Well, I've been playing for about 5 yrs. now and I just realized that I have no idea how discs are really made. I would love to take a tour of a disc production company, someday...just to see how it's done.

What do you know about how discs are made? I mean...I know there are plastics, molds, & heat involved...but I'm curious more about the details of the entire process.

Where/how do disc companies buy plastic to melt?
How hot do they get it to put it in the mold?
What kind of machinery is used?
How does the cooling process affect disc creation?
How do they design molds?
How do they get the heated plastic in a mold?
How many do they make at a time?
How many people work in a disc company?
How many discs do they make in a day?
How are the designs/names stamped on the discs?
How do they make discs at different weights in the same mold?
How do they weigh discs?
How do they test discs?
Do they have committees to discuss what kind of new discs to make?
Do disc companies have ongoing research & development departments that are always trying out new things?
How is technology used in disc creation?
What does the PDGA disc approval process entail for disc companies?

That's just some of the questions I can think of. Just thought it would be cool to see what people know about how our wonderful discs are created. Any additional info you know of would be cool too.

Thanks!!!

Google injection plastic molding and do some reading.

Morgan,
while you were down here in St Louis I told you word for word how discs are made.
Did you forget, are you really board or do you want others to know?

anyway Ill add my 2 cents!

Where/how do disc companies buy plastic to melt?
Plastics is probably be the biggest industry of manufacturing in the world.
There are probably 10,000 companies that make plastic.
some or oil based like propylene and ethylene others are synthetic.

How hot do they get it to put it in the mold?
320-450 degrees.

What kind of machinery is used?
Injection molding machines usually between 150 and 250 tons of clamp pressure, They run about 20K used and over 200K new.

How does the cooling process affect disc creation?
Every single aspect of the injection parameters effect the outcome of the shape of the disc,.
temperature of the barrel that heats the plastic: (4-5 zones)
speed of injection ( up to 5 different zones)
Presssure:
transfering positions of injection which also incorporates speed and pressure and time!
Cooling time;
mold temperature:
moisture content room temperature:
Melt flow of plastic.
and many other variables.


How do they design molds?

the part is designed in Auto cad usually but the mold bases can be standard.
A regualr tool steel mold base would cost about 6-10 grand and the inserts that make up the part run another $8-10K.
14K-20K for a tool steel mold.
You can have an aluminum mold which is more or less a prottype mold built for 5k-6k and can get 10 thousand parts with it if you are really careful.
You could also only get 10 parts and the mold can get messed up too! ( not recommended)

How do they get the heated plastic in a mold?
Its not heated until it goes through the barrell and screw.
temperature, back pressure, which causes sheer heat the plastic
How many do they make at a time?
one.
How many people work in a disc company?
I'm guessing innova west about 30
Carolina about 15
Discraft about 15
gateway about 6
Lightning about3
How many discs do they make in a day?
45-90 an hour

How are the designs/names stamped on the discs?
Hot stamping machines, laser printers and in mold decorating.
How do they make discs at different weights in the same mold?
concentrated material in the lower end plastic and profiles of injection in the higher end.
How do they weigh discs?
triple beam and digital scales
How do they test discs?
ask Jeff Honburg!
Do they have committees to discuss what kind of new discs to make?
Dave D does everything at innova.
Jim K does most of it at Discraft.
I ask our sponsored players but have been limited to existing mold designs and spin offs of them.

We ( Gateway and Quest) tried a lot of new things this year , most of it is really amazing!

Do disc companies have ongoing research & development departments that are always trying out new things?
dont all sporting goods companies?

How is technology used in disc creation?
what kind of technology, that very ambiguous?

What does the PDGA disc approval process entail for disc companies?
ASK Jeff homburg of the pdga.

That's just some of the questions I can think of. Just thought it would be cool to see what people know about how our wonderful discs are created. Any additional info you know of would be cool too

I guess you dont remember but we sat up at the restaurant by my house and I explained this whole thing to you when you came through St Louis 2 years ago.

Hi Dave. I'm not Big Mack. I'm Frisbee.

I really appreciate the tour and talking, THANKS!

Interesting that the guy who asked the question has the last name "McCormack".

Very interesting!

What's your point???

Molten plastic is some messy stuff. I worked a summer job in a plastic mill. We bought virgin plastic pellets from companies like DuPont and other plastic manufactures, ground the pellets into a workable powder, powder melts faster/smoother more uniform then the pellets. We would then sell the powder back to DuPont, and other manufactures and even to end users. I doubt if any of the disc manufacturers were part of our customer base but it would be cool.

When the mills that ground the pellets into powder would get too hot (plus 180 degrees Fahrenheit) the plastic would become molten and the mill would melt down. Which meant high pressure molten plastic would spew out onto the factor floor. The worst spill that we had when I worked there was about 200lbs worth. It took about 3 hours to scrape off the floor, and parts of it was still very hot to touch.

I would hate to see a meltdown with 350 degree plastic....ouch! :eek:

Dang ... and all this time I thought they were made by elves.
Go ahead ... ruin my fantasy. /msgboard/images/graemlins/smirk.gif

PS. I'm sure Rocs must be hand carved by little people who's job it is to make each one unique! ;)

Dang ... and all this time I thought they were made by elves.
Go ahead ... ruin my fantasy. /msgboard/images/graemlins/smirk.gif

PS. I'm sure Rocs must be hand carved by little people who's job it is to make each one unique! ;)



thats funny, i like that !

McCormack,

Thanks for the detailed response...like I said, I had no idea how much went into it. I'm amazed at how much it all costs..the machinery & molds. I appreciate all the info!

McCormack (no relation)

P.S. I have gone by Big Mack every since I was a kid...it stems from people always spelling my name wrong. Everybody always spelled it McCormick..and I would always have to correct them by saying MACK...McCorMACK. That combined with the fact that I'm about 300lbs and played football through college (D2-go Western State Colorado!!!) Just in case anybody was wondering...probably TMI.

Next you will say that Santa isn't real!!!!

McCormack,

Thanks for the detailed response...like I said, I had no idea how much went into it. I'm amazed at how much it all costs..the machinery & molds. I appreciate all the info!





I didn't even go into the cost of prototyping the molds by trying different plastic combinations trying for the right flex feel and weight ( not to mention flight which is the most important).
While a mold may cost $14k-$20K developing 2 different types of polymers S and E ( DX and Star) could cost you 20K -60K before you can get something to market, especially if you do not own your own machine and have to have a company prototype it for you.
They would need their 2 very best guys on the project and the time frame with getting in materials to sample if things aren't going well can sometimes take a few months!

If someone knows of a person looking to get into manufacturing of golf discs have them get in touch with me I will be more than happy to unload $100K in information in return for something that will benefit disc golf and my company!!! :cool:

On the Discovery channel there is show called 'How It's Made'. On todays show the first piece was on making dies for injection molding.
Looks like there will be a repeat of episode 41 on Jan 25th. Though not exactly on point you may want to check it out.

Episode 41 (http://dsc.discovery.com/tvlistings/episode.jsp?episode=15&cpi=117072&gid=0&channel=DSC)