Common Types of Molds

Molds are ancient creations made to speed up the production of widely used objects. The earliest molds found were for making axes. These ax molds are dated to 3000 BC. From there, molds have evolved into many different uses. However, there are two molding processes that are ranked the simplest and most widely used.

Bi-Valve Molding Process

In this process, you make two molds of the object you want to make. This is why it is called “bi-“, meaning two. This is typical for any item that has a clear front and back or top and bottom. This process is typical for items that are decorative as opposed to technical. These types of molds can be reused. There is a type of single use mold where, as you remove the item (after casting), the mold is destroyed. These are called single-use waste molds. They are a lot of effort to create and can only be used once, but it allows you to create the entire object, rather than only a part of it.

Piece Molding

This technique is useful when the object you are trying to create has many parts or is very large. In piece molding, you can mold each part or section of the object you are trying to create. Then once you have all the pieces, you can glue, solder, or mold it back together. These are typically the kind of molds found with contract machining, where you hire someone out to do your mold fabrications. However, some contract machining firms can do other types of molds as well as other jobs pertaining to making parts and manufacturing.

There are many ways and techniques to create molds. However, the process of making the mold is not complex either, just be sure to use the right material for your purposes.

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