When an American client commissioned Borke Mold Specialists to construct a thin food lid and tub tray for the food packaging industry, we took a look at the customer print supplied, as well as our own 2D CAD designs, and got going on the job.
Using MasterCam to design our CNC machining, we employed a FADAL 60/30 machine and Eldorado M-75 gun drilling machine to initiate the manufacturing process. After testing a prototype REN pattern before starting, we were ready by means of vacuum forming to produce the actual aluminum mold with lid and tub dimensions of 28″ in length and 30″ in width, sporting a total 16 cavities. The final plastic component itself came out to have a material thickness of .02″, a length of 6″, a width of 5.4″, and a height of 2.0″ with tightest tolerances of ±.005″and .0055″ in shrinkage allowance.
We turned out the project in 5 weeks. It had 2 vacuum form molds, cnc syntactic foam plug assist with an aluminum pressure box, 2 stainless steel striker plates, master gundrilled water plate, aluminum part stacker, part pusher, and 2 sets of Steel rule dies. The mold was produced to make parts every 3-5 seconds with 100,000 plus cycle runs each time.
CNC Base Mold
Push Stackers
Syntactic Plugs for Lid and Adjustable Pressure Box
Mold Manufacturing of Lid & Tub Tray Project Highlights
We manufactured this in-line vacuum mold to produce thin gage lids and tubs for the food packaging industries.
Engineering & Design
- Design Vacuum Forming Mold in MasterCam v9.1 and CNC machining programs done in MasterCam.
CNC Machining
- All machining was done in a FADAL 60/30
Gun Drilling
- Drill Water Plates on our own machine
Vacuum Forming
- We tested a prototype REN pattern before starting
- Production aluminum mold
In-Line Trimming
- Utilizing Steel Rule Dies
FADAL VMC 60/30
Eldorado M-75 Gun Drilling Machine
Final Plastic Component:
Material Thickness: .02″
Length: 6″
Width: 5.4″
Height: 2.0″
Mold: Lid and Tub
Length: 28″
Width: 30″
16 Cavities
±.005″
.0055 in/in Shrinkage Allowance
- 150° Operating Temperature on Mold
Component: PET
Mold:
Aluminum
Delrin
Stainless Steel
Syntactic Foam
Wood
- Glass Bead vapor blast surface
- Aluminum Mold
- Water Plates
- Adjustable Aluminum Pressure Box
- Syntactic Foam/Wood Plug Assist
- Aluminum/Delrin Pusher
- Aluminum Stacker w/ Flipper Catches
- Steel Rule Die for Lid and Tub
- Stainless Steel and Aluminum Striker Plates
Mold to Produce 100,000 Plus Parts
Tub: White
Lid: Green
200 lbs.
- Food Packaging
- 5 Weeks
- United States
Customer supplied print, 2D CAD Drawing
- Food Lid and Tub Tray