Danny Choo
The Making of Smart Doll
Continuing from the Design & Mold Preparation section, we are ready to make the molds used for the injection molding for the frame - the most complex thing I've ever worked on ><
Injection Mold Preparation
1. I chose to work with a Japanese company called Muto based in Tokyo - this is our first meeting discussing part layouts, issues and wotnot. The process of making an injection mold is complex and we had to modify many parts to avoid warpage, wrinkling etc.
2. Once we are ready to make the molds, I'm off to inspect and oversee the making of the molds at Muto's Shinjo factory in the Yamagata prefecture.
3. Injection molds are huge! They are also expensive too >< Never have I received an invoice for 160,000 USD before ^^; But after making the mold, I understand why it costs so much - you are not just paying for 2 pieces of metal but paying for the knowhow involved into placement of the parts in the mold.
4. Our mold taking shape - the carving process takes a few weeks.
5. The holes you see in the mold are for ejector pins which push the part out of the mold after the molding process. For this reason many products have little circles which are usually placed in not-so-visible areas.
6. We make the mold in pieces so that its easy to change parts in the future. Parts which are tube shaped that contain a shaft need to be put at the side of the mold and are called "Slide" because an extra mold part is slid in from the side.
7. Our injection mold is complete! Now I need to order the pellets.
8. Before ordering the pellets, I need to choose the color. I send off a sample of the outer shell and get back a set of color plates which have been made especially to match my requirements.
9. For the spine, I use a product called JETON which is a joint that already exists on the market and are used as a frame for dolls and plushies. I use those color plates to order some JETON joints in the same color.
10. Color matching is a difficult process as colors looks different in varying lighting conditions.
11. My pellets have come back from mixing and have been placed in the injection molding machine. Here they are heated to high temperatures and injected into the mold which has also been heated up to receive the material.
12. Once the material has been injected into the mold, the mold opens up and the parts are pushed out by the ejector pins.
13. The size of each part on the runner changes depending on the values used during the injection molding process which include things like temperature, pressure, speed and so on.
14. So even though we have the mold made to spec, we then need to tweak values over the next few months to make sure that all frame parts fit together nicely.
15. We do thousands of tests which unfortunately does involve wastage but is all part of the process of making all the parts fit perfectly. All test parts are recycled according to Japanese rules and regulations.
16. To see if the parts fit together properly, we need to assemble several hundred frames over a period of a few months.
17. We use grease on all joints to ensure smooth but rigid movement. Initially from time to time the grease may seep out to the surface of the wrist, ankle or elbow joint - if that happens then just blob it with some tissue.
18. Its not just the assembly of the frame we need to do - we also need to put the frame in the outer shell to see if everything fits together properly. Through this process we had to change a few of the outer shell molds.
19. The very first frame batch to come out of the mold is known as T1. Everytime we make a change to the frame we increment that number. We finalized the frame at T7.
20. Mirai Frame is made from POM (Polyoxymethylene) which is recognized for its high strength, hardness and rigidity.
I do plan to sell the frame standalone which is why I designed some hands and a head for it - the hands and head only come with the standalone frame.
View more at www.dannychoo.com/en/post/27275/The+Making+of+Smart+Doll....
The Making of Smart Doll
Continuing from the Design & Mold Preparation section, we are ready to make the molds used for the injection molding for the frame - the most complex thing I've ever worked on ><
Injection Mold Preparation
1. I chose to work with a Japanese company called Muto based in Tokyo - this is our first meeting discussing part layouts, issues and wotnot. The process of making an injection mold is complex and we had to modify many parts to avoid warpage, wrinkling etc.
2. Once we are ready to make the molds, I'm off to inspect and oversee the making of the molds at Muto's Shinjo factory in the Yamagata prefecture.
3. Injection molds are huge! They are also expensive too >< Never have I received an invoice for 160,000 USD before ^^; But after making the mold, I understand why it costs so much - you are not just paying for 2 pieces of metal but paying for the knowhow involved into placement of the parts in the mold.
4. Our mold taking shape - the carving process takes a few weeks.
5. The holes you see in the mold are for ejector pins which push the part out of the mold after the molding process. For this reason many products have little circles which are usually placed in not-so-visible areas.
6. We make the mold in pieces so that its easy to change parts in the future. Parts which are tube shaped that contain a shaft need to be put at the side of the mold and are called "Slide" because an extra mold part is slid in from the side.
7. Our injection mold is complete! Now I need to order the pellets.
8. Before ordering the pellets, I need to choose the color. I send off a sample of the outer shell and get back a set of color plates which have been made especially to match my requirements.
9. For the spine, I use a product called JETON which is a joint that already exists on the market and are used as a frame for dolls and plushies. I use those color plates to order some JETON joints in the same color.
10. Color matching is a difficult process as colors looks different in varying lighting conditions.
11. My pellets have come back from mixing and have been placed in the injection molding machine. Here they are heated to high temperatures and injected into the mold which has also been heated up to receive the material.
12. Once the material has been injected into the mold, the mold opens up and the parts are pushed out by the ejector pins.
13. The size of each part on the runner changes depending on the values used during the injection molding process which include things like temperature, pressure, speed and so on.
14. So even though we have the mold made to spec, we then need to tweak values over the next few months to make sure that all frame parts fit together nicely.
15. We do thousands of tests which unfortunately does involve wastage but is all part of the process of making all the parts fit perfectly. All test parts are recycled according to Japanese rules and regulations.
16. To see if the parts fit together properly, we need to assemble several hundred frames over a period of a few months.
17. We use grease on all joints to ensure smooth but rigid movement. Initially from time to time the grease may seep out to the surface of the wrist, ankle or elbow joint - if that happens then just blob it with some tissue.
18. Its not just the assembly of the frame we need to do - we also need to put the frame in the outer shell to see if everything fits together properly. Through this process we had to change a few of the outer shell molds.
19. The very first frame batch to come out of the mold is known as T1. Everytime we make a change to the frame we increment that number. We finalized the frame at T7.
20. Mirai Frame is made from POM (Polyoxymethylene) which is recognized for its high strength, hardness and rigidity.
I do plan to sell the frame standalone which is why I designed some hands and a head for it - the hands and head only come with the standalone frame.
View more at www.dannychoo.com/en/post/27275/The+Making+of+Smart+Doll....