Rapid tooling, sometimes known as prototype tooling or bridge tooling, is a fast and cost-efficient way to carry out low-volume injection molding for a variety of types of plastic parts. Once the aluminum or steel mold has been created with the rapid tooling process, it can be utilized as part of a molding process to create multiple copies of a part. Rapid tooling is therefore used to create moldings for rapid prototyping needs in a shortened timeframe, or to bridge the gap before high-volume production.

Aerospace machined parts
Aerospace machining is responsible for many aerospace parts, from vital titanium jet engine components to lightweight plastic interior cabin parts.

Parts that lend themselves toward aerospace CNC machining are typically low-volume parts that require high strength and fine features. Such parts are generally limited in size by the size of CNC machining centers, but several different materials can be used — usually titanium or aluminum alloys, but with other options like engineering plastics and composites also available. Some parts may be post-machined only, after being cast or extruded.

We currently offer the following materials for CNC machining:

Benefits of Rapid Tooling
Rapid production tooling gives a number of advantages over other mothods of prototype production:

The Rapid Tooling Process
The rapid tooling China process involves the creation of a mold using aluminum or soft steel, a stocked mold base, and hand-load inserts. Rapid tooling is one of the best methods for fulfilling small batch orders meant for use in marketing samples, product evaluations, and process design.

Aluminum evenly dissipates heat, which provides dimensional stability in tooling. This significantly reduces deformation and produces less waste during the production process. It is important to note that aluminum is not as strong as steel, so it has a shorter life cycle and is less useful in high-volume processes.

Steel is a sturdy, solid, high-quality tooling material, though it is not suitable for all applications. Steel molds have a longer life cycle than aluminum and are therefore ideal for high-volume production. Steel can also be used to produce molds from engineering-grade plastics that are resistant to abrasion and corrosion.

Can you imagine attempting to make prototype tools for over 30 components in just two months? Our customer desperately needed 200-300 sets of tail lights for testing, but mass production tools wouldn’t have been ready for eight months. They needed a solution to get good quality moldings by their deadline and at a much lower cost than production tools.

For this tail light project, we needed to fabricate a housing, reflector, light guide, bezel, an outer lens, and other components in a short period of time. The overall assembly size was about 600 x 400 x 150 mm, which is relatively large and the customer wanted to test real materials. In this case, 3D printing, CNC machining, and vacuum casting were not suitable, so prototype molding was the only option. Click to view this case

How many moldings can I get from rapid tooling?
Normally, aluminum molds are good enough for +/- 1,000 shots, while Steel P20 molds can last for +/- 10,000 shots.

CNC Machining Services

WeLink provides a variety of precision CNC machining services including milling, turning, EDM (electrical discharge machining) and wire EDM, and surface grinding. With our precision 3-, 4- and 5-axis CNC machining centers, combined with other advanced capabilities and our experienced team, we can handle all technical aspects of creating your prototypes and parts, so your team can focus on bringing your product to market. If you need a precision machining company for plastic and metal CNC machining parts, WeLink is the best place to go. Contact us today to get your manufacturing solution and details.

We are also your best manufacturing partner. We offer a range of solutions to help you scale from effective prototypes to production parts. Our rich manufacturing experience and ability to integrate resources enable us to handle any project’s needs and ensure your parts always meet the highest quality standards. Custom rapid manufacturing services include CNC machining, plastic injection molding, metal casting, sheet metal fabrication, and parts finishing.

At WeLink, we combine our experience, engineering capabilities and advanced technology to produce high-quality rapid tooling solutions for prototypes and short production runs. Our team works directly with each customer to ensure that we create the perfect solution. Our experience speaks for itself. The team at WeLink is well-equipped to handle your rapid tooling and mass production injection mold China requirements. If you are ready to start mass production, learn more out our injection molding services.

Our Advantages of CNC Machining
There are huge numbers of CNC machining service providers. Why should you choose us? Here are the top 3 reasons:

1. Experience
Our engineers have built up rich, deep experience from many previous projects, so they can handle complex and precision parts in several industries without a problem.

2. Advanced Equipment
WeLink has extensive in-house equipment for both manufacturing and testing. Your parts will be manufactured and inspected with our advanced in-house equipment, including HAAS 3-, 4-, and 5-axis CNC milling, Hexagon CMM, and Olympus XRF analyzer

Whether you need rapid tooling, mass production mold making or end-use plastic molding with tight tolerances, our team of experienced specialists can offer a cost-effective solution at each stage.