How do I select the right material for my product?
We can help you select the best material for your product if you can provide the “requirements” of the product. Knowing things such as working temperature range, chemicals in the intended environment, and structural / size requirements can narrow the search greatly.
For specialized applications, sometimes a custom formulation is required. We work with our material suppliers to assist in general selection as well as creating materials for specific applications.

What colors are possible for my product?
We have many stock colors available and many more to chose from a variety of sources.
If necessary, a color match can be performed to reproduce nearly any color of the rainbow.
Colored products are produced by using a colored raw material. Raw materials may be colored using concentrated colorant additives (usually 1-5% by weight) or ordered directly from the supplier in a pre-colored form.
Sometimes the base resin may have a natural tint to it, such as the yellowish tint of pure, un-colored ABS (your mouse is mostly made of ABS). This base tint can also be from additives like talc or mineral fillers. The base color of a material may limit the number of color choices you have or mute normally vibrant colors.

How do I know if my design is correct for injection molding?
The design of parts for injection molding is not easy to generalize to say the least. With so many materials to choose from the rules are not consistent across the board. Some materials flow easier than others in the mold and therefore can be used to design very thin parts with long flow-lengths. Others are so viscous in the melted state you need to use large runners & gates and design with thick cross sections, resulting in overall heavier products and scrap-content.

There are a few basics to follow for any molded part:
• Aim for constant wall thickness throughout the entire design.
• Use fillets and radii whenever possible
• Get the molder involved as early-on in the design phase as possible

What if I need threads incorporated into my product?
The least expensive method of incorporating threads into a molded product is to use a tap in a molded hole. This approach is good for relatively low-volume products in order to avoid up-front tooling costs.

For higher-volume products, it may be better to build a more-complex mold that automatically adds the threads during the molding process. This can save considerable labor for bigger projects.
We can produce both types of tooling to accommodate small, medium, or seemingly overwhelming projects.

Is it difficult or expensive to encapsulate metal or other inserts within my product?

How expensive is the tooling necessary to make my product?
The cost of tooling will be affected primarily by product complexity, tolerance requirements, and required productivity. The more complex a part design, the more complex the mold design and associated fabrication of the individual components. Tighter product tolerances require tighter tooling tolerances and in many cases, cutting the tool “metal safe”, running test shots, and finish-cutting to a refined geometry based on measurements of the test shots. Productivity requirements, meaning the quantity of a particular product required within a specified time-frame, drive the number of parts produced by a mold during each molding cycle. This is referred to as cavitation. Higher cavitation requires larger mold bases and more time spent fabricating the individual components comprising the finished tool.

In extremely general terms, single-cavity, simple aluminum molds can be produced for a few thousand dollars; low-volume production tooling starts around five thousand dollars; and high-volume production tooling ranges from $10,000 to the sky’s the limit. The

How much will my product cost?
The best way to find the answer to this question is by submitting an RFQ to us immediately!
The main factors that drive the cost of a plastic product are not substantially different than any other – material and labor. Materials can range in cost from about a dollar a pound for general-purpose commodity resins like polypropylene and polystyrene to over $50 a pound for super high-temperature and chemical-resistant PEEK (poly-ether-ether-ketone) and even higher for proprietary specialty formulations. The labor depends on how much a product must handled by people in order for it to meet the requisite specification(s).
At Proto Part we incorporate automation in order to minimize unnecessary handling as much as can be justified. Conveyors are used to transport product to staging areas and robotic arms remove the scrap produced in cold-runner molding processes.
How long will it take to begin receiving product from the time I place my order?

What is “Rapid Prototyping” and how can it improve the success of my product launch?

What if I need assistance with the design of my product?

What is “Dock-to-Stock”?

What should I do if my product needs assembly, packaging, or third-party order fulfillment.