From hairbrushes to baking pans to custom collectible models, if you can dream it, chances are there is a way to bring it to life using
plastic injection molding.
Versatile, sturdy and creative by nature, the process of plastic injection molding is responsible for dozens of items we use every single day. In fact, it’s likely that you used at least one tool, container or button today that was created through plastic molding!
Here are five items that can easily be designed and produced using injection molding, and how you can manufacture a variety of your own custom parts with help from
Murray Plastics.
Flower pots and gardening supplies
Plastic containers that hold plants, flowers and herbs are in high demand and inexpensive to own, thanks to their lightweight nature and cost-effective make-up. Many forms of potting or windowsill containers were designed and created using plastic injection molding, which allows companies or creatives the ability to produce large numbers of the same design at minimal cost to both the producer and the consumer.
Water bottle caps
When it comes to uniform production, fewer things boast the level of precision and continuity than a water bottle cap. While a bottle cap is easy to take for granted, it’s something many of us encounter on a weekly basis and is a great example of the time-saving manufacturing provided through the process of plastic injection molding.
Specialty buttons and electric knobs
Custom-made buttons, like those found on soundboards and on AV engineering tools, are typically produced with the help of injection molded plastics. Because of the ability to generate dozens or hundreds of tiny, specially created parts with no variation, plastic molds are ideal for manufacturing detailed items in bulk for both commercial or specialty use.
LEGOS
One of the most recognizable toys in the world is made by plastic injection molding, the classic building blocks of childhood, Legos! While the brick design of Legos may seem simple, the plastic molds used to create these iconic toys are refined to absolute perfection to ensure that every piece created can fit together perfectly. That means a Lego that was purchased in 1970 will fit into a Lego made in 2019.
The molds used to create Legos are typically retired after creating about 120 million bricks and
Every single Lego brick made has to fit together perfectly with every other Lego brick EVER MADE. So the piece you get in your new super star destroyer has to snap together perfectly with a piece from a model house made in 1970. To achieve this, they run size tolerances on the order of .0005". That is half of a thousandth of an inch. The amount of process control to get that tolerance on a plastic part is truly incredible. And it's not just one dimension on each piece that has to be that perfect, it's every dimension where a piece can fit together with another. This means that the maintenance they do on their molds is much more thorough than is normally done and the molds don't last nearly as long before they need to be rebuilt (i.e. the mold cavities taken out and replaced with new ones). Any time a part falls out of the spec they have to call in engineering to evaluate and make sure the process changes they make to compensate are ok.
That's why Legos are so expensive.
Beach Cup Holder
Yet another great example of bulk production using injection molding is seen in the production of parts and materials used for the successful operation of vending machines. Precise, uniform and highly functional, the plastic seen in the body of popular Coca-Cola and on-the-go vending stops can be credited to the systemic integrity of injection molding.
Murray Plastics has nearly two decades of professional experience designing and manufacturing custom plastic parts for projects big and small.
Have an idea you want to be turned into plastic?
Get a quote today!
