds 5

 • PP, PE, and TPE are easy to process at hundreds of cycles.
• In contrast, more technical plastics like PA or PC will allow a lower number of runs.
• TPUs are challenging to process as they might adhere to the 3D printed mold. Using a release
agent can help to separate the part from the mold.

Injection molds fabricated with Formlabs 3D printers have been tested with both desktop and
industrial injection molding machines using a wide range of pressures, temperatures, and
materials. Read our information sheet to see the process conditions used by various users. The
complexity of the injection molding process is mostly driven by the complexity of the part and the
mold structure. Let’s review some design and workflow guidelines.

DESIGN GUIDELINES
When designing an injection mold that is to be 3D printed, common design for manufacturing
principles should be followed. It is good practice to adhere to the rules of design for additive
manufacturing as well as the general rules for injection mold design, such as including three to five
degrees of draft angles, maintaining a uniform wall thickness across the part, or rounding up the
edges. 3D printed molds can incorporate the same components as metal molds, including side-
actions, inserts, or ejector pins. SLA printing also allows incorporating fine texturing in the CAD model.
Here are a few helpful pieces of advice from users and experts, specific to polymer printed molds:

To optimize dimensional accuracy:

• Plan stock allowance (min 0.5 mm) on the mold and post-process to adjust the sizes.
• Print one set of the mold prior to production to understand dimensional deviations. Edit your
CAD model to account for these deviations in your mold design.

To extend the lifetime of the mold:

1. Open up the gate to reduce the pressure inside the cavity.
2. When possible, design one side of the stack flat while the other side carries the design. This will
lessen the chance of misalignment during mold clamping and reduce the risk of flashing.
3. Include large air vents (0.05 mm depth) from the edge of the cavity to the edge of the mold to
allow the air to escape. This yields a better flow into the mold, minimizes pressure, and alleviates
flashing in the gate area to decrease cycle time.
4. Avoid thin cross-sections: surface thickness less than 1-2 mm may deform with heat. Negative
features smaller than 0.5 mm can be challenging to get a good definition on, while standing
features smaller than 0.1 mm can be prone to break off.
5. Incorporate cooling channels if needed. Because thermal transfer occurs slower in plastic parts
than in metal parts, a regulation system might not have enough impact on the temperature to
justify the time spent designing this system. However, for large molds used at a short cycle time,
cooling channels can help monitor the tool temperature.

To optimize the print:

6. Add chamfer to help to remove the piece from the build platform.
7. Build assembly features or centering pins at the corners.
8. Adjust the back of the mold to minimize material usage: reduce the cross-section in areas that are
not supporting the cavity. It will save costs in resin and diminish risks of print failure or warpage.

FORMLABS: Low-Volume Rapid Injection Molding With 3D Printed Molds 6

 6

3
8

Front of the mold Back of the mold

3D PRINTING GUIDELINES
Choosing the Right Resin
Injection molds need to withstand clamping pressures, injection pressures, injection temperatures, and
any coolants or mold release agents that may be used. Formlabs offers a range of materials that meet
these requirements and are capable of replacing aluminum molds for low-volume manufacturing:

• Rigid 10K Resin is our recommended material for injection molds as it combines strength, stiffness,
and thermal resistance. It is an industrial-grade, highly glass-filled material with an HDT of 218°C @ 0.45
MPa and a tensile modulus of 10,000 MPa. It prints at 50 or 100 microns layer heights. Follow Formlabs
printing instructions, wash the parts in IPA twice for 10 minutes, dry with compressed air if available,
and post-cure molds at 70°C for 60 minutes. Optionally, heat the parts in a non-food oven at 90°C
for 125 minutes for a higher HDT. Rigid 10K Resin prints can be wiped with mineral oil to remove
any excess powder, and media blasted to improve the surface quality and mechanical properties
• High Temp Resin is an alternative material that can be considered when Rigid 10K Resin is
not successful. This resin has an HDT of 238°C @ 0.45 MPa, the highest among Formlabs resins,
allowing it to withstand high molding temperatures. It prints at 25 microns layer height and will
perform better on thin walls and fine details. However, prints from High Temp Resin are more brittle
than from Rigid 10K Resin and will break much earlier under pressure. Follow Formlabs printing
instructions, wash in IPA for six minutes, dry with compressed air if available, and post-cure at 80°C
for 120 minutes. Optionally, heat the parts in a non-food oven at 160°C for 3 hours for a higher HDT.
• Grey Pro Resin is a third option, only suitable for small and a low number of parts, such as with
desktop injection molding. It should be used when pressures and temperatures are low and
the dimensional accuracy of your molded part is less critical. Molds made from Grey Pro Resin
will bend before breaking, worsening accuracy over time as the mold is used. Follow Formlabs
printing instructions, wash in IPA for 15 minutes, and post-cure at 80°C for 15 minutes.

FORMLABS: Low-Volume Rapid Injection Molding With 3D Printed Molds 7

This is summarized in the table below where more stars indicate better performance
under that condition.

CRITERIA RIGID 10K RESIN HIGH TEMP RESIN GREY PRO RESIN

High molding temperature

and pressure ••• ••• •
High number of cycles ••• • •
Thin walls •• ••• •
Reduce resin costs • •• •••
Print Preparation
• Follow Formlabs print orientation guide and avoid supports on molding surfaces. If the
geometry allows it, print the mold flat on the edge directly on the build platform, in order to
reduce warpage. Printing without supports also saves printing time, labor, and resin. Select a
base surface that will minimize overhangs.
• When possible, print both halves aligned in reference to the build direction. Potential size
variations will be more consistent, improving the quality of the parting line.
• Support all free-hanging cores, in particular small diameter cores.
• Print at a small layer height as the smooth surface helps to separate the plastic part from the
mold—50 microns or even 25 microns on High Temp Resin if the model presents very fine
details. This will also improve dimensional accuracy.
• Print multiple cores in case of breakage. Employ interchangeable stacks to run new cycles
while the other sets cool in order to decrease the cooling time and compensate for the low
thermal conductivity of a plastic mold.

