Perforating of Plastic

It is possible to drill holes that small, with proper equipment.

2014 Tools and Equipment Catalog p.332

Your center to center spacing will have to be greater than 1 mm.

Do you intend to do one or one million of these cases.

High volume would dictate molding the holes in (not post finishing) as part of the injection molding process.

Laser?

That could work, too.

"They" can do micro-holes in plastics and metals.

Don't know about the cost.

Stamping die all holes at one time.

Depends on quantity.

Not sure the OP isn't a hobbyist.

OP?

I think I know what you're going for here. my answer would be you need to do a series of tests to find out what methods deliver different quality to the sound. 1 large hole might work fine or it might sound poor. only testingweill tell you size, number of holes and proper location

Thank you for your answer! For sure, the sound tests also have to be done in the next steps… But in this moment the topic is not about the quality of sound, just about the feasibility of the fine perforating on plastic.

thank all of you for your answers! For me it would be important to know if this idea of fine perforation on plastic part is feasible in the mass production (here I`m talking about a large quantity) and what`s more, which technology. In general the costs are for sure an issue. I like the idea to drill the holes or laser technology. Does somebody know which technology is more suitable for a mass production with relation to costs? Is such a fine perforation really possible to implement as a part of injection molding process? (because of the small distance between the holes…)

Here's my opinion. I've run a captive molding shop, had many tools made, other parts molded by contract molders, had plastic and metal parts drilled and laser cut, all 20 years ago. Never did hole spacing that close.

Injection molding is feasible, depending on the material being molded, but tooling cost will be high since each pin will have to be sunken into the opposite side of the tool. Drilling will be costly, laser cutting may be more cost effective.

If you have drawing of the part, send it to some molding shops, contract manufacturers, laser specialty shops and CNC machine shops.

These services can be found here: Search GlobalSpec.

You live in Germany. If anybody is equipped to "work small" your country certainly is.

Good luck.

Thank you very much for your help!

Molding tiny close spaced holes is a real pain. Not only are the core pins super delicate but the type of plastic has to be able to flow around and fill the spaces in between the pins. I did a vent system for a medical device a few years ago and it took me a month to come up with a method of making the pin array. I started using existing pins of hardened good quality steel. This failed due to my inability to drill their mounting holes and secure these tiny pins. I am sorry I forgot the exact dims but they were about .012" in diameter and about .040" long and 40 pins in the array. Spacing was about .010". To come up with this arrangement of core pins I finally decided to EDM a solid steel block. I drilled a copper electrode (many of them) with the array pattern and burned away the block leaving the pins standing. This took some trial and error but ultimately worked very well and the molds have been running ever since. If the OP needs more specifics I will be glad to help.

That sounds like a LOT of work for you.

Yes, flow will be an issue. OP might do it with acrylic. Never with polycarbonate.

Thanx for sharing your expierence! I`ll get back to you for sure if this will be a topic later. Currently I`m looking for possible methods/opportunities how to do the micro perforation on plastic.