The best guide - HS Molds
It is important to keep a few things in mind when selecting the right steel for your plastic injection mould, including the plastic material you will be molding, expected injection molding cycle times, plastic part design requirements, expected production volume, and cost of injection molding molds, among others. This article provides some guidelines on the right steel to use for the construction of plastic molds.
Mold steels typically used in mold manufacturing are P20、718、718H、S136、S136H、 NAK80、NAK55、738、738H、S55C、H13、SKD、 DF2、8407、2311 NAK80 . Everything has two sides, so it's important to have an overview of all angles to understand the long-term manufacturing costs vs. just the up-front tooling costs. If you want a tool steel that is wear-resistant, you should go for a hardened steel of HRC48-52. The ideal choice will be H13, because H13 has both good shock and abrasion resistance, and good red hardness. The material resists premature heat checking and rapid cooling. In this option, the steel will result in higher mold tooling costs up front but will reduce maintenance costs over time. However, there is a downside: hardened steels are less heat conductive, which affects cooling time, so a cooling system such as Mold MAX or Copper may be required.
H13 steel is also suitable for manufacturing inserts, cores, cavities for die casting dies, hot forging dies, die casting shot sleeves, extrusion dies, plastic mold cavities & components which require high toughness and excellent corrosion resistance.
Contact HS Plastics if you would like to learn more about how to select the right mold steel for your project in plastic injection molding.