Formenbau

Formenbau, or mold making, is the engineering, design, and manufacture of molds and form tools used to shape materials by forming processes such as injection molding, compression molding, die casting, and ceramic slip casting. It covers the entire lifecycle from concept and design to fabrication, testing, and maintenance of mold components for producing parts in plastics, metals, elastomers, ceramics, and composites. The discipline is divided into hard tooling for high-volume production and soft tooling or rapid tooling for prototyping or low-volume runs.

A typical project begins with manufacturability assessment and mold design using CAD/CAM, specifying cavities, gating, runners, ejector systems, cooling and heating channels, and alignment features. The mold is then manufactured from base materials (tool steel or aluminum) with cavities produced by milling, EDM, or wire erosion. Inserts may be hardened steel or carbide; surfaces are finished and textured to control release, aesthetics, and wear resistance. After assembly, the mold is tested in trials; common defects include flash, short shots, sink marks, or warpage, which require iterative adjustments.

Materials and maintenance: tool steels (P20, H13, S7), aluminum for soft tooling; coatings (nitriding, chrome, TiN) reduce wear. Regular cleaning, leak testing, vent maintenance, and cooling-channel inspection are essential. In modern industry, Formenbau relies on CNC machining, CAM simulation, and metrology to ensure precision.

Applications include automotive parts, consumer electronics housings, packaging, medical devices, and small-scale production. Historically, Formenbau evolved from pattern making and sand casting to CNC machining and additive manufacturing.