low volume plastic injection molding...?

I've got an idea for a kids game. For the sake of discussion call it "chess" for pre-schoolers using animals instead of pawns/rooks/etc. There would be different versions of the game for different habitats, such as jungles, swamps, forest, deserts, barnyards, etc.

I did a bit of online research and found some sources of plastic toy animals, but I'm wondering about how to cast your own or whether it's something that can be done on a custom basis. I realize the easiest thing to do would be to use die cut cardboard pieces but I'm just noodling at this point.

Anyone have an relevant experience?

Sounds like an ideal situation for one of those 3-D plastic printers...

Resin casting is possible. I have friends who do it with 25mm war game figures and/or accessories.

http://itarsworkshop.com/catalog/index.php?osCsid=54bvt06728dsbuccsoqe3s08m0

Contact this guy with your questions. He should be able to give you some direction. Tell him I sent you.

Unless you are going to produce well over 500k of them, even with the cheapest non-lead colored PS/PP/HDPE and using the best Chinese child labor along with the best in Chinese mold makers, you wouldn't be making a profit, IMO and best on a rough guess.

I could do 3D printing, or laser cut acrylic with fire polished edges at a competitive price, either bulk or custom.

I would suggest medium scale production runs with fun character designs made from laser acrylic. 1"x2" pieces cut from 3/4" or 1" thick material could produce 2304 pieces out of a 4x8 sheet of acrylic. That would be 72 sets (if there are 32 pieces per game, like chess).

I could do a run like this at a fair price on a small industrial quality CNC laser.

Really SVrex? I'm gonna need to shoot you an email for a different project of my own then...

SVrex is a man of many talents!

In reply to SVreX:

Well, from what I know about the game industry, we're talking production runs measured in the hundreds or low thousands, not tens of thousands. Just for the sake of discussion, let's say a run of 1000 sets of 12 different pieces. Any idea what that might cost?

Not knowing the exact price I would guess that SVreX's laser cut acrylic is probably the most cost effective option. You could stand-up the acrylic pieces and snap them into some kind of base or glue them onto a little acrylic disk.

If you want to do 3D printing yourself, I would also look at a Maker Bot kit. The current version includes includes a moving belt on the build platform that spits out your part after it is done so you could in theory leave the printer unattended and have it make a whole set. My very rough estimate is that it would take ~6hrs for 12 pieces so you could in theory be producing 4 sets a day. Good news is that the plastic and electricity to run are quite cheap, bad news is that the kit is $1200 and takes two full days to build plus some time to "tune" it so it produces good prints.

Finally, to answer your original question about plastic injection molding. The cheapest I've been able to get a mold cut for this size part has been $2k (got it cut in China but went through US company: Quickparts.com) After you have the mold the parts are cheap but $24k is a big up-front investment (assuming worst case scenario where your 12 pieces are unique).

Phew, hope that helped.

Your best bet is to license the idea to a legitimate board game manufacturer, and sit back, collect money and let them sweat the details.

Instead of PIM look at uh... that one thing.

Forget the name, but I think most 3d plastic game boards look to be vacuum formed sheets of plastic draped over a mold.

This link calls it thermoforming http://engr.bd.psu.edu/pkoch/plasticdesign/thermoforming.htm No idea on cost, but has to be easier to do low volume/one off stuff cheaper then PIM

edit: oops, though you were saying figured checked away, and were planning out a board/game surface.

For laser cut products it's entirely about the complexity of the piece. Edit: really couldn't give a competitive price without seeing a drawing of the shape

If they are intricate shapes, or deep etched (essentially 3D), the price gets higher. Please keep in mind that there is no way I can quote anything without knowing the size, shape, complexity, material, etc.

Injection molding would be cheaper for millions of army men, but laser or 3D print would be more reasonable for a small limited edition run.

If you cut them out of sheet product of a reasonable thickness, they don't need a base. They would stand by themselves.

cwh wrote: SVrex is a man of many talents!

