Looking back to your first few years in molding ...

[Suhas]

Guys,
Looking back to your first few years in molding, what is the one thing that you did that still makes you and everyone else laugh? Or is there such a thing?
Here is my answer: I was a setup tech in my first year. I was doing a mold change on a 200 ton machine and did not realize that I still had one bolt clamped on. I went to move the mold out of the locating ring and ended up lifting the whole machine about 6 inches off the floor, snapping the cable and sending it flying through the air. There were no mold changes for the next two days :) My boss was .... let us just say 'not happy'. Did not send me home :)
Suhas

[Josue]

I was testing a New mold,, sudenly one water hose broke and water appears avery where in the floor, Quickly I try to close the Main water supply pipes (pvc 2 ") I close the valve too hard so I broke the valve, and become a worst water leak,,we have to stop production for a few hours...

-One time also I was changing a mold,,,there was a pretty lady in the line, I was not focus in the job, I was very disturb observing this lady, I open the machine plate and pull the mold out of the machine, I not realize that knok bars was still set in the mold, I broke the screw inside of the mold,,, my boss only wshake the herad, and make a strange sound,,,,I was a Teenager,, :)

[Fargo Flash]

Oh, that's an easy one. I was setting up the new reaction injection mold machine and explaining to an employee how to run the machine. I was showing him how to do a dry high pressure cycle but I forgot the machine was in shot mode. I dumped about a gallon of polyurethane on my pant legs and shoes. The RIM material we use has a fluidity duration of about 15 seconds. Unfortunately, I didn't kick my shoes off fast enough. I had to cut my right leg out of my rhino-lined pants and had to cut both shoes off.

[brentb]

Heck I make people in the plant laugh daily!

KOM
brent

[nemanja]

Exept lakes in company, when all cooling water comes out, i didnt have so much problems with machine. But my colegue had, when he wake me up after 2hrs sleep and 18hrs of work, becose "machine worn start running".
I came exousted on work again and only problem was, that he didnt do zeroing of tool and nozzle.
Imagine my reaction after this. :mad:
Machines are stupid, they only do what you tell them to do, not what you want. :cool:

[rickbatey]

Clamped in my very first tool without someone looking over my shoulder. It was a textile cone mold, single cavity, round mold base, toggle press. I didn't use the hardened washers on bolts. When the ejector failed to eject the part off, the press closed and wedged mold together. Press alarmed and kept trying to open, compressing bolt heads into soft washers. Then alarm went off. When I got to press, the entire mold was hanging on moving Platten, and the eject psi was too low to eject A-side off B-side!! Clamps had rotated and due to open toe design, fell off mold clamping plate and under clamp area!
So I don't like round molds, non-hardened washers, and NO more open toe clamps for me!!
Rick.

[Suhas]

That is cool guys! - Loved them and now feel better that I am not the only one :) May be my next book should be 'What not to do in molding' - I am sure there are more stories out there :)
Thanks,
Suahs

[moldingppm]

This is an interesting subject with me. As I was thrown into running our company the day I graduated high school due to a falling out with our family, I knew VERY little. I've gone through many many things that I look back and say how stupid I was. Using sledge hammers on the back side of the molds to get them back together (one of the biggest mistakes), setting up my FWD CLAMP SLOWDOWN too far forward and slamming the mold shut, trying to move a shelf with a forklift and picking up the plant water pipe with it, installing an extra heater circuit without fusing between the band and controller (machine ran overnight, came in about 3 am to find the machine in flames. Luckily it was contained), there's more, but you get the idea. I'm only 21 now, and I'm learning something new everyday. I wish I would have gotten proper training before I came in, but I wasn't lucky enough.

P.S. Don't judge me :)

[Pilot]

Congratulation for perfent thread. I am realy happy that I am not allone in this "malfunction" :-)

My biggest issue was, that during one toolchange I forgot to connect the tool halves. And as usually, the tool was not balanced perfectly. I lift up the tool from machine and I am watching that the tool is in cca 5m slowly opening. I moved the crane fast and hit another machine by this 14 tons tool to the screw hydromotor. But The tool was closed again. ...... I been shiting a bricks ..... and smoke 20 cigarets :-|

But as I sad: You are not good process engineer (setters) till you crash a tool.

[pjhall]

Back in 1993 I was at a custom molder in NH while I was at U-Mass Lowell (Learning the HOW...NOT). Now this is not something you would think that an Engineering student would do, BUT... I came into work with about 2-3 hrs of sleep under my belt (one of those crazy Friday nights). Well, I was tasked with pulling a mold out of a 500 Ton Van Dorn. I brought the overhead crane over, brought the trolley over, but for some reason I forgot the most important part. HOOKING UP THE CHAIN! You can see where this is going (down!). Yep, I took all the clamps off and opened the mold. I flattened an EMI conveyor under the press. It broke the fall, but it was loud as heck. No real damage to the mold. Man did the guys at that shop give me grief FOREVER!!!!