MOLD POST-TREATMENT AND ASSEMBLY GUIDELINES

• Finish the printed mold to meet critical dimensions, in particular diameters and outer surfaces. Desktop
milling, drilling, or hand-sanding will help to fit both halves of the mold together and avoid flashing.
• Place the printed tool inside a metallic frame or print the insert and machine the outside of
the mold to provide support against the downward pressure and heat of the injection nozzle.
Standard aluminum frames are readily available from injection molder manufacturers. Another
option could be to use a metallic modular mold base system, such as the Master Unit Die Quick-
Change or similar solutions, allowing you to quickly switch and replace printed mold inserts.
• Other hybrid configurations can be considered, such as using 3D printed cores with metallic
inserts for thin overhanging parts showing a risk of breakage.
• Mold machining and assembly are sensitive operations to execute with care as the 3D printed
parts could break during treatment.

INJECTION GUIDELINES
• Reduce the clamping force.
• Keep the injection pressure and speed low, in particular at the beginning. If necessary,
increase the injection parameters only gradually.

FORMLABS: Low-Volume Rapid Injection Molding With 3D Printed Molds 8

• Maintain the tool temperature below 60°C ideally. Cooling can be accelerated by:
• Allowing ambient air to cool the mold.
• Applying compressed air to cool the mold.
• Incorporating cooling channels in the design.
• Apply a release agent for some technical thermoplastics. Mold release is widely available and
silicone mold releases are compatible with Grey Pro Resin, High Temp Resin, and Rigid 10K
Resin. Novus Applications uses solutions from Slide and Braskem uses the MR303 silicone
food grade release agent from Sprayon.

FORMLABS: Low-Volume Rapid Injection Molding With 3D Printed Molds 9

CASE STUDIES
In this section, we will go through the case studies from Multiplus, IPC, Novus Applications,
Braskem, and Holimaker.

Multiplus Injection Molded Hundreds of PP and

ABS Parts for Electronic Housing in Three Days
This case showcases how Multiplus, a Shenzhen-based contract manufacturer uses molds
printed in Rigid 10K Resin to manufacture parts in PP, ABS, PC-ABS, and PC materials.

BACKGROUND AND CHALLENGE

In the years after joining the World Trade Organization (WTO) in 2001, China quickly became the
world's largest manufacturer in terms of output. Much of this manufacturing power comes from
the Pearl River Delta region, a group of nine cities in the southern Guangdong Province that
includes Shenzhen. In 2020, the region accounted for roughly one-third of China’s trade value.

Propelled by this rapid growth, many small workshops grew into international companies.
Founded in 2005 in Shenzhen, Multiplus started as a micro injection molding workshop and
quickly grew into a solutions provider that covers the entire production cycle from design to
manufacturing of plastic products, both large and small, single or multi-shot (where two or more
colors or materials are injection molded simultaneously into a single mold). Today, Multiplus
provides services to over 250 clients per year, including Fortune 500 companies, some of whom
require small batch production.

“Although it is not the majority of what we do now, small batch production requests are becoming
more common. Some are for design and functional validation, but more are becoming end-use.

FORMLABS: Low-Volume Rapid Injection Molding With 3D Printed Molds 10

This makes sense because more and more companies want to test the market,” said Kevin Li,
CEO of Multiplus.

3D PRINTING PROCESS
A few years ago, Multiplus adopted 3D printing and has since purchased several 3D printers,
mostly to print communication models and parts for design validation in different materials. As
the demand for small batch production grew, Multiplus turned to 3D printing to explore different
materials in an attempt to find a cost-effective way to produce cheaper plastic molds for smaller
orders. Fabricating low-volume injection molds with Formlabs 3D printers reduced costs, labor,
and time compared to machining aluminum molds, and could seamlessly be used with their
Babyplast industrial injection molding machines.

One of the materials Multiplus tested was Formlabs Rigid 10K Resin, a glass-filled resin that is
very stiff, strong, as well as heat and chemical resistant, which are necessary properties for an
injection mold. Additionally, parts printed in Rigid 10K Resin on Formlabs SLA 3D printers have a
smooth matte finish that translates to clean surface finishes on the injected parts.

A Rigid 10K Resin mold core assembled with a metal mold shell.

“Not many 3D printed materials can withstand the repeated pressure, heating, and cooling during
the injection molding process. Our experience is that even with a material claimed to withstand
high temperatures, the printed mold might be able to withstand 10-20 injection cycles but would
crack shortly after that, or the quality degrades so that the finished part becomes undesirable.
The first batch we produced with the Rigid 10K Resin mold produced 100 parts with no issues,”
said Mr. Lin Wei, Multiplus’ injection molding department manager.

FORMLABS: Low-Volume Rapid Injection Molding With 3D Printed Molds 11

MOLDING PROCESS
Multiplus has used their 3D printed injection molds with a Babyplast 10/12 Standard machine
under a wide range of pressures, temperatures, and materials. The part tested was a control box
housing for home appliances that included a few small features.

Multiplus used a Babyplast 10/12 Standard machine for molding.

From these tests, they observed that PP injected at 180°C was fairly easy to process. Multiplus
obtained injected parts with good quality and a smooth surface. The printed mold ran 100 injections
and was still in good condition. Similarly, ABS was processed at 220°C for 60 shots without
damaging the mold. Multiplus did not test the molds to failure because of the tight production
schedule, but would expect a lifetime above 100 cycles per mold for PP, ABS, and PC-ABS.

