Liquitac offers SPI injection molding finishes and Mold-Tech and VDI injection molding finish options for polished, matte, to textured molded parts.
What injection mold finish should you choose for your part?
A common question we hear at Liquitac is, “What do your molded parts look like?” The answer is: however you want it! Liquitac has access to a diverse marketplace of molding suppliers and all standard mold finishing options. Our mold finishes include SPI, MoldTech, VDI (EDM), and others. Mold finishes can range from glossy to matte to even patterned. Finishes applied to the surface of the mold cavity transfer to the surface of the molded part. For example, a mold surface that is polished to be reflective will make a reflective (or transparent) part. Mold finishes are different from finishes for CNC machined, or 3D printed parts, where each component is treated individually. Adding a finish or texture can change the tool’s price depending on the process required, but it does not alter the price of the individual parts.
The most common finishes used include those from the Society of the Plastics Industry (SPI), which are a set of standard mold finishes starting from heavily polished (SPI A) to semi-gloss (SPI B) to fine and coarse matte (SPI C and SPI D). Where polished textures can increase a parts’ cosmetic reflection or transparency on transparent polymers, matte finishes can help provide more subdued tones and even help prevent fingerprints on handled products (e.g., your laptop’s frame and keyboard).
