About Prototype Mould
Prototype mould is generally used for testing the new design before mass production. In order to save the cost, the prototype mould have to be cheap. And mould life could be short, as low as several hundreds shots.
Material – Many injection molder prefer to use aluminium 7075-T6
Mould Life – Maybe several thousands or hundreds.
Tolerance – Can’t be used to manufacture high precision parts due to the low strength of the material.
Difference In China
However, many Chinese mould builder may be not willing to make a cheap prototype mould for their clients according to my experience. The followed 2 reasons limit the usage of prototype mould in China.
1. The mould cost is already very cheap.
2. Aluminium 7075-T6 is expensive in China.
If there is no big price difference between prototype mould and high quality mould for mass production, why should invest on the prototype mould. So if you inquire a Chinese supplier about the prototype mould, the cheapest quote you may receive is a p20 steel mould. Because the cost of P20 is the same with the 7 series aluminium, and the quality of p20 is enough to make mould with life over 100,000 shots. So when you talk prototype mould with a Chinese supplier, it will be understood as a p20 mould.
Post time: Aug-23-2021
