Drilling and Tapping

What is Drilling and Tapping?

Secondary machining performed on an already-molded part to hold a tighter tolerance on a feature, or to add threads that the molding process alone can't achieve cleanly.

How it works

The molded part is fixtured and machined conventionally, drilling a hole to a tighter tolerance than molding can hold, or tapping threads directly into the plastic where a molded thread would be too fragile or imprecise.

Benefits

• Achieves tolerances and thread quality beyond what injection molding alone can hold
• Avoids the tooling cost and complexity of molding threads or tight-tolerance features directly into the mold

Applications

Fastener holes and mounting features that need a tighter fit than as-molded tolerance allows.