Soft Tooling vs Hard Tooling: Which Makes Sense For Your Project?

‘Tooling’ plays a crucial role in many manufacturing processes, especially in the injection moulding process. The mould tool is essential for efficiently producing multiple copies of a part, precisely and consistently. To achieve high-quality, reliable parts, it’s essential to have a clear understanding of which tooling process best aligns with the specific part and production requirements. There are two main tooling categories to consider: soft tooling and hard tooling.

What is Soft Tooling?

Soft tooling is a tooling method used for producing prototypes and low-to-mid volume production runs. It is ideal for projects that require functional, yet simple products with a smooth finish, either as a step before scaling up to mass production or for niche markets that demand only a few thousand parts. Some common soft tooling techniques include:

• Silicone moulding (used in vacuum casting or polyurethane casting) which can last 10 to 50 shots;
• Aluminium and soft steel tooling (used in injection moulding) which can last several hundreds to tens of thousands of shots;
• And, more recently, 3D printed moulds, which can typically last 30 to 100 shots.

The materials used in soft tooling are cheaper and easier to work with, making the initial tooling investment much more affordable and resulting in faster turnaround times. The downside is that these materials are generally less durable and robust, which limits tool life, and the tooling itself is less precise, especially when producing complex geometries, compared to hard tooling.

Some of the most popular use cases for soft moulding include:

• Perfecting a mould or prototype fast and affordably – Your initial products can make or break your company. Soft tooling enables you to test the design and tooling process before you mass produce it.
• Creating production-like test parts for customer evaluation – When collecting customer feedback, the closer your model is to the final product, the better. Soft tooling produces functional models that quality and material closely resemble the actual production parts.
• Small production runs to get to market quickly – Soft tooling is a cost-effective and quick way to bring high-quality low volume parts to market faster and meet early demand.

Advantages

• Shorter lead times, faster turnaround.
• Perfect for low volume production runs.
• Low-cost tooling alternative.
• Provides more flexibility during iteration.

Disadvantages

• Not suitable for large-scale production runs.
• Less durable and wear resistant.
• Not be able to withstand certain chemicals, temperatures, stresses.
• Shorter tool life.

What is Hard Tooling?

Hard tooling is a method often used for plastic injection moulding. Hard tools are typically made from durable steel materials, which offer a much longer tool life, making them suitable for high-volume production runs of a final product — and generally not used for prototyping, as they can be very costly and time-consuming. Some popular hard steel tooling materials include H13, S136, M2, and A2 tool steel, which can last from several hundred thousand to several million shots.

Instances where hard tooling is required:

• Moving to production at higher volumes – Hard tooling is often a no-brainer to facilitate production runs of tens of thousands to millions. 
• Certain geometries, details, or finishes may require it – In some instances, investing in hard tooling during the prototyping stage may be necessary, such as when extremely thin-wall features, fine details or tight tolerances are critical.
• To accommodate specialty materials or higher temperatures – If running abrasive additives like glass-filled nylon or materials that require high temperatures like PEEK, hard tooling may be required to address tool wear.

Advantages

• Stronger, more durable moulds.
• Precision and repeatability.
• Long-term cost savings. 
• Compatible with a wider variety of materials.

Disadvantages

• Not suitable for short production runs.
• More costs up front.
• Longer lead times.
• Requires much bigger commitment.

Soft Tooling vs Hard Tooling

To summarise, here are the main takeaways when comparing soft tooling and hard tooling:

• Soft tools are typically made from softer materials like silicone, aluminium, or soft steels, whereas hard tools are made from more durable materials like hard steel.
• Soft tools can produce production-like, functional parts of high quality but are limited in precision and material compatibility compared to hard tools.
• Hard tools can take several weeks to months to manufacture, whereas soft tools can be produced in just several days or weeks.
• While hard tools are more expensive and take longer to make, they last much longer and offset their cost over large production runs. In contrast, soft tools are quicker and cheaper to produce, but they wear out more rapidly.

Which Tooling Method Makes Sense For Your Project?

By asking yourself the questions below, you’ll be able to narrow down your options.

1. What stage of development are you at? If your product still requires testing, it’s safer to opt for soft tooling before committing to hard tooling for production.
2. Are there any features or material properties that are critical? If yes or maybe, even if you’re at the prototype stage, it’s worth consulting with an engineer (at info@hlhrapid.com) if you will require hard steel tooling or if you can make a compromise.
3. How many parts do you need? If you need 50,000 parts or less, soft tooling is often . If you require 50,000 parts or more, you may require hard tooling.
4. How quick do you need it? Can you afford the additional tooling production time? If you need to get your parts to make quick, it could be worth investing in soft tooling first before moving to mass production.

At HLH, we make prototype tooling, bridge tooling and production tooling in-house for simple to complex injection moulding projects. We also have capabilities in vacuum casting, CNC machining, 3D printing, die casting and more high-quality solutions for your custom part production project.

To start your next project, simply send your CAD design to our website contact form, and our engineering team will get back with a quote.