Trials with PC at 260°C led to mold breakage after only four iterations. This shows that plastics above
250°C with high viscosity are challenging to process with a Rigid 10K Resin 3D printed mold, in particular
for this geometry with thin walls. High Temp Resin has a higher heat deflection temperature and can be
considered as an alternative material when clamping and injection pressures are not too high.

MATERIAL PP ABS PC-ABS PC

Injection Temperature (Nozzle) 180 °C 220 °C 240 °C 260 °C

Injection Volume 36 cc 39 cc 37 cc 40 cc

Cooling Time 80 sec 60 sec 50 sec 90 sec

Injection Pressure 60 bar 95 bar 95 bar 110 bar

Holding Pressure 35 bar 30 bar 25 bar 80 bar

Holding Time 0 sec 1.5 sec 1 sec 2.5 sec

Number of Cycles 100+ 60+ 60+ 4

FORMLABS: Low-Volume Rapid Injection Molding With 3D Printed Molds 12

RESULTS
Multiplus has tested injection molding parts with ABS, PP, PC+ABS, and PC. After designing the
mold, they would print and post-process the mold in a day, assemble the molds in the assembly
workshop in half an hour or so and start injection molding on their injection molding machines.
Once injection molding starts, it takes roughly three minutes for a part to be finished. Multiplus
limits each mold to roughly 100 shots of use and prints multiples of the molds for larger
order quantities.

Freshly injection-molded ABS control box housings using the Rigid 10K Resin molds. The molds
printed on the Form 3 could produce 60+ parts in ABS and 100+ parts in PP.

With multiple 3D printers and injection molding machines in the workshop, Multiplus can deliver
hundreds of pieces as fast as three days, which is substantially shorter than the three or four
weeks needed if they were to injection mold parts with a CNC machined metal mold.
INJECTION MOLDING 100 PARTS SLA 3D PRINTED MOLD CNC MACHINED MOLD

Lead Time Three to five days Three to four weeks

“Having the Form 3 on our factory floor has made our mold-making process much more agile,
and the Rigid 10K Resin is one of the best resins we have used so far for injection molding. Now
we are able to respond to customer requests much faster,” said Kevin Li.

By seamlessly integrating 3D printing into their injection molding workflow, Multiplus was able
to grow their business, take on more jobs, and be more competitive, all while reducing costs,
improving turnaround time, and helping their clients bring better products to market quickly.

FORMLABS: Low-Volume Rapid Injection Molding With 3D Printed Molds 13

 IPC Technical Center Injected Thousands of PP
Parts with Fine Texturing
The French Industrial Technical Center for Plastics and Composites (IPC) conducted research to
evaluate the usability of 3D printed molds for low-volume injection molding. This case study
documents the fabrication steps and injection trials for molds 3D printed with Formlabs solution,
highlighting results and best practices.

The test part was injection molded using a mold 3D printed in Rigid 10K Resin.

BACKGROUND
IPC is the Industrial Technical Center whose expertise is dedicated to plastic and composite
innovation in France. IPC develops new means to support all businesses, in particular small and
medium-sized companies. The center works closely with European scientific key players, in
order to support companies on R&D, innovation, and technology and skills transfer concerns,
regardless of the process used. IPC built three technology transfer programs to tackle the major
challenges of the industry. They support companies by providing R&D expertise for the circular
economy (DIS 30), the additive manufacturing sector (PRINTER), industry 4.0, and for high added
value products (HYPROD 2). IPC teams help industries or manufacturers drive innovation by
performing studies, establishing protocols, feasibility, and technology transfer.

BENCHMARKS
The IPC research project consisted of a two year long technical study, divided in three phases:

1. Comparison of 3D printing technologies: A first classification was established from multiple

manufacturers’ technical data. Thermal and mechanical data were evaluated respectively through
the heat deflection temperature (HDT) and the Young’s modulus. Four types of benchmark allowing
to highlight critical properties have been manufactured in each of the identified technologies in order
to select the three most promising materials. Resin-based 3D printing solutions were selected as the
best choice for injection molds, because of the high resolution and smooth surface of the parts.

Overall, a similar range of dimensional variations is measured for all the 3D printing technologies
considered; between ±0.02 mm and ±0.05 mm for small features and between ±0.05 mm and

FORMLABS: Low-Volume Rapid Injection Molding With 3D Printed Molds 14

 ±0.2mm for larger dimensions. The standard accuracy of a machined metal tool is expected to be
±0.02 mm. This precision is desired to achieve a good fit at the parting line and avoid flashing. In
this report, IPC will propose two methods to optimize the parting line of a 3D printed polymeric tool.

Benchmark geometries.

2. Material characterization, design, and 3D printing guidelines

3. Injection trials: IPC executed two tests with different sets of molds. In the first trial, they used a test
design and injected almost a hundred of polypropylene parts using a mono-material mold printed in
Formlabs High Temp Resin. In the second trial, they used a more challenging test design but this time
injected thousands of polypropylene parts with a multi-material mold, core and inserts printed with
Formlabs Rigid 10K Resin and the frame printed in PA12 with SLS.

MOLD DESIGN
Parts and Molds Description

Figure 1 Figure 2

CAD design of the two final parts: first test part molded with a mono-material mold without inserts
(Figure 1) and second toture part molded with a multi-material mold with inserts (Figure 2).

IPC designed two mold sets to inject two different challenging parts. For both sets, they intended
to optimize the quality of the parting line: both halves of the tool must be positioned within a
tolerance of ±0.02mm in order to obtain a good fit.

1. A mono-material mold printed in High Temp Resin. It carries a simple geometry without insert or side
action, and includes texturing. The parting line will be reworked in a finishing step to improve the parting line.

FORMLABS: Low-Volume Rapid Injection Molding With 3D Printed Molds 15

 STL file of the mono-material mold printed with High Temp Resin, loaded in the PreForm print
preparation software. Stationary side (left) and moving side (right).

