Injection Molding Capabilities
Proto Labs offers rapid injection molding capabilities suited for functional prototyping, pilot runs, bridge tooling, and low-volume production of on-demand parts. New parts can be manufactured with more than 100 different production-grade thermoplastic and liquid silicon materials to best match the requirements of customer applications.
Plastic Injection Molding
Quick-turn thermoplastic injection molding, often used for prototyping, bridge tooling, and short-run manufacturing, uses advanced aluminum alloy molds that allow for the elimination of time and cost of custom engineering in the development of tooling. Hundreds of engineer-grade resins are available for producing strong molded parts with excellent finishes. Click here for more information on the plastic injection molding process, quoting, and production information.
Liquid Silicone Rubber Molding
Liquid silicone rubber (LSR) molding is a thermoset process that mixes a two-component compound together, which is then heat cured in the mold with a platinum catalyst to produce a final part. LSR parts are formed through an injection-molding process similar to that of conventional plastic injection molding, except that the material delivery system is cooled and the mold is heated. Click here for more information on the LSR molding process, quoting, and production information.
Overmolding
Proto Labs’ rapid overmolding process is designed to produce custom prototypes and on-demand production parts in 15 days or less. Overmolded parts can be manufactured from a range of thermoplastic and liquid silicone rubber materials. Proto Labs currently uses aluminum molds offering cost-efficient tooling. They require both the substrate and overmold parts to be molded in-house at Proto Labs. Click here for more information on the overmolding process.