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how to create new moulds for aluminum profiles?

A mould or extrusion die is used to produce the desired aluminum profile by a forging process. Most extrusion dies are made of steel and they are manufactured through a carefully planned production process. Standard dies are made to produce profiles used for aluminum door and window frames, facades and different types of building construction applications. But a custom die needs to be produced to create profiles for special orders.

After the order comes in from a customer, the order is verified carefully and all requirements are properly checked before the order is taken over by the design department. Thereafter, design engineers use computer aided design tools to create a complete design prototype or just scan the sample profile cross section to get the drawing, the die diameter can as small as 3.5' (9 cm) or as large as 42' (105cm).

After the design has been completed, profile thickness, tolerance, shape, size, weight will be inspected and the specifications are verified. Then the drawings will be sent to the customer again for approval. As soon as the customer approves it, sample profile will be made to ensure that they will produce the desired specifications.

Metal cutting is usually the first machining process in the manufacture of extrusion dies.  The sawing machine cuts the steel stock to create a blank using careful calculations. Then the blank piece is moved to the CNC lathe department. Here the die is machined with allowance for heat treatment and expansion due to the heat of the extrusion process. At the milling department, grooves, slots, pockets and other details are machined.

Electrical discharge machines burn feeds into the more complex hollows that cannot be reached by conventional machining centers. After an in-house quality inspection, the custom die is moved to the heat treatment department. At the heat treatment department, the steel is hardened and given the required mechanical and structural properties to function effectively. This heat treatment process can take anything between 24 to 48 hours. All the dies that come out of the heat treatment process pass through a Rockwell test before they are transfered to the grinding department.

The grinding process helps to remove the extra material that is on the extrusion die. Sometimes, the die is taken to the electrical discharge machine department again before it is taken to the finish department. The finish process helps to take care of the perfection of intricate shapes which may not be reachable by hand or conventional machining. It improves the productivity of the aluminum extrusion process with automated die finishing procedures. It takes away all surface imperfections and improves the quality of the expected output of the profile. The additional conditioning of the die also helps to extend the life of the die.

After the final inspection of die at the finish department, the die is ready for use in the extrusion machine. Usually, the die will be used to do one test run before it is used for a full production batch.