Plastic Injection Molding Tool Options for Plastic Parts

If you’ve ever toured a plastics plant, you can hear it — the clank of steel, the hiss of the press, the rhythm of production. But before a single part drops, one thing has to be perfect: the mold. Tooling is the backbone of injection molding. Get it right, and you’ll be making clean, repeatable parts for years. Get it wrong, and you’ll be chasing issues that never go away.

At Moraine Plastics, tooling isn’t an afterthought — it’s what sets every great production run in motion.

Prototyping vs. Production: Start With the Goal

The first question we always ask: What stage are you at?

If you’re testing out a new concept, speed matters more than endurance. That’s where aluminum or P20 steel molds shine — fast to machine, affordable, and perfect for a few hundred or thousand parts. You can tweak the design, make changes, and get parts in hand without breaking the bank.

But once the design is locked and production is the goal? That’s a whole different game. Hardened steel tooling steps in — the kind of mold that can run hundreds of thousands of shots without blinking.

“We always tell our customers: tooling is an investment in uptime,” says Gerry Ford, Owner of Moraine Plastics. “If your mold can’t take the pressure, you’ll end up paying for it in scrap and downtime later. Good steel pays for itself.”

Your Tooling Options (The Short Version)

Here’s how the main tool types stack up — plain and simple:

Tool Type	Material	Best For	Lifespan
Aluminum	Aluminum	Prototypes, short runs	~5,000–10,000 shots
P20 Steel	Pre-hardened steel	Mid-volume, bridge tools	~50,000–100,000 shots
Hardened Steel (H13, S7)	Tool steel	High-volume production	500,000+ shots

Aluminum tools are your sprinters — quick, light, and flexible. Steel tools are your marathoners — slower out of the gate but built to last. If you’re in automotive or electronics, odds are you’ll land squarely in the steel category. Those parts demand consistency and tight tolerances, run after run.

Moraine Plastics builds all of our molds in-house, which means we can start with a prototype, dial in performance, and then step up to production without skipping a beat. No outsourcing. No delays.

On-Demand Tooling: Flexibility Without the Waste

On-demand tooling has changed how modern manufacturing works. Instead of ordering massive batches that sit on shelves, companies can produce smaller runs as needed — and retool quickly when designs evolve.

That’s a huge win for electronics and automotive suppliers where product lifecycles move fast. You can iterate, adjust, and keep moving — no long lead times, no wasted inventory.

At Moraine, we help customers bridge the gap between prototype and production using scalable tooling. It’s all about giving you control without locking you into something you’ll outgrow.

Tooling Costs vs. Piece-Part Pricing

Let’s be honest: tooling can be a shock. But it’s not about the sticker price — it’s about the cost per part over time.

Sure, an aluminum tool might be cheaper upfront. But if you burn through it after 10,000 parts, you’re buying another one — and that adds up fast. A hardened steel mold might cost more early on, but it’ll crank out parts for years with minimal maintenance.

Ford puts it bluntly:

“You don’t build a mold for today. You build it for every part you’ll need tomorrow — and every one after that.”

In Short

Choosing the right mold isn’t about fancy materials or buzzwords — it’s about knowing your production goals. Aluminum if you need speed. Steel if you need staying power.

At Moraine Plastics, we help you find that balance — designing, building, and maintaining the right tooling for your parts and your budget. Whether you’re molding a few hundred pieces or a few hundred thousand, we’ll make sure your tooling works as hard as you do.

Learn more about our Tooling Capabilities or see how our Injection Molding Services

support high-volume manufacturers in the automotive and electronics industries.

What is plastic injection mold tooling?

 Plastic injection mold tooling is the process of creating the tools and molds used to produce plastic parts through injection molding. These molds are typically made from steel or aluminum and are designed to shape and form the plastic material into the desired part.

 

What are the benefits of plastic injection mold tooling?

Plastic injection mold tooling offers several benefits, including high production efficiency, precision and accuracy in part production, the ability to create complex part designs, and cost-effectiveness for large production runs.

What materials are used for plastic injection mold tooling?

The most common materials used for plastic injection mold tooling are steel and aluminum. Steel molds are durable and suitable for high-volume production, while aluminum molds are lighter and more cost-effective for smaller production runs.

What industries use plastic injection mold tooling?

Plastic injection mold tooling is used in a wide range of industries, including automotive, aerospace, medical, consumer goods, electronics, and packaging. It is a versatile manufacturing process that can be applied to various types of plastic parts.

 

What is the process of plastic injection mold tooling?

The process of plastic injection mold tooling involves designing the mold, machining the mold components, assembling the mold, and testing it for quality and performance. Once the mold is ready, it is used in an injection molding machine to produce plastic parts.