First UK Sodick AP1L goes to micro-moulding specialist

Sovrin Plastics is a medical and technical moulder, and a specialist in the manufacture of micro-moulds and micro- precision injection moulded components. The company has created a micro-moulding cell specifically for producing the smallest components, typically with component weights below 0.25 g and down into single figures of milligrams. Supplying single and multiple cavity tooling for the injection moulding machines is the new Sodick Premium AP1L die sink EDM, installed in January, 2006. The Sodick machine is capable of finishing cavities to a tolerance of plus or minus half a micron. “We selected the machine after extensive trials at Sodi-Tech in the UK and at Sodick’s headquarters in Japan,” says Sovrin’s founder and managing director, Peter Joiner. “One such trial demanded the creation of various pin-gates measuring between 0.1 and 0.15 mm in diameter - the way the Sodick machine handled the task was excellent. Other tests showed that electrode wear was also significantly reduced, in one instance to 0.005 mm.”