Know-How
What is the Allowable Moisture Content in Nylons? It Depends (Part 1)
A lot of the nylon that is processed is filled or reinforced, but the data sheets generally don’t account for this, making drying recommendations confusing. Here’s what you need to know.
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Mold Maintenance, Tooling Know How
The ability of technicians in an injection molding shop to fix, modify or upgrade a mold has a huge impact on that company’s bottom line. With this collection of content, we’ve bundled some of the very best advice on repairing and maintaining injection molding machines.
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Tracing the History of Polymeric Materials: Part 31, The Conclusion
Let’s close this lengthy series with some personal anecdotes.
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The Cost of High Employee Turnover in Injection Molding: Why Retention Matters
Starting in molding in 1993 and clocking in for nearly every job on the floor over the intervening decades, I’ve seen all sides of the hiring, training and retention process in the industry. Here are my thoughts on how to keep your most important asset — your people.
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Hot Runners: Truths. Myths, Overlooked Areas: Part 2
Here’s a view from the trenches of a tooling manager who, over 30 years, has experienced the joys and pains of using virtually every type of hot runner on the market. Part 2.
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How to Configure Your Twin-Screw Extruder: Part 3
The melting mechanism in a twin-screw extruder is quite different from that of a single screw. Design of the melting section affects how the material is melted, as well as melt temperature and quality.
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Roll Cooling: Understand the Three Heat-Transfer Processes
Designing cooling rolls is complex, tedious and requires a lot of inputs. Getting it wrong may have a dramatic impact on productivity.
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Tracing the History of Polymeric Materials -- Part 30: Polyurethane
In the world of polymers, polyurethane chemistry is probably the most versatile. This a resulted in a wide range of products made from these materials and given the industry the flexibility to respond to the progressive march of regulatory concerns.
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Troubleshooting Screw and Barrel Wear in Extrusion
Extruder screws and barrels will wear over time. If you are seeing a reduction in specific rate and higher discharge temperatures, wear is the likely culprit.
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The Importance of Hot Nozzle-Tip Mating Against a Cold Sprue Bushing
Done improperly, the result is a cold slug in the nozzle/sprue and a production stop. But there is a better way.
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