Patent ID: 8517248

Claim:
A method of providing a mould with a conformal cooling passage comprising: rough machining a mould cavity generally corresponding to a moulded part shape using CAD data; cutting a conformal cooling slot in the mould cavity using the CAD data, wherein the conformal cooling slot includes an angled surface, the angled surface being angled relative to a centerline of the conformal cooling slot; welding shut the conformal cooling slot using the CAD data to provide conformal cooling passage, including laying weld beads on the angled surface and building up weld beads, on top of one another, inside the conformal cooling slot to weld shut the conformal cooling slot; after the conformal cooling slot is welded shut, building up weld beads on top of one another until weld beads are proud of an adjacent surface of the mould cavity; and machining surface over the conformal cooling passage corresponding to a mould part shape using the CAD data.