low volume plastic injection molding...?: Off-topic discussion forum: Grassroots Motorsports Magazine

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Nov. 5, 2011 9:09 p.m. stroker HalfDork

I've got an idea for a kids game. For the sake of discussion call it "chess" for pre-schoolers using animals instead of pawns/rooks/etc. There would be different versions of the game for different habitats, such as jungles, swamps, forest, deserts, barnyards, etc.

I did a bit of online research and found some sources of plastic toy animals, but I'm wondering about how to cast your own or whether it's something that can be done on a custom basis. I realize the easiest thing to do would be to use die cut cardboard pieces but I'm just noodling at this point.

Anyone have an relevant experience?
Nov. 5, 2011 9:14 p.m. Hocrest HalfDork

Sounds like an ideal situation for one of those 3-D plastic printers...
Nov. 5, 2011 9:36 p.m. ThePhranc Reader

Resin casting is possible. I have friends who do it with 25mm war game figures and/or accessories.

http://itarsworkshop.com/catalog/index.php?osCsid=54bvt06728dsbuccsoqe3s08m0

Contact this guy with your questions. He should be able to give you some direction. Tell him I sent you.
Nov. 5, 2011 9:44 p.m. Ranger50 Dork

Unless you are going to produce well over 500k of them, even with the cheapest non-lead colored PS/PP/HDPE and using the best Chinese child labor along with the best in Chinese mold makers, you wouldn't be making a profit, IMO and best on a rough guess.
Nov. 5, 2011 10:30 p.m. SVreX SuperDork

I could do 3D printing, or laser cut acrylic with fire polished edges at a competitive price, either bulk or custom.

I would suggest medium scale production runs with fun character designs made from laser acrylic. 1"x2" pieces cut from 3/4" or 1" thick material could produce 2304 pieces out of a 4x8 sheet of acrylic. That would be 72 sets (if there are 32 pieces per game, like chess).

I could do a run like this at a fair price on a small industrial quality CNC laser.
Nov. 6, 2011 8:22 a.m. Javelin SuperDork

Really SVrex? I'm gonna need to shoot you an email for a different project of my own then...
Nov. 6, 2011 9:03 a.m. cwh SuperDork

SVrex is a man of many talents!
Nov. 6, 2011 10:13 a.m. stroker HalfDork

In reply to SVreX:

Well, from what I know about the game industry, we're talking production runs measured in the hundreds or low thousands, not tens of thousands. Just for the sake of discussion, let's say a run of 1000 sets of 12 different pieces. Any idea what that might cost?
Nov. 6, 2011 10:48 a.m. madpanda Reader

Not knowing the exact price I would guess that SVreX's laser cut acrylic is probably the most cost effective option. You could stand-up the acrylic pieces and snap them into some kind of base or glue them onto a little acrylic disk.

If you want to do 3D printing yourself, I would also look at a Maker Bot kit. The current version includes includes a moving belt on the build platform that spits out your part after it is done so you could in theory leave the printer unattended and have it make a whole set. My very rough estimate is that it would take ~6hrs for 12 pieces so you could in theory be producing 4 sets a day. Good news is that the plastic and electricity to run are quite cheap, bad news is that the kit is $1200 and takes two full days to build plus some time to "tune" it so it produces good prints.

Finally, to answer your original question about plastic injection molding. The cheapest I've been able to get a mold cut for this size part has been $2k (got it cut in China but went through US company: Quickparts.com) After you have the mold the parts are cheap but $24k is a big up-front investment (assuming worst case scenario where your 12 pieces are unique).

Phew, hope that helped.
Nov. 6, 2011 12:38 p.m. flountown Reader

Your best bet is to license the idea to a legitimate board game manufacturer, and sit back, collect money and let them sweat the details.
Nov. 6, 2011 1:09 p.m. RedS13Coupe Reader

Instead of PIM look at uh... that one thing.

Forget the name, but I think most 3d plastic game boards look to be vacuum formed sheets of plastic draped over a mold.

This link calls it thermoforming http://engr.bd.psu.edu/pkoch/plasticdesign/thermoforming.htm No idea on cost, but has to be easier to do low volume/one off stuff cheaper then PIM

edit: oops, though you were saying figured checked away, and were planning out a board/game surface.
Nov. 6, 2011 4:03 p.m. SVreX SuperDork

For laser cut products it's entirely about the complexity of the piece. Edit: really couldn't give a competitive price without seeing a drawing of the shape

If they are intricate shapes, or deep etched (essentially 3D), the price gets higher. Please keep in mind that there is no way I can quote anything without knowing the size, shape, complexity, material, etc.

Injection molding would be cheaper for millions of army men, but laser or 3D print would be more reasonable for a small limited edition run.

If you cut them out of sheet product of a reasonable thickness, they don't need a base. They would stand by themselves.
Nov. 6, 2011 4:04 p.m. SVreX SuperDork

cwh wrote:

SVrex is a man of many talents!

Jack of all trades, master of none.