Design Guide: Injection Molding
Read this design guide to help you understand materials, finishes, and important design-for-manufacturability considerations.
Download the Guide
Plastic injection molding is one of the most cost-effective ways to make functional parts in low to high volumes. Optimizing custom part designs for injection molding requires a thorough understanding of the process and outcomes. In this ebook, you'll learn about molding materials, special molding terms you should know, surface finishes, and, most importantly, how to optimize your part design to improve outcomes and save costs. At the end of the guide is an example of a project that combines all the concepts.
A Look Inside at the Table of Contents
Introduction to Injection Molding
→ Overview of Injection Molding
→ Types of Injection Molding Molds
→ Applications and Benefits of Injection Molding
Material Selection
→ Overview of Injection Molding Materials
→ Surface Finishes & Textures
→ Overview of Finishes in Injection Molding
→ SPI Surface Finishes
→ VDI Surface Finishes
→ Mold-Tech Textured Finishes
→ Injection Molding Finishes Guide
Injection Molding Design Guidelines
→ Draft Angles
→ Wall Thickness
→ Radii and Fillets
→ Bosses, Ribs & Gussets
→ Living Hinges
→ Snap-Fits
→ Texts & Symbols
→ Gate Design
→ Parting Line
→ Dealing With Undercuts
→ Plastic Part Tolerances
Common Defects & How to Prevent Them
→ Warping
→ Sink Marks
→ Knit Lines
→ Drag Marks
→ Splay
Injection Molding in Action
Injection Molding With Xometry
Additional Resources
About Xometry
Xometry delivers high-quality, on-demand injection molded parts. Injection molding is the cheapest process to make a plastic part at scale by offering consistent quality for mid-to-high volume manufacturing. Molding also has the highest variety of materials, colors, and configurations compared to CNC machining or even 3D printing. Beyond materials, injection molded parts can have custom cosmetics, polishes, or surface textures.
Xometry takes a “have it your way” approach to molding. We specialize in complex projects, typically requiring side action or hand loaded inserts. Our goal is to provide a long term solution, moving beyond rapid prototyping, with dedicated project managers and engineering experts to communicate through all project stages from design to production.
