A shocking number of composites manufacturers still resort to ordinary paste wax in lieu of more superior products mold release products. AXEL is a company that has manufactured high performance internal and external mold releases for more than 68 years. After great deliberation on issues with paste wax that will be highlighted in this article, Axel Plastics Research Laboratories have come up with a series of solvent based release agents for all application processes.

Let’s start with the basics. Mold preparation is serious business. It involves using a Mere paste wax will never be good enough as a replacement for these 3 functions.

Mold Cleaner : Mold preparation begins with clean molds. The requirement here is for a heavy-duty stripper that will get rid of paste wax buildup, styrene buildup and the clean build-up from non-skid coating. The image below clearly shows the difference between a dirty and clean mold surface.

 

AXEL CX-500
Solvent system for cleaning molds. General purpose cleaner that may be used to remove excess semi permanent release, resin residue and to prop molds before touch up with semi-permanent release.

 

                                             

As explained above Axel CX-500 is a solvent-based mold cleaner for use with semi permanent releases When there is a build-up of wax, styrene and impurities as shown in the above images, it results in

• Poor Release – scrapped parts damaged molds
• Poor Gloss – mold maintenance and rework or parts
• Mold Damage – downtime and repairs
• Excessive Maintenance

Mold Sealer :
Mold sealer is not the same as mold release and additional coats of release do not take the place of sealers. and a sealer is useful or recommended in most molds as tabulated below.

 

 

Axel XTEND XTR sealer is
• Solvent-based
• Wipe-On / Wipe-Off
• Easier to Polish
– greater polishing time window
– no streaking problems
• Protects Molds
• Increases Release Longevity
• Maintains Surface Gloss
• Reduces Hazing and build-up

Mold Release – Gel Coat or Gloss
Release agents are the necessary barrier between a mould and the part itself. It is so vital to the composite molding function that a mold release wax or PVA should never be preferred over a chemical release agent.

 

                     

 

 

Key features of Axel Xtend 19ZAM Semi Permanent Mold Releases are in the info-pic below.

 

Using Axel mold release works out more economical than paste wax.

In addition to the sound technical benefits of choosing Axel over paste wax, the cost factor is also important.

• Although paste wax may appear to be more economical than a semi-permanent mold release, we must also consider how many coats of wax need to be applied before beginning to mold, and how frequently molds must be re-waxed. By comparison, a liquid semi-permanent mold release can be applied in a fraction of the time that it takes to apply wax, and a single preparation will yield many easy, perfect de-moldings.

• Other equally important factors to consider are how well mold release is performing. Have your molds lost their gloss? Do they have residue from buildup of wax or resin? Do your parts release easily, or are your molds or parts often damaged in de-molding?

If you have any of these problems these add significant costs to your business and are hardly worth the “savings” you may think you are achieving in purchasing “wax”.

For more information on Axel’s range of mold cleaners, strippers and releases,
kindly email us at response@elink.co.in