Why choose Aluminum mold?
Aluminum film is the material of most thermoforming molds. Most customers choose aluminum film. Aluminum is the most commonly used raw material for making thermoforming molds. The advantage of using aluminum molds is that they can obtain good thermal conductivity and machinability.
1. Long-term cost advantage
Although the initial cost of aluminum molds is high (about 8-15 times that of wooden molds), the unit cost is the lowest after dilution.
Case: In an electronic packaging project, the cost of a single mold is only 0.002 yuan after the production of 500,000 pieces of aluminum molds, while the wooden mold needs to be replaced 6 times, and the total cost exceeds that of aluminum molds.
2. Ultra-precision molding capability
Especially suitable for products in the medical/electronics industry that require dimensional tolerances of ≤0.1mm, such as surgical instrument trays, chip carriers, etc.
3. Maximize production efficiency
Excellent thermal conductivity shortens the molding cycle (20% faster than resin molds) and significantly increases daily output.
4. Environmental compliance
100% recyclable and reusable, in compliance with the EU RoHS directive, while resin molds contain chemical curing agents that require special treatment.
5. Modification flexibility
Supports CNC secondary processing (such as modifying the position of the draw hole), and the accuracy of the wood mold/resin mold drops sharply after modification.
Why choose wooden molds? Advantages and disadvantages of wooden molds
Cheap cost, need to quickly produce samples, if the customer's demand is a small batch trial production (several hundred), urgent orders in a hurry, the design has not been fully finalized, and you want to see the actual effect after thermoforming, the budget is limited, you can save as much as you can, you can choose wooden molds for samples, but there is a long-term volume, the service life of the wooden mold is not long, and it can be replaced with aluminum film later. Another disadvantage is that the accuracy is average.
The advantages of resin molds are that they are more durable than wooden molds and cheaper than aluminum molds. Generally speaking, wooden molds will be scrapped after a few hundred moldings. The cost of aluminum molds is relatively high, while the cost of resin molds is medium. The price is only 1/3~1/2 of that of aluminum molds. They are suitable for medium-volume orders (such as 500~5000 pieces). The precision is higher than that of wooden molds, and close to that of aluminum molds. Wooden molds are easily deformed by moisture, with a tolerance of about ±0.3mm. Resin molds can be stable at ±0.1mm, which is enough for finer blistering (such as electronic parts trays). The surface details are good and suitable for complex patterns. Resin can cast very fine textures, such as the embossed logo of cosmetic boxes and the anti-slip texture of electronic product packaging. It is easier to carve than aluminum molds and more delicate than wooden molds. The mold is fast to make, and it can be done in 3~5 days. The CNC processing of aluminum molds is slow. Although wooden molds are fast, the precision is low.
Why choose resin mold?
The resin mold has a fast mold turning speed, which is suitable for urgent orders but requires finer than wooden molds. Lightweight and easy to repair, aluminum molds need to be re-machined to change the structure, resin molds can be directly hand-polished and adjusted, small changes do not need to be scrapped, saving time and money.
When should resin molds be used?
✅ Medium-volume production (several thousand pieces, do not want to change molds frequently)
✅ Aluminum molds are required but the budget is not enough (such as food packaging boxes with patterns)
✅ Product design can also be fine-tuned (low cost of re-mold)
✅ In a hurry but cannot accept the roughness of wooden molds
In short, aluminum mold is the most recommended, with reasonable cost, high precision and long service life.