2. A multi-material mold: The stationary side of the mold is printed with Rigid 10K Resin and
includes texturing. The moving side is made of one core and four inserts printed in Rigid 10K
Resin and a frame printed in PA12 with selective laser sintering (SLS) technology. The soft frame
is designed with a pad to compensate for the dimensional variation from the parting line. PA12
is flexible enough to absorb the dimensional dispersion during mold clamping. However, SLS
should be used only to print the frame and not the whole mold because it does not provide a fine
enough resolution for the molding surfaces and melts at high temperature.

STL files of the multi-material mold loaded in the PreForm print preparation software: stationary side
(left) and moving side core and inserts (right) printed with Rigid 10K Resin.

This geometry is a little more challenging in order to test

the resistance of inserts with low thickness. There is a
three degrees draft angle between the core and the frame
to facilitate assembly. The frame was built with a 0.05 mm
stock allowance to allow a better fit.

CAD design of the PA12 frame for the

moving side of the multi-material mold.

FORMLABS: Low-Volume Rapid Injection Molding With 3D Printed Molds 16

CAD file of the molds, view of the textures similar for both tool sets. From left to right: (1) Large sphere
1.82 mm radius and 0.3 mm height. Small sphere 1.09 mm radius and 0.3 mm height. (2) Wood:
0.25mm height. (3) Pyramid: 0.3 mm side and 0.2 mm depth. (4) Leather: 0.14 mm height.

Design Guidelines
IPC ran a few design iterations and recommends the following best practices:

• Plan stock allowance on the printed mold and machine it to adjust dimensions.
• Avoid small section cores: parts with the section smaller than the height might not resist the
pressure and temperature. IPC advises printing multiple inserts for thin overhanging parts—
they can be replaced in case of failure—or fabricating the small pieces in metal.
• Design with measures larger than 400 mm might be challenging. Because dimensional
variation increases with the size, it will be more difficult to achieve a mold fit.
• Increase draft and overhang angles (10° to 20°) to avoid deformation.
• Not to integrate cooling channels in the mold design. Because thermal transfer occurs slower
in plastic parts than metal parts, cooling channels would not have enough impact on the
temperature to justify the time spent for designing this system. Regulation might be beneficial
in the case of challenging design or materials, but this needs to be researched further.

MOLD 3D PRINTING
3D Printing Resin
The molds were 3D printed with the Form 3 printer and
post-treated with Form Wash and Form Cure stations.

The first tool was printed with High Temp Resin at 25

microns layer height. The second mold set was made of
a frame printed with SLS technology in PA12, and a core
printed with Rigid 10K Resin at 50 micron layer height. Mold printed with Rigid 10K Resin,
stationary side on the build platform.
3D Printing Guidelines
After a few iterations, IPC recommends the following 3D
printing best practices:

• Print with Rigid 10K Resin to increase mold longevity.

• Use a small layer height for a better resolution: SLA printing enables very fine texturing.
• When possible, print the mold flat without supports to obtain better dimensional accuracy and
avoid warping.

FORMLABS: Low-Volume Rapid Injection Molding With 3D Printed Molds 17

 • Orient the mold in order to reduce overhanging parts.
• When possible, print both halves aligned in reference to the build direction. Potential size
variations will be more consistent and improve the quality of the parting line.
• Finish the 3D printed mold with machining. In particular, adjust the parting line to fit both halves of the
mold together and avoid flashing. Diameters tend to deform and drilling holes might be necessary.

Textures printed on the Rigid 10K Resin mold.

Scanning Metrology
IPC scanned the printed molds to measure the dimensional variation, right after printing and post-
cure. These scans show a variation smaller than ±0.05 mm for more than 75% of the part.

HIGH TEMP RESIN RIGID 10K RESIN

Scans of the mold 3D printed with High Temp Resin: Scans of the mold 3D printed with Rigid 10K Resin: dynamic
dynamic side (left) and stationary side (right). side (left) and stationary side (right).

FORMLABS: Low-Volume Rapid Injection Molding With 3D Printed Molds 18

INJECTION
Mold Assembly
As mentioned above, it is recommended to machine the 3D printed mold before assembly in
order to meet critical dimensions. However, the multi-material mold did not need to be machined,
as the soft parting line in PA 12 could absorb the dimensional variations. Ejector pins or inserts
can then be added. IPC advises to print multiple inserts for thin overhanging parts showing more
risk of breakage: they could easily be replaced in case of failure. Mold machining and assembly
are sensitive operations to execute with care as the 3D printed parts could break during
treatment. The 3D printed molds should be placed inside a metal die or mold master in order to
support against the pressure.

Mold printed with High Temp Resin assembled in the metal die. Moving side with ejector pins (left) and
stationary side (right).

Mold printed with Rigid 10K Resin assembled in the metal die. Moving side with ejector pins, inserts,
SLS frame (left) and stationary side (right).

Molding Process Conditions

The team injected thousands of parts under the following molding conditions:

• Injection molding machine: industrial, ENGEL 150T

• Injected material: polypropylene (PP)
• Injected temperature: 200 °C
• Injected pressure: 180 Bars

FORMLABS: Low-Volume Rapid Injection Molding With 3D Printed Molds 19

• Clamping force: 125 KN
• Release agent: none
• Cooling system: none. The temperature was controlled with a thermographic camera and the
cycle started only when the temperature of the printed mold was below 36 °C.
• Ejection: automatic with ejector pins and robotic arm to move the part
• Cycle time: 150 sec

Results
IPC injected 90 polypropylene parts with the mono-material mold printed in High Temp Resin.
The parts injected showed high-quality surface finish and level of details. However, the mold started
cracking after 31 iterations, which impacted the surface quality of the remaining molded parts.

Part number 31 (left) part number 90 (right) injected with High Temp Resin mold.

