Custom thermoset molder Woodland Plastics Corp. has purchased an 88-ton Arburg Allrounder injection molding press for its headquarters plant in Addison, Ill.
The Arburg machine, installed in February, can do injection molding and injection/compression molding of thermosets, according to Spencer Leffelman, sales and marketing coordinator at Woodland.
Leffelman said that Woodland Plastics runs 16 injection presses — 14 that mold thermosets and two for thermoplastics molding. The thermoset presses range in clamping force from 25-500 tons. The 88-ton Arburg marks the second press the company has installed in the past year, and follows a 350-ton Arburg Allrounder thermoset machine.
Thermoset products molded by Woodland Plastics include car ashtrays, oil pan blockers, thrust washers and transmission retaining plugs for the automotive sector, handles for outdoor grills, end caps for fluorescent lighting, sinks for recreational vehicles, insulation plugs for the electrical industry, and terminal blocks for the appliance industry.
Woodland's website includes a video that explains thermoset molding in detail — even down to the molecular level.