A Taste of What's New at Amerimold, Day One

Amerimold Expo 2019 is here! There are two days of information-packed programming, not to mention a wide array of exhibitors that are anxious to meet with attendees. I had a sneak preview of a few of the exhibitors – namely those who are sponsors of Amerimold, and here’s what they are featuring this year (be sure to check out images from the show floor, above):

Progressive Components, in booth 1205, is spotlighting its new System Cooling High Temp Manifolds. As part of the company’s System Cooling Platform, manifolds monitor each circuit within a mold via embedded, individual sensors which measure based on the Vortex Flow principle, alerting the user of any deviations which might then reduce cycle times and affect product consistency or increase scrap. New high-temp manifolds now support temperatures up to 250° F / 120° C. Available in 4, 8, and 12 zone units, each can be connected to as many as eight manifolds for a total of 96 zones. 

Heidenhain Corp., located in booth 611, is featuring its extensive line of precision measurement and control equipment, including its linear and angle encoders, rotary encoders, length gauges, digital readouts (DRO’s), numerical controls (TNCs) and touch probes.

Hasco America, which can be found in booth 906, is featuring several new products at Amerimold this year. Flat ejectors with extra-long blades improve the functional de-molding process; a greatly expanded range of flat steel for mold bases provides more options for designers who require high dimensional accuracy and surface finish. Of note is the company’s introduction of hot runner products, including the Hasco Hot Half. Equipped with a single needle valve, users benefit first and foremost from the high efficiency and safety of this all-in, production-ready system. Hasco’s H1280/… hot runner control series has been expanded with the addition of an even more user-friendly tabletop unit featuring intuitive touch user interface, a modular 7-inch display screen, integrated help function and unique troubleshooting agent that enables fast diagnosis and resolution of issues. “There is no paper manual anymore because it is all on the controller, similar to a smartphone,” Rene Eisenring, general manager, says. “If you want to know how to set up something or how to troubleshoot something, you use the search function and it will take you directly to it and provide step-by-step instructions. It is one of the first in the industry to do this.”

RobbJack Corp. and Crystallume are located in booth 820. RobbJack says it is highlighting its Die/Mold Series end mills that use a carbide coating technology to reduce wear by 909%, and last over 450% longer than comparable tools in hard metal applications. In addition, the company is introducing its new FMHV series end mills that are designed for high-horsepower and high-velocity machining in aluminum mold making.

PCS Company can be found in booth 1105 and is featuring several new products at Amerimold, including a conformal cooled sprue bushing. John Harding, sales manager, says it is designed to help reduce cycle times when there is a large part-to-sprue ratio. “Basically you don’t have to wait to let the sprue set up,” he says. “Instead you can put a limit on your cycle time. We have done studies where we were able to reduce cycle times from 22 seconds down to 15 seconds in one mold.” The company has also changed the internal geometries of its cold runner nozzle tips to reduce or prevent such issues as stringing, splaying and dead spots. 

Trak Machine Tools of Southwestern Industries Inc. is in booth 1206 and is highlighting its latest offerings in machining technology. On display are the Trak 2op Vertical Machining Center, which has a very compact footprint, and the new ProtoTrak RLX lathe.

XMD-Expert Mold Designer is located in booth 1009 and is demonstrating its newly revamped mold design software, which incorporates what the company dubs “Real Intelligence.” This new system evaluates the relationships between all mold plates, components, holes and pockets without requiring the user to build and manage complex constraints and linking.

Matsuura Machinery USA Inc.’s new Lumex Avance-25 metal laser sintering hybrid milling machine is on display in booth 623. It combines selective laser sintering (SLS) with high-speed milling for an effective hybrid solution. 

Plastic Engineering & Technical Services (P.E.T.S.) offers CAD/CAM and design-related solutions plus hot runner systems and components. Visit them in booth 825.

Creative CNC LLC, in booth 709, is now an NCG CAM reseller for customers in the United States and Canada. This stand-alone CAM system is only now available in the U.S., though it was first launched 20 years ago. According to Creative CNC, it can be used with any CAD software and offers a number of advanced 3D machining routines, rest roughing and 3+2 capabilities for all toolpaths. A 5-axis simultaneous add-on module is also available.

We thank all of our sponsors for supporting Amerimold this year! There is still time to come out to the show, so please join us.