High Temp Resin mold after 90 injections.

IPC injected 1000 polypropylene parts with the multi-material mold printed in Rigid 10K Resin.
The parts injected showed high-quality surface finish and level of details. They observed light
flash from the first injections and small cracks around the core clips after 900 injections. A
brightness appeared at the gate location as well.

FORMLABS: Low-Volume Rapid Injection Molding With 3D Printed Molds 20

Light flash on the final part (left) and small cracks after 900 injections on the Rigid 10K Resin core.

Textures on the final parts injected with the multi-material mold.

IPC recommends choosing Rigid 10K Resin in order to increase mold longevity, it is less brittle
and shows better strength under stress than the High Temp Resin. The 3D printed mold
should be machined in order to improve the accuracy of the parting line and reduce flashing.
Alternatively, using a multi-material mold with a soft frame is a great solution to compensate for
dimensional variations. IPC expects the injection process to be more challenging with viscous
materials such as polycarbonate (PC) and injection temperatures over 240 °C.

CONCLUSION
IPC evaluated the usability of 3D printed molds for low-volume injection molding. With a mold
core printed in Formlabs Rigid 10K Resin, and a soft frame printed in PA12, they could inject
thousands of parts with polypropylene, reducing cost by 80-90% compared to a metal mold.

FORMLABS: Low-Volume Rapid Injection Molding With 3D Printed Molds 21

Novus Applications Injection Molded Hundreds of
Threaded Caps With a Rigid 10K Resin
Three-Parts Mold
This case study showcases how the high stiffness and temperature resistance of Rigid 10K Resin
allows intricate mold geometry, including a threaded side-action core.

The printed three-part mold with the caps injected in polyethylene.

BACKGROUND AND CHALLENGE

Novus Applications is a product development company focusing on consumer goods. Experienced
in injection molding and 3D printing, they run design for manufacturing and moldability studies for
their customers. Speed is crucial for the team as they need to quickly deliver low-volume series of
prototypes. They conducted an internal study to test the viability of using a 3D printed mold in the
injection molding process to fabricate a small batch of caps. They were specifically looking at the
dimensional stability and longevity of the printed molds; how the molds would behave under the
heat and pressure of the process and how many injection cycles they could expect from one mold.

FORMLABS: Low-Volume Rapid Injection Molding With 3D Printed Molds 22

DESIGN PROCESS
Mark Bartlett, the founder and president of Novus Applications, wanted his team to create a
generic cap with an internal thread that was applicable for both tubes and bottles. It requires
a complex, three-part stack with a dynamic threaded core. Bartlett followed the usual
recommendations for designing a mold for injection molding. Specifically, he included draft
angles to facilitate the demolding process, supported all free-hanging cores where possible, and
avoided very thin cross-sections. In an effort to reduce the pressure in the cavity, he drew large
gates and incorporated venting to get the gas out of the mold. Finally, some extra material was
planned to groom the blocks in a post-processing step.

This is a three-part mold with a moving B side The CAD file of the mold loaded into Formlabs
cavity (left), a threaded side-action core (middle) PreForm software for print preparation.
and a stationary A side (right).

3D PRINTING PROCESS
Bartlett was looking for a 3D printing material stiff enough to withstand the pressure of the
process while being able to render the fine details of the design. Having used FDM printing
technology before, Bartlett knew that his project required the higher resolution that SLA
technology can offer. He opted for Formlabs Rigid 10K Resin as it is an extremely stiff material
with high tensile strength and tensile modulus, and great dimensional stability. High Temp Resin
was also considered but did not perform as well, he needed the mechanical properties that Rigid
10K Resin offers rather than the thermal properties of High Temp Resin.

The molds were printed overnight on the Form 3 printer with Rigid 10K Resin at 50-micron layer
height. They printed extra side-action cores in case of failure during the demolding. The parts
were then post-processed to match the desired sizes. Mark designed the molds with additional
stock allowances in mind so that the mold's key surfaces and features could be fine-tuned in
post-processing operations, allowing him to achieve a perfect fit inside the press. Common
post-processing operations include drilling out or reaming holes and sanding or milling faces to
achieve the tight tolerances necessary to reduce print defects.

FORMLABS: Low-Volume Rapid Injection Molding With 3D Printed Molds 23

MOLDING PROCESS

The printed molds were placed into a metallic frame before injection. The side-action core went
inside the B side (left) which was clamped to the stationary A side (right).

The team operated an all-electric Sumitomo 50-ton press. The printed molds were placed into
a prefabricated metallic mold frame inside the machine. They injected three different materials;
a low melt PP (P5M6K-048 Red), high melt PP (PP1013H1 White), and high melt PE (Marlex 9018
HDPE). PP is quite easy to process and does not require very high pressure. The table below
shows the injection conditions used for one printed mold.

INJECTED MATERIAL P5M6K-048 RED PP1013H1 WHITE MARLEX 9018 HDPE

Melt Index 35 7.5 20

Nozzle Temperature 390°F, 199°C 410°F, 210°C 400°F, 204°C

Injected Pressure 6,800 PSI 9,500 PSI 7,200 PSI

Cycle Time 48 sec 50 sec 68 sec

Number of Injection 30 30 30
Cycles

Pressure to Failure Not tested 11,500 PSI Not tested

FORMLABS: Low-Volume Rapid Injection Molding With 3D Printed Molds 24

Cycle times were slower than in a traditional injection molding process, including the injection,
cooling, and manual demolding. The injection speed was reduced in order to keep the pressure
low. To shorten the cooling time of the plastic mold, Bartlett printed multiple cores and was not
running consecutively on the same core in order to leave the ones cooling on the side. There
were no water cooling channels available but the aluminum frame could absorb some part of
the heat. The demolding process is a sensitive step as the mold can be damaged during the
operation. The team was ejecting and unscrewing the part from the side-action core manually,
and had to pay attention to not break the core during the separation. They first applied a release
agent to facilitate it, but it turned out not to be necessary as the draft angles were sufficient. They
did not notice any chemical reaction between the printed resin and the injected materials.

