• Reduces the chance of damage to the part due to friction during release
• Reduces wear and tear and chances of damage to the mold
• Ensures a uniform, smooth, unscratched finish when required
• Ensures the integrity and uniformity of other surface finishes and textures
• Reduces overall cooling time by lessening or eliminating the need for unconventional ejection setups
• Most, if not all, of these benefits offer either direct or indirect overall production cost reductions

• Mold-Tech texture specifications
• Mold-Tech texture depth 
• Mold-Tech texture draft angle spec
• Mold-Tech texture deep Inch-meter conversion chart

• Yick Sang YS-20001 series mold texture technical data sheet
• Yick Sang YS-20001 series texture surface roughness
• Yick Sang YS-20001 series texture draft angle chart
• Yick Sang YS-20001 series texture specifications
• Yick Sang YS-20001 series texture standards
• Yick Sang YS-20001 series mold texture polishing finish
• Yick Sang YS-20001 series texture guidelines
• Yick sang standards for texturization

Yick Sang Texture is the Pioneers of the mold texturing in China, Yick Sang Texturing is used on multi-industry, such as:

• Automotive
• Mobile
• Household
• Electronic
• Office

Yick Sang Surface Finish technology datasheet what is guiding the part and mould design with a correct draft angle for injection molding.

• Reduces the chance of damage to the part due to friction during release
• Reduces wear and tear and chances of damage to the mold
• Ensures a uniform, smooth, unscratched finish when required
• Ensures the integrity and uniformity of other surface finishes and textures
• Reduces overall cooling time by lessening or eliminating the need for unconventional ejection setups
• Most, if not all, of these benefits offer either direct or indirect overall production cost reductions

The draft angle is the amount of taper for molded or cast parts perpendicular to the parting line. It can be measured in degrees or mm/mm (in/in).

• Reduces the chance of damage to the part due to friction during release
• Reduces wear and tear and chances of damage to the mold
• Ensures a uniform, smooth, unscratched finish when required
• Ensures the integrity and uniformity of other surface finishes and textures
• Reduces overall cooling time by lessening or eliminating the need for unconventional ejection setups
• Most, if not all, of these benefits offer either direct or indirect overall production cost reductions

• Draft angles are generally a requirement of injection molding design (though there are a select few soft materials, like nylon, that can get away with draft angles of zero).
• Draft should be a part of design for manufacture, and all stakeholders and contributors should be aware of its need at the outset of the design process. This includes product designers, design engineers, and of course, the customer. This allows considerations for design requirements to be taken into account.
• Any draft is always better than no draft.

1) A draft angle of 1½ to 2 degrees is required for most parts

This rule of thumb applies to parts with mold depths of up to 2 inches. At this size, draft as low as 1½ degrees will allow for an easy, non-damaging release from the mold when the expected shrinkage of the thermoplastic material occurs.

2) Draft should average about an additional degree for each inch of depth

For deeper or larger parts, more draft is required to account for the additional surface area (and potential for friction upon mold release).

3) Draft should occur toward the “top” of the mold

In other words, the draft angle should follow the direction of the mold moving up or away as it separates. If you imagine a hollow box with drafted walls, the open top would be slightly wider than the bottom when draft is applied correctly.

4) Textured parts require more draft — sometimes much more

For parts where intricate textures or other raised or recessed surface features are designed,

draft should be added to the initial optimal 1½ to 2 degrees at the rate of another 1½ degrees per thousandth-inch (0.001”) of surface depth.

5) All components of a piece should be drafted

For complex geometries or parts with several tension-easing features like ribs, gussets or louvers (all integral components of good part design), ideally, all of these features — essentially, any area of contact with the mold — should incorporate a draft angle.

6) For metal-on-metal molding functions, more draft is required

This does not refer to injection molding metal, but rather to mold designs where one metal mold component makes direct contact with another.

Typically, 3 degrees of draft will be required to ensure that the mold can separate properly.

7) Draft may have to be incorporated on two sides of a part.

