# 3D Printing > 3D Printer Parts, Filament & Materials >  Possible To Print A Metal Injection Mold..????

## mjainvent

I'm new to 3D Printing and I have a product idea. While I was researching, it hit me that instead of spending 10k - 20k for a mold..., would it be possible and cost effective to 3D Print one?

My object is 2 1/4" x 3 1/2".... not very big. What do you guys think? Thanks in advance.

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## Sebastian Finke

Yes it is. I have had parts of moulds printed in the past, specifically parts with intricate cooling.

Printed parts do not have the longevity of solid machined steel parts. The finish is also not great and always require remachining to correct the finish and to achieve the required tolerances.

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## AMID

Yeah, for smaller series it's OK. I'd go to a professional service and get a proper SLS/BJ/MJF print in gipsum or other strong heat resistant materials. Over at Creative Tools, we did a test of this with a print from a Zprint 650 (now Stratasys ProJet 660):

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## curious aardvark

Not just metal either. Got an email about printing injection moulds from formlabs this morning: http://formlabs.com/media/upload/Inj...dmTHh0Q2tFPSJ9

Long link lol

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## Ama-fessional Molder

Yeah. As answered this is not only possible, but is a standard practice in some portions of the industry. Steel is used to print intricate cooling channels within a tool (really only used for high performance applications), while plastic (with SLA machines) is used to produce cavity blocks for rapid prototyping. The life expectancy of the tool is only a hundred or so shots, but the goal is to produce test parts with the actual plastic they are intended to be molded with and evaluate tool/part design for molding.

You do still need a steel mold base to insert the cavity blocks into, and you will not be able to run cooling in these blocks which leads to a long cycle time. That said, it is upwards of an 80% reduction in cost over traditional prototype tooling.

Small volume production is certainly possible.

I think this thread otherwise has covered the bases though.

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## Sebastian Finke

On a side note, the Chinese have come up with a best-of-both approach.  They create a sand mould of the cavities and cast them with a few  millimetres offset for finishing. Minimal waste and reduced machining  time but still the strength of solid steel plates.

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## Ama-fessional Molder

Yeah, that's actually a decent thing to do for small batch. The strength isn't up to par, so those cavities simply don't last as long, and there's a risk of voids messing up the surface finish of the cavity as well.

But it is a pretty slick process if you have an application that's not too demanding.

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## sindrele

The answer is certainly yes as others have stated. The best looking results I saw were generally printed on an Objet machine in high res (16 micron) Durus material. Give me a shout if you need something like that made.

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## TavPress

MIM (Metal Injection Molding) has existed for about 4 decades and is a mature and advantageous technology. It is in fact used for the large scale production of small and complex components with high precision and that not require subsequent processing.
What's the downside?
Unfortunately MIM has a high cost, mainly due to the molds.
Companies are therefore increasingly encouraging the development of a cheaper and more versatile alternative: 3D metal printing and in this case 3D Binder Jetting.

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## TavPress

Note that the term 3D printing in the common language it is often mistakenly used as a synonym for additive manufacturing, instead three-dimensional printing it is only one of the possible additive manufacturing technologies.
How does binder jetting work?
In short, a liquid binder is selectively deposited on a layer of metal powder and, layer by layer, the final object is formed.

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## TavPress

The binder jetting process shares many of the advantages of material jettingrelative to other additive manufacturing processes. 
With respect to MJ, binder jetting has some distinct advantages. 

It can be faster since only a small fraction of the total    part volume must be dispensed through the print heads. 
    However, the need to distribute powder adds an extra step, slowing down binder    processes somewhat.The combination of powder materials and additives in binders enables    material compositions that are not possible, or not easily    achieved, using direct methods.Slurries with higher solids loadings are possible with    BJ, compared with MJ, enabling better quality ceramic and metal parts to be    produced.Binder jetting processes lend themselves readily to printing colors    onto parts.

If you want to knom more on the pros and cons of this 2 technologies, I invite you to read the following two articles:
https://www.tav-vacuumfurnaces.com/b...nder-jetting-1
https://www.tav-vacuumfurnaces.com/b...nder-jetting-2

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## curious aardvark

ah ha - wondered what you were selling :-)

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## TavPress

> ah ha - wondered what you were selling :-)


Personally, I'm a novice in the metal 3D printing world, I just entered a couple of years ago.
My company is neither a MIM nor a 3D machines manufacturer, but in both cases heat treating is a must to produce stronger metal parts... and here comes my knowledge  :Stick Out Tongue: 
Bye
Alessia
https://www.linkedin.com/in/tav-press-office/

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## curious aardvark

oh yeah, the forge is the most important part of making sintered metal parts. 
Too hot and the print sags, too cold and it won't anneal properly. 

Your information is good, it's a valid product - no problems, was just curious where all the info was going :-) 

Question for you - I learnt recently that the forges used by mark forge, can't be moved after use, as the insulation becomes ridiculously brittle after the first firing. 
What kind of insulation do you use and can your forges be moved after first firing ?

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## TavPress

It depends on the thermal insulation. With graphite insulation there is no problem at all. With molybdenum shields it is true that they become more brittle after the first firing, but in our experience is still possible to move them with little or no problem.

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