Tooling

Example of Fast Change mold frame and insert set Six-pin insert mold Mold with hand loaded side core Small mold to produce overmolded ceramic screw Ceramic screw mold and base unit Complete assembly of ceramic screw overmold tooling

Decker Design Engineering has the capability of building and running molds for either thermoplastic resin or thermoset materials. Most of our molds are built using high-strength aluminum such as 7075-T6/7 or FORTAL aluminum. These molds provide excellent results in the prototype/short-run production category. They are easy to work with and can be built in a lot less time than a steel mold. Changes in part design are inevitable, and aluminum cores and cavities can be modified faster--sometimes in less than a few hours--and be put back into production. We have molds with multiple inserts, multiple slides, hand-loaded inserts as well as molds with unscrewing core inserts for those parts requiring threads.

Some of our molds are used to overmold plastic material around an internal component(s) placed into the mold, such as an electronic or electrical device, to provide a sealed, shaped body around the part, exposing only the electrical connection in the form of wires or contacts.

Decker Design Engineering offers tooling to those customers who may have their own molding machines. In this case, the molds are tested and proved before leaving the premises. Most of our molds are built for the Morgan Press G-55/G-100T injection molding machines, which are excellent short-run production molding machines. These machines are of the vertical type, which lend themselves very well to insert molding/overmolding, and are very easy to operate. Some of our customers own this type of machine, and we build the tooling for them. Since Decker Design Engineering operates two Morgan Presses, we can offer those customers not only the tooling, but all press setup parameters, making it easy for them to start running as soon as their mold arrives.

A few of our customers have multiple parts that require more than one mold to produce. What we have done is provide those customers with a Fast-Change frame and insert combination that is tailored--though not limited--to the Morgan Press. In this setup, the frame portion resides in the press, while the insert set, containing the core and cavity detail, slides in and out of the frame. This arrangement speeds mold changes. Some of our mold changes, using the Fast-Change arrangement, require only two minutes to convert.

For those customers who need a thermoset material for insert molding and encapsulating electronic components, medical parts, etc., Decker Design Engineering builds transfer molds for diallylphthalate and other thermosets to run in our Gluco Model E5 transfer press.