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Nickel Tooling for Cavity Only
Our electroforming process allows us to create a high-quality mold of difficult shapes while maintaining the intricacy and fine detail on multiple copies of the same tool.
Nickel has several advantages over other metals that can be electroformed. It has mechanical properties close to steel with good corrosion and thermal shock resistance. It also has good release properties for forming PVC products and other polymers.
Backed by over 25 years experience, FET has supplied nickel tools to most of the world's leading automotive manufacturers for interior trim production, autoclave tools for aircraft, rotocast tools for plastisol processing, spray urethane tools auto trim, and nickel female vacuum form tools for door panels and instrument panels.
Our method for shell production has allowed us to build over 25 tools of one design over 5 years and to build parts for one automobile with an average production of over 100,000 parts per tool.
Masking for paint or adhesive spraying can be developed from your part or model and mounted in production frames.
Vacuum-Forming Tools
Vacuum-forming technology is available for several special processes related to the auto industry including:
- Female nickel shells for TPO or vinyl instrument panel skin forming.
- Female nickel shells for embossing and laminating foam backed material to a substrate and trimming excess material in one operation.
- Male CNC aluminum or resin tooling to laminate and trim embossed foamed backed material to an adhesive coated substrate.
- Female nickel shells for forming and foaming in place.
- Male tooling to form film over instrument panel inserts.
- Male aluminum tooling to form instrument panel and door panel skins.
- Resin tools for development and low production runs.
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Two different grain patterns have been applied to this nickel. |
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Double-cavity tooling can significantly increase production volume. |
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Thousands of nickel chips are used to electroplate a single tool. |
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Skin production from nickel shells only completes part of the production process. FET has developed epoxy-faced aluminum molds to complete the assembly of the insert and foam cushion into a usable part. Each foam tool for instrument panels are mounted on a freestanding carrier with a clamping press. PC controllers, hydraulics, vacuum, loose pieces, sensors, ejectors, electrical limits and safety systems are included. Other smaller parts like airbag doors and glovebox doors are formed with special action to open die lock conditions for part removal.
Our freestanding press for foam molds can be designed for reuse with new model production within the limits of size, end of model production requirements and other design considerations.
For smaller parts cast to size, aluminum tools are assembled for revolving tables, drag lines or conveyor lines to make an armrest with a 360-degree hand grip area. Seat cushions with or without water cooling lines, and impact absorbing pads for bumper fascia made with expanded polypropylene.
CNC aluminum female vacuum forming tools are used to mold foam backed skin into the cavity while fiberglass mat, metal inserts and fasteners are added to the cavity and core. All are bonded with a structural RIM process to complete a door panel in one tool.
Urethane foam blocks for manufacturing aids are produced from epoxy/fiberglass water-cooled tooling for manual or automatic processes.
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Foam molds create soft, cushioned parts. |
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The epoxy surface of our foaming tools can be easily modified for fine-tuning. |
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Tools can be produced to accommodate most any size requirement. |
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Aluminum tools can be used to produce parts for many of our typical products. FET produces several types of tooling for one requirement. With our experience and expertise, we often suggest a better perforing, cost-effective, volume-conscious and/or more durable mold for a customer's process.
CNC-machined foaming tools for automotive prototype and low volume headrest are available and may be better than cast to size, even for larger quantity runs.
Where part shrinkage from foaming is a factor, our expertise in seating tools is used to cast precise tooling for impact pads for bumper fascia.
Our experienced metal fabricators can construct special powder savers, powder buckets, and special tooling aids for your processing needs using nickel, aluminum, stainless, steel or polymers.
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Aluminum castings come with a variety of custom latching mechanisms. |
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This casting will produce the head rest on an automobile seat. |
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We develop check fixtures, welding fixtures and trim fixtures to gauge your parts, hold your pieces for operational procedures, or trim excess material from a part. These are used by our customers for exhaust tubing, door panels, A/C vents, mud flaps, map pockets, consoles, instrument panels, air bag doors and many others.
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Check fixtures are built to ensure accurate measurements. |
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Repairing cracks in nickel molds, or any type of mold or tool, requires special training and equipment. At FET, we employ people who are experts on repair and restoration. Our experience in repairs enables us to provide you with a superior product in a timely manner.
Repairing molds, especially nickel molds is a large part of what we do at FET. You can trust FET to help you with most any type of mold repair. We understand the complexities of mold repair and we always meet or exceed our customers needs. FET is your one-stop solution.
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A repair technician checks his work with a piece of putty. |
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