Systematic finishing of dies and moulds

Finishing is the final process in mold manufacturing. Although it produces the desired surface finish, it is a time-consuming process. But, there have been a few systematic methods to control the procedure. In this work, the machining characteristics of the finishing tools are studied by basic experiments. Concepts of critical surface roughness and removal volume are introduced to establish a systematic finishing process model that can find the finishing process requiring the least time. The process planned by an expert worker was compared with the process from the established model. The comparison showed that the new process from the established model took less time and generated less form error on the machined surface than the process planned by expert worker.