Short Run Molding is injection molding using alternative materials for the tooling. Tools produced from these materials do not have the life expectancy of hardened steel tools, but they are significantly less expensive and take much less time to produce because the materials can be machined in a much shorter time. The main mold materials used in short run molding are aluminum and epoxy.

Process Characteristics
Part Cost - moderate to high Tooling Cost - low Production Rate - low to moderate Tools are made of aluminum or epoxy Very short lead times to production of prototypes Can mold in all types of resins.
Examples
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