tbird1477 Posted April 5, 2018 Report Share Posted April 5, 2018 Looking into making my own soft plastic molds. The problem there are so many different machines out there to choose from. Being a little green in that area I'm not total sure what equipment I need. IF anyone out here has suggestions it would be appreciated. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frank Posted April 5, 2018 Report Share Posted April 5, 2018 Just so you know what you are in for take some time and take a local college coarse on cnc basics. This will give you a better base line to start. Cause believe me it not the machine that makes the molds. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vodkaman Posted April 5, 2018 Report Share Posted April 5, 2018 Good advice by Frank. Dave Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Baitjunkys Posted April 5, 2018 Report Share Posted April 5, 2018 Aluminum really sucks without flood coolant, the finish is poor etc. Hard to do that on a router. As frank said, the machine don't make the molds. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SlowFISH Posted April 5, 2018 Report Share Posted April 5, 2018 (edited) Agree with all above - but if you are open to learning, spending ALOT of time and cash - it can be very rewarding... I have a small Taig CNC... it's not something I'd used for production of molds - but for personal stuff it's a good little affordable machine. There are ALOT of those machine out there too - so a pretty deep knowledge base to investigate to see it is for you.... I've given up on machining aluminum - as I agree - flood coolant is probably required - notably if your using very small endmils under 1/8" dia - which are tough on a small inaccurate machines to begin with.... I machine alot of the resins for my molds - and it's great for that as I don't need coolant and it's way more forgiving of a "non-machinist" way of doing things !!!!! J. Edited April 5, 2018 by SlowFISH 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
whitaker201 Posted April 6, 2018 Report Share Posted April 6, 2018 If you don't have much experience with machining or CAD/CAM you should look into some remedial classes first. Another thing you could look into is a 3D printer. Then you could print the molds or the masters for making the molds. The software I would check into is Fusion360. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tbird1477 Posted May 18, 2018 Author Report Share Posted May 18, 2018 Thanks guys the info is great. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jncarabello Posted May 20, 2018 Report Share Posted May 20, 2018 A desktop CNC would be best for you ...you would have to have a little bit of knowledge with cam programs and knowledge of tooling for cutting metal ....I’m lucky enough to have a boss who lets me use the machines to make my own personal projects after work hours. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
