 Welcome to a new Pressure Plastic video. So in this video we're going to show you how to make advanced CNC molds. So these things tend to be quite complex and difficult to make. However, the upside is that once you make something, it's super detailed and accurate, so you can really make precision parts with it. And our boy Jerry from the Netherlands is going to show you how that's being done. Hey, hoi! So today we're going to make a CNC mold. As an example, we're going to make an iPhone case. It is a bit complex, but you could also start with something as simple as a keychain. It takes a couple of steps to make a CNC product. First, you need to design your 3D model. Then you need to order it or make it. You need to get it ready for injection, injected and finish it up. Let's get started with the first part, making the 3D model. There, it is a bit detailed and it is a bit long, but afterwards you should be able to design your own mold. Yeah. Oh, yes. Let's start. Let's do it! Welcome to the 3D modeling part of this video. In this case, I'm going to design the mold in SOLIDWORKS, but most 3D programs should do. I started by importing a model of the iPhone 7. From here, you can design the case around the iPhone to take into account things as buttons, screen and camera so that your case doesn't obstruct anything. From here on, you can design the product around the phone. So in this case, quite simple, just some cutouts for the buttons and for the camera. And the product is 2.5mm thick. This is quite thick for a phone case, but we found that this is the minimum for a fresh plastic injection machine. Otherwise, you need way more force. Once you're happy about the design, you can start modeling the mold. In this case, I have the underside of the mold. There are a couple of features that I want to talk about while designing the mold. For example, you have a fillet here on the inside pocket. For CNC milling, it's always important if you have an inside pocket that you have a radius on the inside of the corners. Because straight corners are very expensive to manufacture because it needs a lot of tooling, where bigger fillets last work. So this is a way to reduce the cost of your mold. Another feature is a lip and groove on the mold. That's this. This is the groove. And the other side of the mold has the lip. With this, you make sure that your mold halves accurately fit together so that they cannot move from each other. There are also four mounting holes. These are for bolts to clamp the mold together. Otherwise, you have the possibility of plastic flowing outside of the cavity and in between the two mold halves. As you can see, I placed the mounting holes asymmetrical so that it's not possible to flip one of the mold halves and connect it in the wrong way. And once this is done, your mold assembly should look something like this. Here you have a top half of the mold, a bottom half of the mold. And in this case, also a third part of the mold. This is because the phone case has a big undercut and otherwise it would stick to the mold itself and it wouldn't be possible to get the case out of the mold. On the top half, you see the injection point. It's called a sprue and this is where the plastic is being injected from the injection machine into the phone case. There's a draft angle on here which means that the diameter on the bottom is bigger than the diameter on top which gives it a conical shape. This conical shape helps if you take the part out of the mold otherwise it can get stuck and snap off. When you remove the case from the mold, as you can see I didn't model the connector for the mold so it can be connected to the injection machine straight away. This is because it would add a lot of cost to the mold. They would need to face off a lot of material and a screw connector would be made from aluminium in the end. To solve this, I made a connector from some sheet metal and a plumbing end that can be screwed on the mold itself and then it can still be used with the normal injection machine. Now the mold is basically ready to be produced. Do make sure that you think about how the plastic is going to flow within the mold. There's special software for this to analyse it. For example, Autodesk mold flow and here you can simulate how the plastic is going to flow. This can't be handy but it's not necessary. If you just think logically, you should be able to make a good guess. Okay, so the 3D model is done. Since we don't have a CNC machine, we will need to outsource it. So you can do this at various places. You often have local machining companies, engineering schools or you can do what we did, is that we ordered it at 3D hubs. They have a new feature where you can order custom CNC milled parts. Do take into account that this can take up some times, often weeks. So let the waiting game begin. Okay, so the package arrived. We just need to add the nozzle and make some bolts. So let's get it inside, unpack it and get it ready for injection. Okay, so here we have the final product. It didn't take a lot of finishing and it fits precisely around the foam. This is due to the precision of the mold. So if you make your own mold, make sure to take advantage of the level of precision so that everything fits really well together. You could also use it to engrave some text into your product. And now you should be able to design your own CNC mold. Alright, thanks Jerry. Nice mold. If you would like to make this mold yourself, we share the drawings in our download kit. And you can just mill it and you have the exact same mold, but we recommend to make your own thing. We would like to see what you make with this technique. If you have any questions, feel free to post the topic in our forums and see you again in the next video. Exactly. How do. How do.