The Mold Texture Repair Process

If you manufacture products using molds, you know the importance of the final texture these molds produce. Depending on the products you produce, you may need specific textures that are soft on the hands or are non-slip on wet surfaces. To create these textures, your molds have to have precise layers of texturizing designs. But what happens if a machine pin gouges a mold or if a mold loses texture over time? In these cases, damaged mold texture repair professionals use the following steps to restore the mold's texture.

Welding

The foundation of mold texture repair is welding, which is used to repair badly damaged molds with deep gouges or scrapes. If your mold's texture is so badly damaged in one spot that the texture is completely removed, a mold repair technician will need to begin the retexturing process by replacing the gouged-away metal. Simple welding won't work on its own, however. Due to the precise nature of molds and fine textures, the welded metal needs to be as soft as the metal around it. To achieve this, the technician will heat the mold before welding. As the mold and metal cool together, they should both be close to the ideal hardness, even in the repaired area.

Etching

Next, the damaged area of the mold will need to be retextured through etching. A mold texture technician will use chemical etchants in several applications to match the rest of the mold's texture as closely as possible. They may request information about the original creation process for the mold before choosing their etchants. By using the same etchants in the same order as those that were used when the mold was first created, the technician can accurately reproduce the perfect texture within the mold. The end goal is making the repair indistinguishable from the rest of the mold, so make sure to provide the technician with as much information as possible.

Sandblasting

The final step in the mold texture repair process is sandblasting. Depending on the severity of the damage, this can also be the first and only step of the process. If your mold has lost just a little bit of texture due to frequent use, an application of light, careful sandblasting can restore its finish almost immediately. Sandblasting is also important as a final step in a gouge repair. In order to completely disguise the repair, the technician will carefully sandblast the repaired area with the same quality of sand used to create the original part. 

To learn more, contact a mold texture repair company in your area.

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