RESULTS

The mold cavity after the injection of P5M6K-048 Red (left) and PP1013H1 White (right) materials.

With maintaining the injection pressure under 11,500 PSI, the team operated about a hundred
injection cycles for one mold. The lead time of this project was about two days, from idea to
production. The team drew the mold in a few hours, printed it overnight, and needed half a day to
prepare and assemble the mold and another half a day to mold the parts. They used only one CAD
model, however, more complicated parts would require a few more days for design iterations.

The next table displays measurements of the final part injected in three different materials. For
each, the team measured 20 diameters of the inside of the threaded cap to assess the repeatability
of this process. We can observe an average deviation from the mean diameter of ±0.04 mm over
these 60 caps, reflecting good dimensional stability.

FORMLABS: Low-Volume Rapid Injection Molding With 3D Printed Molds 25

MATERIAL P5M6K-048 RED PP1013H1 WHITE MARLEX 9018 HDPE

Mean 0.515 in 13.072 mm 0.520 in 13.207 mm 0.517 in 13.134 mm

Cycle Number Deviation (in) Deviation (mm) Deviation (in) Deviation (mm) Deviation (in) Deviation (mm)

1 0.000 0.009 0.002 0.052 0.000 -0.003

2 0.002 0.060 0.001 0.027 0.002 0.048

3 0.001 0.034 0.000 0.001 -0.002 -0.053

4 0.005 0.136 0.001 0.027 0.004 0.099

5 0.000 0.009 -0.001 -0.024 0.003 0.074

6 -0.001 -0.017 -0.001 -0.024 0.000 -0.003

7 -0.001 -0.017 -0.004 -0.100 -0.001 -0.028

8 -0.002 -0.042 0.002 0.052 -0.001 -0.028

9 -0.002 -0.042 -0.002 -0.050 0.000 -0.003

10 0.000 0.009 -0.003 -0.075 0.001 0.023

11 0.000 0.009 0.004 0.103 -0.001 -0.028

12 -0.003 -0.067 0.001 0.027 -0.001 -0.028

13 0.000 0.009 -0.001 -0.024 0.002 0.048

14 -0.002 -0.042 -0.001 -0.024 0.002 0.048

15 0.003 0.085 0.003 0.077 -0.002 -0.053

16 0.000 0.009 0.002 0.052 -0.001 -0.028

17 -0.002 -0.042 -0.002 -0.050 -0.002 -0.053

18 -0.003 -0.067 -0.003 -0.075 0.001 0.023

19 0.000 0.009 0.002 0.052 0.000 -0.003

20 -0.002 -0.042 -0.001 -0.024 -0.002 -0.053

Average From 0.001 0.038 0.002 0.047 0.001 0.036

Absolute
Deviation

FORMLABS: Low-Volume Rapid Injection Molding With 3D Printed Molds 26

COSTS ANALYSIS

“If my customer only needs 20 parts why would I need an aluminum

mold? With 3D printing technology, the team shows a much faster
learning curve, the production is more unattended—specifically thanks
to the Form 3’s ease-of-use.”
Mark Bartlett

With this workflow, Novus Application saved a lot of time and simplified a previously complex
process. Normally, they would have machined the mold in-house out of a block of steel or
aluminum, which would be far more labor-intensive. It would take a few more days and require
high-end software with highly trained operators. Due to the more expensive equipment and
materials, both machine time and the production cost of the mold would have been substantially
higher. For this project, Bartlett estimates that 3D printing the mold cost less than half of
machining it in house.

“It always depends on the part that you are working on—I can print complex parts accurately way
faster than I am going to machine them,” said Bartlett.

IN-HOUSE MACHINED METAL MOLD IN-HOUSE 3D PRINTED MOLD

Equipment CNC machine and software Form 3 printer

Injection molding machine Rigid 10K Resin
PP, HDPE Injection molding machine
PP, HDPE

Mold Production Time Two days One day

Mold Production Cost 2X <1X

Braskem Fabricated Thousands of End-Use Mask

Straps in a Week
This case is an example of a very simple insert geometry, flat with no fine features, where reducing
cooling time was critical to producing thousands of polypropylene (PP) parts in a short time.

BACKGROUND AND CHALLENGE

Being one of the world’s leading petrochemical companies, Braskem is well experienced in
injection molding. Michelle Sing, Jake Fallon, Collins Azinger, and Fabio Lamon work on exploring
opportunities with additive manufacturing for Braskem’s customers. One particular interest is to
help their community gain access to temporary tools and gain flexibility in production with rapid
tooling. The urgent need for masks during the COVID-19 crisis led them to test the viability of
using a 3D printed mold with injection molding. They needed to design and produce thousands
of mask straps within a week to distribute to Braskem employees. After initially considering
directly 3D printing the straps with FDM printers and machining a traditional mold out of tooling
metal, they ultimately landed on 3D printed injection molds to reduce costs and turnaround time.

FORMLABS: Low-Volume Rapid Injection Molding With 3D Printed Molds 27

DESIGN PROCESS
Fallon went through three design iterations in order to increase the number of cycles before breakage,
lessen flashing to shorten demolding time, and save resin. Here is an overview of the modifications:
MOLD V1 MOLD V2 MOLD V3

Design Features Added draft angles Added draft angles Added draft angles
Enlarged gate Enlarged gate
Added large vents (against flashing)
Reduced the cross-section in some areas

Results 500 cycles 1500 cycles 2500 cycles

Alleviated flashing
28% in resin savings

The one-side mold directly locked to The final CAD file of mold loaded into Formlabs
a metallic plaque. PreForm print preparation software. The part
was printed tilted with supports. Smaller molds
can also be printed directly on the build platform
to minimize post processing time.

