Teflon Coating Aluminium Moulds 1

[Hinga]

Hi guys,

I have a need to Teflon coat an aluminium mold for release purposes.

I think it is well documented that 6061-T6 and even 5083 lose a lot of their mechanical properties at the curing temperature required for the Teflon (approx. 400C for 1 hours).

I am curious as to whether it could be done successfully with the above or alternatively, what the best alloy would be for this application in order to maintain the design strength of the mold.

I see a lot of cast molds (not sure of grade) around with Teflon coating but I suspect they either don't care about the loss of strength or those grades handle the Teflon process. Not sure if this is useful information or not but the mold I am discussing above is machined from aluminium plate rather than cast.

I know there are many other coatings but this is the one (and the variations of it) that I am interested in discussing here.

Thanks in advance,
Hing.

 

[MikeHalloran]

Talk to General Magnaplate, magnaplate.com , about your requirements.


Mike Halloran
Pembroke Pines, FL, USA

 

[MintJulep]

Consider PTFE impregnated hard coat anodized. Such as

http://www.chemprocessing.com/page.asp?pageid=91&

 

[Compositepro]

Many spray on release coats contain ptfe. These are considered semi-permanent and need reapplication periodically. Reapplication is often a good thing because that involves cleaning and polishing, which most be done anyway with mold surfaces. ptfe is very soft and easily scratched.

You can also apply ptfe films to the mold surface. Reinforced films are not very drapeable and must be cut and spliced to conform compound curvatures, leaving surface marks. Unreinforced films can be vacuum formed to the mold surface by heating the film only. Films require an adhesive and have significant thickness that will affect the mold shape.

https://www.freemansupply.com/produ...apes/airtech-tooltec-pressure-sensitive-tapes

 

[Hinga]

Thanks guys. Speaking with General Magnaplate and might run some tests.