Amoldmaker (mouldmaker in English-speaking countries other than the US) ormolder (moulder) is a skilledtradesperson who fabricatesmolds (ormoulds) for use in casting metal products.[1]
Moldmakers are generally employed infoundries, where molds are used tocast products from metals such asaluminium andcast iron.
The term moldmaker may also refer to workers employed in fabricating dies and metal moulds for use ininjection molding anddie-casting, such as in theplastics, rubber orceramics industries, in which case it is sometimes regarded as a branch of the trade oftoolmaker.[2] The process of manufacturing molds is often highly automated.
Although many of the machining processes involved in mold making use computer-controlled equipment for the manufacturing of molds (particularly plastic and rubber injection and transfer), moldmaking remains a highly skilled trade, requiring expertise in manual machining, CNC machining, CNC wire EDM, CNC Ram EDM, surface grinding, hand polishing and more. Because of the skill and intense labor involved, a lot of mold making in the US has been outsourced to low-wage countries.[citation needed] The majority of plastic and rubber parts are made using injection or transfer molds, requiring a mold to be manufactured by a moldmaker.
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