Capabilities
ABCO Tool & Die excels at the design and manufacture of molds for the optical industry. We have specialized in optical molds for over twenty-five years.
Our molds are produced to exacting optical tolerances. Many of the molds we create for clients around the world have complex shapes, and many are crafted with moving actions designed to create unique features.
ABCO has a reputation for building robust molds that will perform for many years and millions of cycles.
In addition, ABCO provides high-tech resources for special engineered projects. All of our designs are 3-D CAD generated and produced in a state-of-the-art CNC mold building facility. We offer the following services:
- Mold design and application consulting
- Part design assistance
- Lens and optical design analysis for manufacturing
- Reverse engineering
Materials Used for Crafting Molds:
- 420 Stainless steel
- Aluminum
- Aluminum bronze
Coatings:
- Nickel
- Chrome
- Titanium
High precision machining
Superior results in optical mold building
Tooling
How small of a part can you make an optical mold for?
ABCO has built molds for parts as small as cell phone camera lenses.
How large of a part can you make an optical mold for?
On a regular basis ABCO builds molds for full-face protection products.
What makes an optical mold different from a non-optical mold?
Optical molds require specialized attention to surface geometry and form, surface finish, and optical alignment.
Does ABCO build any non-optical molds?
ABCO builds molds for MIM, multi-material and conventional parts. Typically, these molds have some greater level of complexity.
What is diamond turning?
Diamond turning is a process by which a non-ferrous material is machined at the nano level to achieve superior surface finishes on geometries that may be non-conventional.
Optical
What geometric shapes do you work with?
Flats, spheres, cylinders, conics, torics, aspheres…
What is an optical design correction?
To meet the demanding standards set by many industries, the finished optical part must have its optical surfaces adjusted to achieve optimal performance.
How do you specify the surface finish of your molds for optical parts?
Optical finishes are called out in many ways; typically we refer to “scratch/dig” specifications and steel roughness in Ra or angstroms.
We typically achieve finishes in the <50 angstrom range.