Alternative to
Conventional Steel for Mould Inserts Extends Tool Life,
Cuts Costs
Case Studies: Solving Real-World
Problems
Amidst a business downturn, the Swedish moulding firm
ToBe Teknik is expanding its plant in Oxelösund. Its
customers develop products for the electronics and
automotive sectors. In some applications, plastics are
displacing such materials as aluminium. But this
presupposes high quality in both the plastic and the mould
insert, which is one reason why, last year, ToBe Teknik
began using prehardened, dimensionally stable Toolox
tool plate from SSAB Oxelösund AB instead of
conventional steel for one of its inserts.
“Toolox is actually well suited for everything,” says
Tony Bäckman, the owner of ToBe Teknik, “but we consider
it most beneficial in the production of reinforced
materials that cause heavier wear on the moulds than other
plastics.”
Using Toolox in place of conventional tool steel
involves higher initial costs. But Bäckman estimates that
it helps his company ultimately cut costs by 10 to 15%, or
even more with larger moulds. He says that Toolox is
simple to use. Also, if a test run points to it, the steel
can be given an additional nitriding treatment to
substantially extend its useful life even when moulding
heavy-wearing plastics. The outcome of hardening
conventional steel is not so certain.
ToBe Teknik toolmaker Zlatko Visic prefers to replace
worn-out conventional steel with Toolox, which he claims
is an unbeatable mould material. “If a 5-mm drill is used
to drill a hole, you can rely on the hole being exactly
5 mm,” he says. “This is because the plate is so pure and
has no inclusions whatever, which gives me a sense of
security.”
Photo: Toolox tool plate is hardened and dimensionally
stable when it leaves SSAB Oxelösund, but its surface
hardness, and thus useful life, can be increased further
by traditional gas nitriding.
SSAB Oxelösund AB
Oxelösund, Sweden
SSAB Oxelösund AB
website |
