How durable are brass hooks and picks?

[kb1982]

Anyone ever use any brass hooks and picks? If so, how durable are they? Im a process tech on plastic injection molding machines and they will be used to dig out flash and stuck sprues and runners. The tool shop has been breathing down our necks about not using brass tools, but they only thing they want to provide is brass screws.

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[Chucktin]

Start asking/insisting on titanium tools. That'll give them something to think about! And I'll bet you'll get brass.

 

[MushCreek]

Good for you for wanting to protect the tools! Most places I've worked, they'll use anything to dig parts out, and we (the tool room) have to clean up the damage. We had one mold that kept getting mysterious dimples. Turned out the tech was using drywall screws to jack parts out! One trick we used was to heat up a small tool, press it into the plastic, and then let it cool, and use it to pull the plastic out.

A brass pick or hook is going to bend rather easily.

 

[seber]

I don't know what might be available but bronze would be a better choice.

 

[rlitman]

I don't know what might be available but bronze would be a better choice.

It might make for a stronger pick, but what are the molds made from?

 

[Toolmaker65]

From my experience, most injection molds are made out of some combination of H-13, P-20 or 420 stainless depending on the material being molded.

You might try having the tool room make up aluminum machinist scribe style picks with brass handles.

If there is that many issues with flash and sticking material, it looks like it is more a problem with either the design of the mold (tolerances too loose or geometry too tight) or rushed or improper (think fast and sloppy) maintenance. In other words, it's management's fault - but they won't ever admit it and will put the blame on everyone else.

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[kb1982]

The inside of the molds (cavities) are aluminum for ease of repair. As for the flashing issues, its usually on startup or if a machine runs out of material, the next shot when the material is back, usually causes the flash. The plastic sits in the extruder and cooks for too long and is being plasticized the entire time. We have three techs for 20 machines, but at any given time, two of us are doing mold changes and startup. My steel pick works great with care, but your looking around like your fixing to perform a drug deal when using it. A torch and brass strip works, but is time consuming waiting for it to cool. With 12 or 13 mold changes in an 8 hr shift, it eats time i dont have.

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