3D PRINTING PROCESS
The team printed on the Form 3 with High Temp Resin. Thanks to the Form 3’s Remote Printing
feature, Fallon could work on the CAD file from home and start the print remotely, so that the
part would be printed by the time he arrived back in the office in the morning. He opted for a
50-micron layer height in order to balance the time to print while obtaining a good surface finish
and help demolding. The prints were hand sanded to fit inside the system.

FORMLABS: Low-Volume Rapid Injection Molding With 3D Printed Molds 28

MOLDING PROCESS
The team operated an all-electric press Cincinnati Milacron 110 Ton Roboshot. Braskem was using
a one-sided printed insert, slid into the system, and directly locked to a metallic plaque, which
helped to hold at high pressure. They injected generic polypropylene (PP) at 230°C, which has
good flexibility and toughness. They chose a higher melt flow PP for low viscosity in order to
minimize the injection pressure, extend the lifetime of the mold, and avoid flashing. To minimize
the injection pressure they kept the temperature in the barrel higher to reduce the viscosity of
the melted plastic. Some of the molding conditions were: five-ton clamping pressure, 20-second
cycle time, injection speed of 0.5 in/s, and hold pressure of 5,000 psi for ~eight seconds.

Cincinnati Milacron Roboshot.

The one-sided printed mold (V1) slided in the injection molding machine.

The demolding process was quite labor-intensive. The team trimmed the gate and purged the vents
manually. They applied MR303 silicone food grade release agent from Sprayon to facilitate the separation,
spraying after every 50 to 60 shots. There were no ejection pins or cooling system. However, they
managed to reach an average total cycle time of 30 seconds, including cooling and manual separation.

FORMLABS: Low-Volume Rapid Injection Molding With 3D Printed Molds 29

RESULTS
The team ran between 1,500 and 2,500 injection cycles with one printed mold before breakage. Producing
four straps per minute, they used two molds for the total production, and more than 8,000 mask straps
were distributed to Braskem team members in the USA, Mexico, and Brazil. The high number of cycles is
largely the result of the structural simplicity of this insert—flat with a large gate, no intricate features, and held
inside a metallic frame. For this project, Braskem went from idea to production within a week.

The mold insert printed with High Temp Resin next to the two straps injected in polypropylene.

COSTS ANALYSIS
Braskem considered three possibilities to produce these masks. Given that they only had a week
to deliver the masks, reducing the overall project time was a crucial requirement. Therefore
they included the mold fabrication time and costs when comparing each method. By choosing
injection molding with an in-house 3D printed mold, Braskem obtained 90-94% time saving and
80-97% cost savings compared to the alternatives.

INJECTION MOLDING INJECTION MOLDING

IN-HOUSE DIRECT 3D WITH OUTSOURCED WITH IN-HOUSE 3D
PRINTING METALLIC MOLD PRINTED MOLD

Equipment FDM printer Injection molding Form 3 printer, High Temp

machine, PP Resin, Injection molding
machine, PP

Mold Production Time Zero 30 days One day

Mold Production Costs Zero $10,000-15,000 $200

Total Project Time, 72 days (13 minutes / 32 days Three days

(including mold fabrication strap)
and 8,000 straps production)

Total Project Costs, $2080 $10160 - $15160 $360

(including mold fabrication
and 8,000 straps production)

FORMLABS: Low-Volume Rapid Injection Molding With 3D Printed Molds 30

Holimaker Produces Hundreds of Prototypes and
Pre-Production Parts With a Desktop Injection
Molding Ecosystem
Using a desktop injection molding machine is a great way to leverage this process with limited
investment and maintenance for prototyping or to test the workflow before committing to
industrial equipment. This case shows how to get started with injection molding low volumes of
small parts using different resins.

BACKGROUND AND CHALLENGE

French startup Holimaker wants to make plastic manufacturing accessible by fabricating micro-
industry tools for plastic processing. Their core product, the Holipress, is a manual injection
molding machine that enables engineers and product designers to process plastic on their
desktop in low quantities for prototypes, pilot production, or even limited series of end-use parts.

The company offers feasibility studies to their customers, using 3D printed molds for their
fast turnaround and low costs. This allows their clients to quickly and affordably prototype
designs and validate final manufacturing conditions during the pilot production phase of
new product introduction. By using the same manufacturing method, including mold design
and materials, these parts can be tested in the field and ensure the designs are ready to be
produced at scale. The 3D printed mold designs can then be easily adapted for tool-grade steel
during mass production.

Holimaker uses 3D printed molds in 80% to 90% of their current project. We met with Managing
Director Aurélien Stoky and Marketing Director Vivien Salamone to understand how they
combine both technologies.

The Holipress, a Form 3+ printer, and molds printed in Rigid 10K Resin.

FORMLABS: Low-Volume Rapid Injection Molding With 3D Printed Molds 31

"The blocker in injection molding is to manufacture the mold. In order to democratize injection
molding and make it accessible to everyone, we had to find a complementary technology to
produce our mold. Desktop printing was a perfect fit for this. We combine the flexibility of 3D
printing with the productivity and quality of injection-molded plastic," Stoky and Salamone said.

Holimaker has looked into alternative ways for mold making. For orders over a thousand parts,
they would employ a machined aluminum mold, but for smaller quantities, they run the press
on 3D printed molds. In some cases they combine both in a similar way as Braskem: for large
volumes with demanding geometries, they machine the outside of the mold and 3D print the
insert, which is replaced over time.

DESIGN PROCESS
Usually, the team iterates on three to four models per project in order to optimize the design.
They follow the general molding and design for manufacturing recommendations, such
as including draft angles. They mostly work on small parts, and add 0.1 mm vents and 0.5
mm runners.

