SPE Mold Technologies Division
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Our Industry

What a mold is, and who makes it.

A short glossary for anyone new to the trade: students, apprentices, or industry-adjacent visitors. Whether you're a skilled artisan or a first-time visitor, finding common ground around the topic is crucial to understanding it.

What Is A Mold?

"Mold" is a loose term for a tool used to press, inject, or extrude materials into a finished product. Despite the division's name, we're not limited to injection molding: we work across every corner of the plastics industry where tooling touches a finished part.

Close-up of a precision-machined injection mold cavity insert for a graduated medical dosing cup
A mold cavity insert, machined for a graduated dosing cup. Courtesy of Ron Natale, Precision Laser Technology
Two finished injection-molded connector housings, black plastic
The finished part: molded connector housings. Courtesy of Christopher MacDonald, Faith Tool & Manufacturing
A small precision-machined metal block with four holes, shown next to a penny for scale
Courtesy of Christopher MacDonald, Faith Tool & Manufacturing
Two small mold blocks marked with blue layout dye, on a workbench
Courtesy of Christopher MacDonald, Faith Tool & Manufacturing

Injection Molds

Forms that molten plastic is injected into to create a finished product.

Blow Molds

Forms that shape molten plastic by introducing an air blast into the center of the material.

Compression Molds

Forms where material is placed in and pressed into final shape using heat and pressure.

Extrusion Dies

Dies that shape linear, continuous products rather than discrete parts.

There are other forming technologies too. Reach out to moldtechnologiesdiv@outlook.com if you have questions.

Who Builds It
Isometric CAD cutaway rendering of a full injection mold assembly with hot runner system
A mold designer's CAD model: full assembly, hot runner system highlighted. Courtesy of Christopher MacDonald, Faith Tool & Manufacturing
A mold maker's hands doing detail texturing work on a mold cavity plate
Detail texturing work on a mold cavity plate. Courtesy of Ron Natale, Precision Laser Technology
A small workpiece held in a precision machine setup, clamped for measurement or machining
Courtesy of Christopher MacDonald, Faith Tool & Manufacturing
Rows of finished machined metal pins and inserts laid out on a workbench
Courtesy of Christopher MacDonald, Faith Tool & Manufacturing

Mold Designer

Concept to tooling design

Takes product drawings from concept into finished tooling designs that meet the needs of the product and process, using advanced CAD and engineering skills, whether trained through a degree or a hands-on apprenticeship.

Mold Maker

Design to physical tool

Takes the designer's drawings and turns them into the physical tooling, using techniques like 5-axis and 3-axis CNC machining, surface and cylindrical grinding, EDM and Wire EDM, and additive manufacturing (3D metal printing).

Where It Happens
Cross-section CAD rendering of a mold tool showing labeled cooling channel inlets and outlets
Cooling circuit design inside a mold tool, modeled and labeled before it's ever cut. Courtesy of Christopher MacDonald, Faith Tool & Manufacturing
A machined mold component with labeled cooling line ports, marked IN number 4 and OUT number 4
Courtesy of Christopher MacDonald, Faith Tool & Manufacturing
A brass gear meshed with a rack, mounted on a mold plate
Courtesy of Christopher MacDonald, Faith Tool & Manufacturing

Gone are the days of dimly lit machine shops with toolmakers hunched over a mill or grinder. The mold shop of 2026 is highly automated: robotic CNC machine tools, cutting-edge lasers, Wire EDM, and additive manufacturing printers, often running unattended. Today's mold maker is a skilled artisan combining computer, math, and machining skills to form the most complex tooling the industry has produced to date.

Mold designers work in computer-supported design studios, often using Design-for-Manufacturing approaches: CAD/CAM programs capable of simulating material process conditions, product filling, cooling, and readiness for market release.

Mold design and mold making is, for all purposes, the start of all plastics manufacturing. If a product is designed and never reaches the mold shop, it's just a dream.