(Slightly OT) Injection moulded parts - recommendations? - Page 1
Forum section: electronics / general

author: angust_uk
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: June 16, 2020, 09:40:53 am
content: Hi allI'm looking for a supplier who can look after the tooling and production of a small plastic part for a consumer electronics product. The part itself is only ~25mm diameter, and the material needs to be either PC or PE.Has anyone dealt with suppliers either in Europe or the Far East (well, anywhere really although cost is of course an important factor!) who deal with relative novices like me? I have the model ready to go which has been prototyped (with a 3D printer) and has suitable draft angles etc.I'll probably be looking at batches of 1,000 units at a time, so not exactly huge but too much for 3D printing!If anyone has done this sort of thing before and could provide a recommendation I'd be really grateful

author: Kean
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: June 16, 2020, 06:58:29 pm
content: I don't normally deal with them directly, but here are a couple of Chinese plastic injection moulding companies used by the industrial designers I've worked with here in Australia.https://www.threegon.com/http://www.bosenmolds.com/I've actually spent some time at the Threegon factory a number of years ago diagnosing assembly issues with a product. Had no problems with their plastic parts. Both of these companies can also do die cast metal, although I'm not sure if they do that in-house or sub contract it out. I also have a contact that did some great silicone moulded parts (outer/bumper sleeves), but I'd have to dig it out.Another one to look at, even if just for comparison is Protolabs/Protomold. Upload you part to their site and it will do an automatic analysis of manufacturability and give pricing for small quantity runs.https://www.protomold.com/ProtoQuote.aspx

author: Mangozac
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: June 16, 2020, 09:57:57 pm
content: We use a company called Danke Mold in Zhongshan (across the bay from Shenzhen):https://www.dankemold.com/Their tooling costs were competitive and customer service is top notch. I have visited their factory and was very impressed - they have a young, energetic and very skilled team. Jade Du is our primary contact there - she's very responsive and her English is fantastic.

author: angust_uk
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: June 17, 2020, 10:59:45 am
content: Many thanks Kean and Mangozac! Really appreciate the input - I'll give those a try.

author: Smokey
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: January 20, 2022, 04:28:31 am
content: Anyone used a shop in the USA? Does that even exist anymore?

author: sandalcandal
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: January 21, 2022, 02:26:34 am
content: Quote from: Smokey on January 20, 2022, 04:28:31 amProtolabs is the one I hear people using the most in the US. They're in Minnesota. Kean already mentioned them earlier, they're specialised in low qty and prototype injection moulding.

author: mon2
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: January 22, 2022, 02:43:50 pm
content: Try Tracy - overseas vendor. She is with a financial strong company and always has an impressive booth at the trade fairs in Hong Kong. Have met with her a number of times during our travel to Asia in the past 15-20 years.TracyHanSkype:tracytracy024200E-mail: tracyhan@xinhuimold.comWeb:www.xinhuimold.com