Education
Managing flash in micro molding
Flashing, or flash is an excess plastic or resin on a molded plastic part. For larger injection molded parts, it’s simply removed. Managing flash in micro molding however is an art and a science. In the movie, Elf starring Will Ferell, we know elves are ideal for this task because of their “nimble fingers, natural…
How fast can micro mold parts be created?
What can you accomplish in two weeks? Send and return your dry cleaning? Get that report done for your boss? With a new customer, we built a tool and ran parts to spec, even a few of our own engineers thought might be impossible. To accomplish this turnaround on micro molding, our customer’s decisions and…
How to measure micro molded parts. A detailed look.
Creating tight tolerance micro molded components is a feat, but accurate measurement of those components is a feat in itself. Understanding how to measure micro molded parts is just as critical as making the parts. The difficulty of measurement in micro molding. Obviously, if micro molded parts are measured inaccurately, the results when sent to…
Injection-molded micro lenses: explained
Today’s devices are reducing in size, and becoming more complex at the same time. For this reason, designers are rethinking older designs, removing the traditional copper wire for glass or plastic fiber. Micro lenses, lenslets, and lens arrays are making these new designs possible. Glass and plastic, or resin fiber is smaller, and at the…
Understanding micro molded part inspection.
Creating a precision microscopic component is an achievement, but measuring to ensure its accuracy is an achievement in itself. This is why so many engineers want to know the process behind micro mold part inspection. How are micro mold parts inspected? Micro mold parts are inspected automatically or by hand. There are three main categories of inspection in the…
The teams involved in micro mold production
Micro molding a component involves not just one team but six or more. Due to the complex nature of micro molding and the critical nature of our customer’s technology, we must be thorough and ensure perfection for our customers. Here’s a brief look at the six sets of eyes, the teams they work with, and…
Micro Mold Optics Basics (Webinar Transcript)
The following is a transcript from micro mold optics engineer Rick Brown of Accumold, during a webinar presentation for Photonics.com. My name is Rick Brown. I am the senior sales engineer for optical molding at Accumold. My background is in injection molding. I’ve been in the business for 47 years. I’ve been actively involved in…
Environmental responsibility in manufacturing doesn’t end with recycling
As an extremely high volume micro molder for some of the worlds most impressive tech companies, we understand we have a big environmental responsibility in manufacturing. Even though a large amount of our customers require 100% virgin resin for their parts, the overwhelming majority of our manufacturing waste gets recycled for other uses. It’s not…
How we solved an impossible recycling problem.
A version of this article originally appeared in “Quartz” September 24, 2019. You can read the original here. For the consumer, recycling is easy. When you empty a jar, bottle, or any recyclable packaging, you rinse out the container and toss it in a bin—maybe you have to roll it to the curb once a…
A student details how the Accumold Scholars Program works.
The Accumold Scholars program is designed to fill Accumold’s critical talent pipeline by attracting high quality students. The program is specially designed in partnership with Des Moines Area Community College (DMACC), and students who enroll in the program receive college tuition reimbursement, and paid on-the-job training. I sat down with Ronald Bair, a current Accumold…
