Metal mold for glass manufacture: the lower part of the mold has been left unprocessed, the upper part has been laser-polished. On the right, the product that can be made using a mold of this type.
(Credit: Copyright Fraunhofer ILT)

ScienceDaily (Nov. 9, 2009) — Jobs are in short supply, and yet some sectors have difficulty in finding suitable trainees for specialist tasks, such as polishing injection molds. The work is time-consuming and monotonous but requires highest levels of concentration, because any blemish in the mold can render it useless. A skilled worker may often need a whole week to polish a single metal mold. Up to now it has not been possible to use machines for this dreary work because they cannot get into the curved shapes.

Researchers at the Fraunhofer Institute for Laser Technology ILT in Aachen have developed a way of automating the polishing work: "We do not polish the surface by hand with grinding and polishing media. Instead we use a laser," explains Dr.-Ing. Edgar Willenborg, group leader at the ILT. "The laser beam melts the surface to a depth of about 50 to 100 micrometers. Surface tension ensures that the liquid metal flows evenly and solidifies smoothly."

Like in conventional grinding and polishing, the process is repeated with increasing degrees of fineness. In the first stage the researchers melt the surface to a depth of about 100 micrometers, in further steps they gradually reduce the depth.

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