In addition, they respect a few printing rules such as including chamfers to help to remove the
piece from the build platform, some centering pins to align both prints, and notches to assist
opening with a screwdriver. They usually use 10 mm thick molds and avoid thin cross-sections.
Parts that are only 1-2 mm thick cannot endure the high temperatures.

3D PRINTING PROCESS
Holimaker’s team prints the molds directly on the build platform at a 50-micron layer height. For
small parts, this orientation saves printing time and resin by not using support structures; the
team also observed better dimensional accuracy on the mold surfaces after curing. If dimensional
errors occur, it is usually on the outside of the block that they post-process with hand sanding to
fit the frames.

Holimaker prints with both Rigid 10K Resin and Grey Pro Resin. Grey Pro Resin is a more
affordable resin suitable for molding a few units of small parts at low pressure. However, molds
printed with Grey Pro Resin may deform as the number of cycles increases, therefore they favor
Rigid 10K Resin for more technical projects.

MOLDING PROCESS
The team uses the Holipress injection molding machine in all their studies. It is a small manual
press, easy to use, and available at a tenth of the cost of an industrial press. The molds are
placed into a prefabricated aluminum frame which holds the pressure better and ensures that the
injection nozzle is not in direct contact with the printed mold.

With Formlabs printed molds, Holimaker injects a broad range of thermoplastics with different
levels of hardness from Shore 40A to 90A, at a three to five minutes cycle time. The number
of cycles per mold varies from about 10 parts for a PA injected at 270°C to 100s of parts for a
PP, TPE, or POM injected at lower temperatures. Holimaker is developing an integrated cooling
system to help reduce the cooling time before demolding.

FORMLABS: Low-Volume Rapid Injection Molding With 3D Printed Molds 32

RESULTS
The team chose SLA 3D printing from Formlabs for its part quality and ease of use. "The quality of
our injected parts is very good because of the high-quality molds. And when I start a print in the
evening, I am almost sure to have a good mold ready the following day," they said.

Stoky and Salamone had used another desktop printing technology before, but observed too
much deformation on the prints even prior to injection.

Holimaker produced prototypes of a valve connector part for a customer to carry out resistance tests
to water pressure. The part injection molded in POM using 3D printed molds withstood 25 bars of
pressure, while the same part machined in POM only withstood 8 bars of pressure.

“Formlabs parts offer great dimensional accuracy and surface finish. If there is a dimensional
error, it is very minor, and it is uniform on the three axes, therefore we can predict it and post-
process it. With other desktop printers, we could not control the deformation," said Stoky.

The team also appreciates the simple workflow that is easy to learn and operate, for example,
automating the washing and curing process with Form Wash and Form Cure. They can go from
design to molded parts within a working day and then also iterate the design to optimize the
model. "We often design the mold in the morning, print it during the day and we can test the
injection in the afternoon to modify the CAD model and start a second print overnight," said Stoky.

Holimaker shared a few cases from their customers to give a better understanding of the part,
molding conditions, and results of their feasibility studies.

FORMLABS: Low-Volume Rapid Injection Molding With 3D Printed Molds 33

 VALVES AND FITTINGS EYEWEAR
COMPANY MANUFACTURER FERME 3D MANUFACTURER

Product Valve connector Face shield clip Eyewear frame

Need To be able to quickly Test a solution to produce Test compatibility of

prototype a valve a series of 10,000s of eyewear materials with
connector part in order to parts in a short time. printed molds to produce
carry out resistance tests a series of 200 frames.
to water pressure.

Mold CAD

Injected Part

Mold Material Rigid 10K Resin Grey Pro Resin Grey Pro Resin

Materials Injected POM (190°C) / PA6 15% PP (food-grade, 220°C) ASA (240°C), PA (240°C)
GF (280°C) / PP (210°C)

Number of Parts for One 12+ 100 70

Mold

Cycle Time Five minutes Two minutes Two minutes

Project Lead Time Two weeks One week Two weeks

COSTS ANALYSIS

OUTSOURCE MACHINED METAL MOLD IN-HOUSE 3D PRINTED MOLD

Equipment Holipress, Holipress,

thermoplastics thermoplastics,
Form 3+ printer, Grey Pro Resin or
Rigid 10K Resin

Mold Production Time Three to five weeks One week

Mold Production Costs 4-5X 1X

FORMLABS: Low-Volume Rapid Injection Molding With 3D Printed Molds 34

Conclusion
The conversation around 3D printing and injection molding is often oppositional, but it’s not
always a question of one versus the other. By directly 3D printing rapid prototypes and parts, and
using 3D printed injection molds for later-stage functional prototyping with end-use materials,
product validation, and low-volume production, your company can leverage the benefits of both
technologies. This will make your manufacturing process more time- and cost-efficient and allow
you to bring products to the market faster.

The cost and lead time of producing parts in limited volume can often be a barrier to introducing
a new product. With this hybrid process, it is possible to shorten the time from concept to production while
delivering a series of parts in traditional thermoplastics and even manufacture custom or limited series of
end-use parts. With SLA 3D printing, you can now make it all happen affordably, within a few days.

Whether you are looking for a desktop solution or something to implement on the factory floor,
Formlabs’ complete, easy-to-use 3D printing ecosystem can seamlessly be integrated into any
injection molding workflow. The Form 3+ is ideal for 3D printing injection molds and with the
Form 3L, Formlabs’ large format SLA 3D printer, you can scale this process to large molds and
tackle even more applications. Users are also exploring techniques such as electroplating or
assembling multi-material printed stacks to expand the capabilities of short-run molds.

Do you have questions about using an SLA printer for injection molding or other engineering and
manufacturing applications? Reach out to our solutions specialists or request a free sample of
one of the three materials showcased in this white paper.

Request a Free Sample Contact Our Experts

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