If the parting line for a molded part is in the middle (as with, for instance, a solid cylindrical part), draft should be incorporated on both ends of the part. This is because there are essentially not one but two mold release actions, both of which require draft.

8) At a bare minimum, half a degree of draft should be incorporated into vertical surfaces

This standard should not be adhered to in typical cases, but is more of a guideline when design requirements dictate a nearly uniform angle from top to bottom of a part wall or vertical surface. Half a degree of draft can provide a reasonable compromise between designs requiring straight walls, and the requirements of the injection molding process. In general,

however, performance and part throughput will not be as favorable as going with 1½ to 2 degrees of draft.

9) Again: Any draft is better than no draft

This point is important to remember (and repeat), especially if designers are highly resistant to incorporating draft. If a product design discussion does reach this extreme point, it is still beneficial for the engineer to advocate for some degree of draft, no matter how small. It is unlikely in most design cases that a perfectly straight, zero-degree draft angle is required.

10) Draft is a requirement — not a suggestion — for successful part production

Another point that benefits from mentioning twice: Draft is not a “nice-to-have” feature of design to manufacturing. It’s an important component of a well-designed part and an efficient, high-quality production process. A lack of draft angles can (and likely will) lead to an unacceptable number of rejected parts, and can damage expensive molds. Longer cooling times and complex part ejection requirements can slow production down to an unmanageable and unprofitable speed. In short, just about any other solution is preferable to forgoing draft angles in your injection molded parts.

It’s also important to remember that draft angles are just one component of an effectively designed injection molded piece. Design for manufacture is one of the easiest ways to improve the quality and efficiency of your injection molding process, and it never hurts to stay up to speed on all injection molding best practices. As injection molding specialists here at RevPart, we’re happy to share our expertise with you as we incorporate those best practices into our service.

Wall thickness, material selection, ejection, shrink rates, finish/texture, wall depth, and manufacturing capabilities will influence the draft angle selection, When designing a part or before mold design, apply as much draft angle as possible at wall side—a general rule of thumb is 1 degree of draft per 1 inch of cavity depth, but that can change with the aforementioned factors. Try following these general guidelines:

• 0.5 degrees on all vertical faces is strongly advised.
• 1 to 2 degrees works very well in most situations.
• 3 degrees is minimum for a shutoff (metal sliding on metal).
• 1~3 degrees is required for light texture.
• 3~5 or more degrees is required for heavy texture.

Please check Texture Mini Drafting Chart for Mold Tech Texture Minimum Drafting Angle For Releasing

Injection mould tooling can be textured by different means, which may vary according to tool manufacture method, timescale, budget, material and supplier facility limitation.
Aluminum tooling (and others) which is typically machined rapidly by a CNC process often uses bead, sand or vapour blasting to minimise budget and time. In practice, the final surface varies by supplier and can be influenced by the personal technique of the operator as well as the precise bead/abrasive material used. I’ve found it best to obtain moulded sample parts from the moulder/toolmaker in question, so that their specific process can be seen and approved, with their sample becoming the standard reference for all parties to abide by.

Steel tooling, where spark erosion may be used to define final surfaces, can utilize the various textures available by the spark erosion/EDM techniques. Those are well defined and controlled by standards and applied by most suppliers. Guide plaques and reference strips are available for these and can be obtained from the machine manufacturers as well as other engineering supply houses/sources, Such sources can generally also supply polishing grading and gloss finish grading bars for other material finishes. These are commonly used to keep time and budgets tight. But sparking creates sharp cavities with a hardened surface. This may or may not be desirable. Sharp textures do hold dirt more than softer forms.

Where time and budget is available, the best and widest range of textures to the source is the proprietary photo-etched patterns, available from various suppliers, all of whom can provide full sample books and individually moulded plaques. and Akron, are examples. These companies produce specific easy-clean textures with soft form cavities, developed for the vehicle industry to aid in keeping bumpers and suchlike looking good for the customer.

