Know-How

Two-Shot Molding and Tool Design

There are a few variations of the two-shot molding process, and each has implications for tool design.

Read More
processing tips

Extruding Very High-Flow Polymers

Screw designs not suited to process lower-viscosity materials will result in poor melt quality and lower outputs.

Read More
processing tips

Faster Is Not Always Better—Optimize Your Molding Cycle

It is possible for machines to run too fast, so find the sweet spot where maximum output overlaps with good parts.

Read More
best practices

The Importance of Oxidative Stability in Polyolefins, Part 3

Tools and methods for determining oxidative stability can be useful, but even more useful if constructed to yield the information you really need.

Read More
best practices

Solving Issues with Gloss

Your problem may be related to tooling, material, processing, or combinations thereof. Here’s how to find the root cause.

Read More

Do You Have Screw Wear?

It’s generally caused by metal-to-metal contact, and your first indicator will be poor melt quality.

Read More
best practices

Water Droplets in the Feed Throat

And other reasons you must dry hygroscopic resins.

Read More
best practices

The Importance of Oxidative Stability In Polyolefins, Part 2

The DSC test can do a reasonably good job of capturing the comparative behavior of materials that use similar antioxidant chemistries.

Read More
dies

EXTRUSION: Is Head Pressure Sapping Your Extruder’s Strength?

A redesign of all of the flow paths between the end of the barrel and die may be in order.

Read More
best practices

INJECTION MOLDING: How to Mold Living Hinges With No Flexing Required

Here are the five critical, intertwined components that must be perfected for a living hinge that doesn’t need to be flexed upon ejection.

Read More
Plastics Size Reduction
Blending & Dosing
Process Cooling