Injection moulding-a future build idea

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hi Dr D-Flo,
just looking at your projects on youtube and currently watching the mega movie 3d printer video, again. i am at the section where your talking about making your own filament in an extrusion machine using pellets. it got me thinking. using the same principals of the filament creation, could that machine and process be used to make a table top plastic injection moulding machine??? something small enough to make say 4 or 5 model figures for model railways or war gaming etc etc. i know the 3d printers are good and getting better with fine detailing but the detail that could be made using this could be a game changer. i have been thinking of this for a while on how to make a table top plastic injection moulder and seeing that section on the video has given me the inspiration to think it may be a possibility.

happy to discuss further,

regards dan4472

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@dan4472 Hey man! Sorry for my delayed response. Life has been hectic, but seriously your post could not have come at a better time!

My school recently got ahold of a APSX-PIM desktop plastic injection machine (pictured below). It uses a giant spring that is compressed by a chain driven by a stepper driver to force hot plastic into a mold cavity. If I can get permission, then I am hoping to make a video about it!

Small injection molding machines like this one are definitely interesting and could be a great purchase for a small shop that needs to produce thousands of parts a year. Injection molding is not only faster than 3D printing, but it also gives you better mechanical properties.

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