What is the easiest and cheapest way to get tooling or moulds made for a short run production?
November 25th, 2010 | 
Author: Question by areena666: What is the easiest and cheapest way to get tooling or moulds made for a short run production?
Our concept design for a new cap closure is nearly finished and we will soon have a few functioning prototypes shortly. However before we go into mass production we feel it will be best to pilot or market test our products to a group of people, our friends and also potential clients.
In order to do this I have been told it may be possible to go to a plastic injection firm and request a short run production..lets say 1000 – 5000 samples
However tooling may be needed….. soft tooling or hard steel tooling..
We are UK based and i have also been advised of not considering China as it is not exactly on our door step if something goes wrong..
Please advise:)
good point..i think i need to rephrase my question…
i have been told nowadays that any form of tooling or moulds can be built but the costs can raise from 1000 up to 100 000……
cheapest – by this i mean cost effective…it is only for samples etc not for mass production
so this for example could be a soft tool, like aluminium,
easiest – i mean by this, maybe there could be a a method I am not aware of…..a simple solution….
Best answer:
Answer by onebear469
why do u think the easiest way would be the cheapist?
What do you think? Answer below!
Posted in 
Tags:
In the past I have used a company called quickparts (www.quickparts.com) to make SLA/SLS samples and short run prototypes where speed was more important than cost. They are rather expensive, however they also do very good work and have excellent turnaround times. So it’s all a matter of balance and budget. The model shops in China are typically not very good (there are exceptions though). There are also numerous other quick turnaround shops available online, however of the few that I have used, quickparts is the one I have returned to and honestly I can’t even remember the names of the others.
EDIT: I almost forgot, I’ve also used http://www.protomold.com and had success with them as well, you can compare their costs and leadtimes to at least give you another option.
What characterizes a short run tool is aluminum vs steel. Also it may have less cavities. Molding houses can give you other alternate short run schemes.
I would strongly urge you to divert from mfr in China. They bring primitive workers down from the mts and put them to work on your parts. Sourcing in China ruined my company, and they can do the same for you. I won’t give you all the details. Think about it.