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Lead times, DFM checks, tolerance limits, inspection reports and maintenance schedules — written from the jobs we quote, with the numbers we actually work to.
These guides exist because the same questions come up in every enquiry: how long a tool really takes, what a drawing is missing, which tolerance a process can hold, what an inspection report should contain and when a mold needs servicing. Each guide answers one question, states its figures as ranges where they vary, and points to the page that holds the detail.
Guides
Tooling · 8 min read
Stage-by-stage timings for a 2-plate, 3-plate and hot-runner tool, which stages actually drive the date, and why a 25-day quote and a 45-day quote can both be honest.
Design · 7 min read
Wall thickness, draft, ribs, bosses, gate position and shut-off — the checks that cost nothing before the tool is built and a great deal after.
Machining · 9 min read
Typical achievable tolerance by feature and process, the difference between a drawing tolerance and a real capability, and the features that quietly add cost.
Inspection · 6 min read
What each column of an FAI or CMM report means, how a datum scheme is chosen, why the program revision matters, and what to check before you approve it.
Maintenance · 7 min read
How to set shot-based intervals instead of calendar ones, which checks belong at each service level, and the warning signs that appear before a failure.
If you are at the quotation stage, read the lead-time and DFM guides together — the first tells you what the schedule depends on, the second tells you which drawing details change it. If you are checking a supplier, read the inspection report guide and then ask for a real report to compare against it.
| Your question | Guide | Also see |
|---|---|---|
| How long will the tool take? | Injection mold lead times | Mold making |
| Is my design ready for tooling? | DFM checklist | Prototype tooling |
| Can this tolerance be machined? | CNC tolerance guide | CNC machining |
| What should an inspection report show? | CMM & FAI explained | Quality |
| When should the tool be serviced? | Maintenance schedule | Injection molds |
They are written from our own quotation, toolmaking and inspection work, and reviewed by the engineers who run those jobs. Where a figure is a typical range rather than a fixed value, the guide says so.
Yes, for internal training and supplier discussions. Quote them with a link back to the page rather than copying them wholesale into public material.
Often, yes — a question that keeps arriving from several customers usually becomes a guide. Send it through the contact page with enough context to make the answer useful.
If a guide stops short of your case, send the drawing and describe the constraint. We will answer directly rather than pointing at a page.
Talk to an engineer