6 Advantages of Insert Molding

6 Advantages of Insert Molding

Inserts can be either male or female with insert molding. Female inserts are used to make circular fittings inside the surrounding plastic. When these types of inserts have internal threads, they’re called nutserts. There are many advantages to using both male and female inserts to enhance a product’s appearance and utility. 

1. Use threaded inserts to create strong and reusable connections. The nutserts themselves add the expense to the build, but that cost is offset by the fact that they help to avoid secondary drilling and tapping, which also takes time and money.
2. Use inserts for thin-walled cases that cannot be tapped. 
3. Use inserts in conventional machines. There is no need to invest in equipment upgrades. 
4. Seal components permanently into place to protect against pull-out, vibration, moisture, and dust. This is a great way to protect electrical connections, for example.
5. Make strong overmolded hand grips, such as found on hand tools. This helps to create a complete finished part in one quick and economical operation.
6. Reduce weight and save costs in complex assemblies. For example, consider a common toggle switch or lever. By using metal inside the body of the switch only where it’s needed to make a mechanical contact, and substituting the remainder of the switch for plastic, the weight of the entire assembly is thereby reduced. This approach, not incidentally, also decreases the reliance on a more expensive, full metal switch.

The above are the 6 advantages of insert molding.