CNC Hard Turned Steel Inserts for the Plastic Injection Molding Industry

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Hard Turned Steel Plastic Inserts

A manufacturer of plastic injection molds needed a durable insert that consistently lined up the top and bottom mold cavity within tight tolerances on each molding application. Close tolerance work was critical for the continued service life of the molds, which were expected to perform thousands upon thousands of cycles. The plastic injection molding customer contacted Elge Precision Machining, Inc., which is well known for their ability to hard turn parts to exacting tolerances following heat treatment. Elge Precision’s experienced staff machined and threaded the 0.850” long part from ¾” round 8620 steel, and then drilled and broached a small square used to drive the insert into the mold cavities. After heat treating to a RC hardness of 55, Elge Precision used their Hardinge CNC lathe to hard turn (0.00002” repeatability) the parts’ ID to 0.4377” and OD to ¾”, with a tolerance of +.0003/-.0000. Elge also hard turned the head angle and face with a surface finish superior to the required 16 RMS. Each part was custom fitted with a mate pin after hard turning. All items were tagged and mated with the male counterpart, which was also machined by Elge Precision. Needing only four to five weeks to manufacture this volume, Elge Precision then delivered the injection molding parts to their customer in Reading, Pennsylvania. Working from customer specifications and 2D CAD drawings, Elge Precision now produces 1,000 high-quality sets of these hardened threaded steel bushings per year while consistently maintaining the precise tolerances required.

The spectrum of machinery, expertise, and skill evidenced by Elge Precision Machining is designed to offer quick turnaround on difficult parts needed to maximize uptime of their customers’ equipment and processes. Contact Elge Precision Machining, Inc. today for further information.

CNC Hard Turned Steel Inserts Project Highlights

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