August 2006 Issue
August 2006
Features
Featured articles from the latest issue of Plastics Technology
Laser Scanning Saves Time and Money for Digitizing Parts and Molds
Blow molded product designers and moldmakers are finding laser scanning to be a fast, accurate, and cost-effective method to replicate molds and create new designs for highly contoured and complex parts such as beverage bottles.
Read MoreHow to Clean a Flashed Hot Manifold-Part One
As I rounded the corner of our shop, I was confronted by a large flock of white shirts gathered around a mold on my bench.
Read MoreNPE 2006 News Wrap-Up: Compounding
Much of the compounding news at the NPE Show in Chicago in June ad-dressed the growing trend among extrusion processors to become compounders.
Read MoreNPE 2006 News Wrap-Up: Thermoforming
Several new processing technologies unveiled at NPE point to thermoforming’s growing capability to produce in-mold labeled and decorated plastic parts.
Read MoreNew Olefin Block Copolymers Stretch TPE Processability and Cost Performance
A developmental family of novel olefin block copolymers (OBCs) from Dow Chemical Co. is lauded as a breakthrough in olefinic thermoplastic elastomers due to a unique block structure, which reportedly delivers novel combinations of end-use properties and processability at a “cost-in-use” competitive with materials such as TPVs, TPUs, and styrenic block-copolymer (SBC) TPEs.
Read MoreNew Materials Extend Reach of Rapid Prototyping
Stronger, tougher, stiffer, faster, and better-looking materials reflect the growing interest in rapid-prototyping and rapid-tooling technologies that can significantly decrease product development time and cost.
Read MoreFluid Cooler Offers Alternative to Cooling Towers or Central Chillers
When it comes to cooling extruders and injection and blow molding machines, the vast majority of plastics processors in the U.S. choose cooling towers.
Read MoreNPE 2006 News Wrap-Up: Extrusion
NPE 2006 presented a bevy of features to make film, sheet, pipe, and profile extrusion more efficient.
Read MoreA Custom Molder Takes the Next Step
The question John Winzeler keeps asking is, “How do you take the next step?” In the last two decades, he has transformed the Chicago metal-stamping company he inherited from his father into a high-tech specialty molding business focused only on plastic gears.
Read MoreOlefin Prices Take a Breather
Midsummer brought a sudden pause in price escalation—at least for polyolefins—after a storm of increases announced in June.
Read MoreMy Best of NPE 2006
When I attend a show like NPE, people are always asking me, “See anything new?
Read MoreNPE 2006 News Wrap-Up: Injection Molding
Advances in electric drive technology were evident in nearly every injection machine builder’s booth in Chicago.
Read MoreYour Business Outlook - August 2006
Mastiogale’s latest blow molding market study shows modest growth for industrial products.
Read MoreNPE 2006 News Wrap-Up: Blow Molding
Among new blow molding developments at the show was an innovative coextrusion system for the growing small-engine fuel tank market.
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