With all texturing, draft angles must be allowed, dependent on the depth of surface change. Otherwise scuffing will occur during part ejection.

• Mold tech texture draft requirements
• Injection mold texture standards
• Mold tech texture chart
• Mold texture specifications
• Mold texture technology
• Mold texture depth
• Mold texture draft angle
• Mold texture standards

To assure clean ejection of your part, we suggest using a simple rule for determining draft:

1.5 – 2 degrees of draft per .001” in texture depth

Texture depth can be reduced in specific areas and/or the texture pattern can be ‘softened’ on surfaces where there are ejection concerns.

Part design, part size, molding materials, texture construction, and other molding factors have a significant impact on ejection issues.  Mold-Tech has the largest staff of technical advisors in the industry. We are available for early involvement in your project to assure that your decorating ideas are realized on your product.

To assure that your molds are successfully textured, Mold-Tech has formulated the largest selection of mold etchants in the industry.   Standard tool materials such as P-20, H-13, S-7, 01, A1, A2, A6, 420 stainless, beryllium copper, kirksite, forged, wrought and cast aluminums have all been textured successfully.

Since your tooling material choices can significantly affect the texture appearance, Mold-Tech’s Technical Advisors are always available to discuss and test your specific material preferences.

To assure that your texture pattern shows clean and without any surface flaws, we recommend the following surface finishes:

• 400 paper (SPI B-2) for textures less than .001” deep.
• 400 stone (SPI C-2) for textures between .001” and .003” deep.
• 320 stone (SPI C-3) for textures over .003” deep.

Gloss on a part is typically measured with a 60-degree gloss meter. The gloss number represents the percentage of light that is reflected off of the part. The gloss on a part is the result of many factors coming together: molding material, tool temperature, material temperature, venting, cycle time, wall stock thickness, texture patterns, mold coatings, etc.

Mold-Tech uses a variety of blast media to help set the final gloss on the mold surface.  Each part has its own factors to consider – contact us to discuss specific needs, factors and expectations.

With many gloss targets being pushed lower, Mold-Tech has developed a laser-generated micro overlay texture called MicroMatte – lowering gloss and giving a rich and realistic appearance to textures.

If you are considering welding on a surface that is to be textured, proper welding procedures will greatly increase the final outcome of the texture appearance.

• The mold should be pre-heated prior to welding, welded while the mold is hot, and annealed after welding. Contact the steel supplier for proper welding procedures and weld rod material.
• Any difference in hardness, composition or texture structure in the welded area when compared to the parent metal tends to produce an irregularity in the texture appearance after etching. When proper welding procedures are followed, differences can be minimized and welds become easier to blend-in and repair to a very acceptable level.
• If you are unsure of the direction to proceed with welding, Mold-Tech can help – with decades of experience to draw from as well as relationships with the steel manufacturers and welders, we can help give you the latest information you need to achieve the best results.

1.Completely dis-assemble mold – only send components to be textured.

2.Make sure that all seal-off (shut-off) areas are properly scribed.

3.Remove all EDM scale from areas to be textured.

4.To avoid shipping damage, please take care in packaging your shipment.

 Roughness Average -Ra

Ra is the arithmetic average of the absolute values of the profile heights over the evaluation length.

 Ten Point Height of Irregularities – Rz(ISO) 

RZ is the average value of the absolute values of the heights of five highest-profile peaks and the depths of five deepest alleys within the evaluation length.

Surface roughness terminology and parameters

Ra and Rz are different parameters of roughness.

• Ra is the average roughness of a surface.
• Rz is the difference between the tallest “peak” and the deepest “valley” in the surface.

Ra vs Rz is like comparing inches to meters. They are not compatible. Use one or the other not both.

Surface roughness technical data

• EDM Mold Surface
• VDI 3400 Texture
• Surface finish VDI 3400
• VDI texture mold standards
• SPI vs VDI finishes
• Surface roughness comparison chart
• VDI Mini draft angle chart
• VDI 3400 Depth
• Surface roughness conversion