# Custom Parts Manufacturing for Mold, Die & Tooling

> Tooling is judged on the surface you cannot photograph: fit, flatness and how it behaves after heat treat.

- HTML page: https://fabvector.com/industries/mold-tooling (Portuguese: https://fabvector.com/pt/industries/mold-tooling)

## Sourcing pain points we solve

Tooling work punishes suppliers who only own mills. An insert needs roughing, heat treat, then grinding and wire EDM on hardened stock — send that through three shops and the datum drifts at every handoff. D2 and A2 move during heat treat, so the machining plan has to leave the right stock for finishing rather than cutting to nominal and hoping. Fixture and gauge work has the opposite problem: quantities of one or two, drawings that change after the first trial shot, and a toolroom that wants production volumes before it will quote. And when a mold is down, lead time is not a commercial preference — every day of a missing insert is a day the press is not running.

## Typical parts

- Mold cavity and core inserts
- Slides, lifters and ejector plates
- Jigs, fixtures and workholding plates
- Checking fixtures and go/no-go gauges
- Copper and graphite-substitute EDM electrodes

## Recommended materials

- [tool-steel-d2](https://fabvector.com/md/materials/tool-steel-d2)
- [tool-steel-a2](https://fabvector.com/md/materials/tool-steel-a2)
- [tool-steel-o1](https://fabvector.com/md/materials/tool-steel-o1)
- [stainless-steel-420](https://fabvector.com/md/materials/stainless-steel-420)
- [aluminum-7075](https://fabvector.com/md/materials/aluminum-7075)
- [copper-c110](https://fabvector.com/md/materials/copper-c110)

## Recommended finishes

- [polishing](https://fabvector.com/md/finishes/polishing)
- [black-oxide](https://fabvector.com/md/finishes/black-oxide)
- [nickel-plating](https://fabvector.com/md/finishes/nickel-plating)
- [laser-marking](https://fabvector.com/md/finishes/laser-marking)
- [as-machined](https://fabvector.com/md/finishes/as-machined)

## Certifications & standards

- **ISO 9001**: We understand toolroom buyers expect ISO 9001-grade traceability: material lot, heat-treat record and the measured result on the features that set the fit.
- **EN 10204 3.1**: We support EN 10204 3.1 certificates on tool steel, where the delivered hardness and cleanliness of the bar decide whether the insert holds up in production.
- **ISO 2768-f / ISO 286**: Fixture and gauge drawings usually call general tolerances plus an ISO 286 fit class on the locating features; both are quoted as inspected dimensions, not assumptions.

_We understand and support these requirements; certification and documentation scope is confirmed per order — we do not claim to hold certifications on this page._

## Buyer questions, answered

### Can hardened tool steel inserts be finished after heat treatment?

Yes — that is the correct sequence: rough in the soft state leaving grind stock, heat treat, then finish by surface grinding, hard milling and wire EDM at 50–60 HRC. D2 and A2 move during hardening, so cutting to nominal before treatment and hoping is how inserts get scrapped.

### How fast can a replacement mold insert be made when the press is down?

With the insert drawing or a scanned original, a hardened and ground replacement typically ships in 7–12 days including heat treat; simple slides and ejector plates faster. Flag it as tool-down at RFQ — the job routes to whichever qualified toolroom in the network has grinding and EDM capacity free.

### What fits should checking fixtures and gauges be built to?

Locating features to an explicit ISO 286 class (H7/g6 territory for most pin-and-bush schemes), gauge surfaces ground and inspected, and the general envelope to ISO 2768-f. We quote against the fit class, not the nominal, because the fit is what the fixture is for.