[jonturka]

Clamped in my very first tool without someone looking over my shoulder. It was a textile cone mold, single cavity, round mold base, toggle press. I didn't use the hardened washers on bolts. When the ejector failed to eject the part off, the press closed and wedged mold together. Press alarmed and kept trying to open, compressing bolt heads into soft washers. Then alarm went off. When I got to press, the entire mold was hanging on moving Platten, and the eject psi was too low to eject A-side off B-side!! Clamps had rotated and due to open toe design, fell off mold clamping plate and under clamp area!
So I don't like round molds, non-hardened washers, and NO more open toe clamps for me!!
Rick.

Now I understand why you insist on clamping through the mould plates :))

[brentb]

Back in 1993 I was at a custom molder in NH while I was at U-Mass Lowell (Learning the HOW...NOT). Now this is not something you would think that an Engineering student would do, BUT... I came into work with about 2-3 hrs of sleep under my belt (one of those crazy Friday nights). Well, I was tasked with pulling a mold out of a 500 Ton Van Dorn. I brought the overhead crane over, brought the trolley over, but for some reason I forgot the most important part. HOOKING UP THE CHAIN! You can see where this is going (down!). Yep, I took all the clamps off and opened the mold. I flattened an EMI conveyor under the press. It broke the fall, but it was loud as heck. No real damage to the mold. Man did the guys at that shop give me grief FOREVER!!!!

I once put eye bolt on cavity plate of tool and proceeded to unbolt manifold plate (32 cav closure). Cav plate was strapped to back half. Opened up tool and dropped manifold and clamping plate on conveyor. No damage done luckily but was embarrassed.

[EBSMITH]

I was pulling a mold out of a 500 ton Sandretto , insulated runner mold, I had the hoist hooked up and all the clamps off, and had the machine opened up, I got paged to the office and had a conversation with the supervisor about getting a mold set up in a hurry for one of our customers, we needed to do a little playing with the schedule to find it a home quickly, once we decided where to put it, I was on a mission. went down to the 500 ton machine and lowered the chain and climbed up on the press to unhook the hoist. started the crane down the floor and realized what I just done, the mold was hanging by the locating ring only in the 500 ton. it never fell but I was a nervous wreck rehooking the hoist up to the lift ring.

[jonturka]

comparing you I am new to injection molding -only 5 years-. But I also have an embarrassing story..

Once I was working on a 150t Arburg machine and I had colour/material mixing problem. Screw had low compression ratio and I was trying to increase back pressure. I incrementally increased the back pressure and then, one cycle, machine was trying to charge material but screw was not going back i checked the values from screen and checked the screw by eye and machina made alarm. I checked the alarm and alarm was mold open..

64 cavity mould was full with material and back pressure had opened the mould. Thankfully, no one have seen this and I cleaned and checked every point of mold, everything was ok and put this extra material to granulator quickly..Mold was totally new and I sweat from my .. :)

[Ten Fingers]

I did the same thing pulling a back half out of an old Nissei. A person came over and asked me a question just after I had lined the hook of the chain dangling from the fork of the fork lift to the eyebolt on the mold. I unclamped the mold without ever hooking them together. Sure made a mess out of the flip chute. Luckily the ejectors were not tied in so it slid straight down and neither mold face ever hit anything.

[Alphawolf45]

Couple weeks ago I hauled home a 75 ton press and no molding experience whatsoever aside from have owned injection molds and have made molds but never setup or run the press... Your stories might lead me to believe I am gonna tear something up. Surely there are more stories to be told.

[Ohio1]

Back in the late 70s I was working in a small molding/mold building shop. In molding we worked 12 hours a day 5 days a week. We where running a 64 cavity nylon wire tie mold. I came in one morning and every core in this mold was broken. We could not figure out how this would happen. So we had to rebuild all the cores. About 10 years later I ran into the guy that was running nights back then. He was selling insurance. He told me somehow he and another guy found out if the heated the cores with a torch and shot the mold it would break the core. Since they didn't want to run the job they did it to every core.
I had left the company by this time but the owner would had flipped out if he knew.

[EBSMITH]

We were running a polycarbonate moisture trap for air lines in an older Nissei with the 3 position switch for screw forward, neutral and screw back, and a push button for screw rotate, the 3rd shift supervisor was short on labor as an operator had to leave after 4 hours of work, so he turned the back pressure all the way up ran the screw forward and hit the screw rotate button and walked away for lunch, he forgot to close the feed throat and emptied the 300 lb hopper dryer and part of the Gaylord sitting next to the press, the material spilled over all 3 sides down to the floor and into the drop area and solidified. he had a little work getting that cleaned up and tried to hide it. he was fired.

[Suhas]

EB,
That is another classic!
Suhas

[ArikB]

Wireless pendant for overhead hoist froze up with the up bottom actuated. Lifted a 100 ton cinci vista all the way to the roof.