INTRODUCING PLASKOLITE OPTICAL TOOL & DIE
If you’ve found this blog, it’s because you know what you’re looking for! Allow us a minute to introduce ourselves. PLASKOLITE is a global leader in thermoplastics manufacturing but we are also a premier precision mold manufacturing company that specializes in injection mold building for the world of high-performance optical products. Users of our molds range from goggle makers, eyeglass manufacturers, and high-tech manufacturers to the defense and law enforcement industries. Originally known as ABCO Tool & Die, this PLASKOLITE location is in Hyannis, MA and since 1972, we have perfected our understanding and execution in the art of building precision optical molds.
What Are Optical Injection Molds?
Because optics are our specialty, we can assist in the development of projects large and small. Typically, our customers need to provide superior optical performance for their end users, such as commercial and industrial users, first responders, and military personnel on or above the ground. Whether it’s Z87, EN166, or MIL-DTL-43511D that you’re trying to achieve, PLASKOLITE has the experience to help you. If you’ve worn $500 sunglasses riding a motorcycle or snapped on a set of anti-fog ski goggles, there’s a strong chance you’ve used a product made with PLASKOLITE molds.
Optical mold building is a specialty unto itself. The discipline required to build critical optical tolerances is demanding, and the success of PLASKOLITE is in the robust designs and the specific types of equipment used along with propriety processes to achieve optical finishes that are typically measured in angstroms. Our expertise lies in custom and early-stage projects, helping entrepreneurs and Fortune 100 companies take their ideas from the drawing board to the prototype phase and on to full-scale production. PLASKOLITE molds have long life spans and are engineered to the most precise standards.
Working With Precision Optical Molds
A typical non-optical, “black parts” mold design may be completed in just a few weeks. An optical mold design will require substantially more time in the development phase of the “optical design package.” The optical design package may include verification of the optical product design relative to the desired optical performance specification or standard, and modifications to make it optimal for the end user. This is a unique and challenging step that our engineers can help with. PLASKOLITE’s experience assisting with the beginning design phase results in a superior finished final product.
Mold design typically involves the part split for the creation of cavity, core, and parting lines. In optical mold building, our team goes beyond the conventional standards with the design and integration of “optical inserts” and the associated components required for each step of the manufacturing process. The optical inserts are the heart of the optical mold, and these pieces must be positioned properly and consider specific part optical surface geometry to achieve the desired optical performance. Years of experience have made this process of precise steps of detailed manufacturing execution systematic and reliable.
In the area of optical mold manufacturing, only the finest materials and best-proven processes are used to ensure top-level quality. PLASKOLITE has some of the most advanced and unique finishing capabilities offered anywhere, in the United States or abroad. From simple plano lenses to more complex geometries that may require conformal polishing, we can provide solutions to most optical challenges. The complexities of optical mold building are broken down into achievable components to yield world-class optical molds ready to produce superior products.
PLASKOLITE works for some of the top companies and brands in the world. Whether the application is commercial, first responder, or military, PLASKOLITE offers the unparalleled precision and turnkey capability to produce molded optics that are unquestionably the best available in the market today.
To learn more about PLASKOLITE's mold design and construction, go to www.plaskolite.com or click https://plaskolite.com/products-services/solutions/optical-molding/mold-design-and-construction for more details. To request a quote, click https://plaskolite.com/contact-us/request-optical-molding-quote.