Jack of all trades, master of none.

reviving an old thread - Anyone playing with something like this? Link

or this one Link 2

I make a lot of pieces for one of my camera dolly dealies on my Solidoodle. It gets the office pretty hot, but they're cheap, they look good, and I can make changes or custom mods practically on the fly. It's one of the best $600 investment I've ever made.

I looked into injection molding with a local company of some good repute. Long story short, the parts are dirt cheap, but the mold is not. And once the mold is made, that's it. It's made. I wouldn't even consider injection molding for less than about 5000 pieces (and they better be valuable pieces at that).

Short answer, call SVreX. I didn't know he was doing 3D printing now, but if he is he's most certainly doing it well and for a good price. I think that's your answer.

jg

JG Pasterjak wrote: I make a lot of pieces for one of my camera dolly dealies on my Solidoodle. It gets the office pretty hot, but they're cheap, they look good, and I can make changes or custom mods practically on the fly. It's one of the best $600 investment I've ever made. I looked into injection molding with a local company of some good repute. Long story short, the parts are dirt cheap, but the mold is not. And once the mold is made, that's it. It's made. I wouldn't even consider injection molding for less than about 5000 pieces (and they better be valuable pieces at that). Short answer, call SVreX. I didn't know he was doing 3D printing now, but if he is he's most certainly doing it well and for a good price. I think that's your answer. jg

This. An injection mold is going to be expensive.

Look into resin casting or go SVreX's route. Resin casting might be cheaper for intricate parts and all you need is a silicone mold and a vacuum chamber.

Home 3d printers are getting pretty good cheap. Stroker, I know a place or two in Columbia that does 3d printing cheap.

singleslammer wrote: Home 3d printers are getting pretty good cheap. Stroker, I know a place or two in Columbia that does 3d printing cheap.

But those are way too slow to do any production that is going to number in the hundreds never mind thousands.

Keep in mind that if it is a low production number, you don't have to get a metal mold. There are plastic molds that will only last for lower volumes, and their price reflects that.

Here is your answer. You can get an online quote it you have drawings. Be aware that in the molding world, a lot of the cost savings is in knowing how to optimize the part for molding. You also have the variables of how many cavities are in your mold (ie how many parts you make at once) what material you use, what finsih you specify.

If you want to consider your own manufacturing, tabletop units are around 20k and well suited for runs in the 2-4000 parts per year. Aluminum molds wont last for ever, but they are MUCH cheaper than steel. You can even get some molds made from plastic.

http://www.stratasys.com/solutions-applications/digital-manufacturing/injection-molding

http://www.protolabs.com/lp/gen-competitors.aspx?ls=AWPMCOMP&utm_medium=cpc&utm_source=google&utm_campaign=protomold_competitors&gclid=CMH1yYqTr8ICFYuVfgod1b8ABg

Deleted canoe post. If the deleted post was not intended as a spam post please PM me.

This topic seems to be a canoe magnet. If I see another canoe reviving it, I will lock it down.

Good points on mold cost guys. For lower volumes it's tougher to get the economies of scale right. Good suggests on the casting, 3d printing, or laser cutting. Thermoforming is possible for less complex flatter characters but requires an understanding of the machines to be used efficiently.

Why not 3D print the molds? If the molds are the expensive part, and you have a 3D model of the part anyway, could that be translated into a workable mold?

Note: I'm genuinely asking, why not. This isn't my field of expertise, I'm curious as to what roadblocks/stumbling blocks there would be.

Could be done with a 3d printer cpable of sintering metals. They do exist but not terribly common.

You need a min of 50 Deg C HDT delta between two polymers prevent them molding together if you wanted to mold a low temp plastic like a PE you would need to use something like a PA66 or higher material. I guess it's possible for low volumes but my brain has trouble with throw away molds as the ones I normally work with are $300K-$500K each.

Oh I'm following this