Mold Polishing Services.Evansville, Indiana
Your print calls a finish and your parts have to release. Two full-time polishers hit every SPI grade, from a bead blast to a diamond mirror. New tools and repairs both, in the same building as the steel.
Can we hit your finish spec?
SPI finish grades
All, A1 through D3
Finish types
Bead blast, draw stone, diamond
Polishers on staff
2, full time
Quality system
ISO 9001:2015
I know the grade I need
Send the component or the print and get a price for the finish.
Start a quote →I need to know if you can hit my spec
The grades, the methods, and what decides which one your part gets.
See what fits →My part is sticking or looks wrong
Touch-ups and repairs are accepted, any make.
Start anyway →
Why us
Why finish it here?
Two full-time polishers, not a side job
This is what they do all day. It is not handed to a machinist between setups.
2 polishers, full time
Every SPI grade is done in this building
Bead blast, draw stone or diamond, depending on what the surface has to do in the press.
All grades, A1 diamond through D3
A welded repair disappears into the finish
Where a component has been laser welded, the area is polished until the repair is gone, so nothing carries through onto the molded part.
Repairs polished back to original grade
What fits
Every grade, from a blast to a mirror.
What your print can call for, and what we put back.
- A1 diamond mirror
- Draw stone finishes
- Bead blast textures
- New tooling
- Repairs back to grade
- Any make, ours or not
New tools, repairs and touch-ups are all accepted, any make, and the welded areas are polished until the repair is gone.
What to expect
What you get before your tooling leaves.
The grade suits the part
The finish is set by what the part has to do in the press, not by whichever polish is quickest.
Bead blast, draw stone or diamond
The method follows the grade, from a textured blast through to a diamond mirror.
Flat and form work is backed by grinding
Thirteen surface grinders sit behind the polishing, with capacity up to 20 by 40 inches.
The surface is verified
Finished surfaces are checked on a coordinate measuring machine and optical measurement before they leave.
Tell us what you need.
Who does it
The shop behind the work.
Dexterous has built molds in Evansville since 1979, and the second generation of the family runs it now. A tool built here comes back here for a repair, to the people who cut it.
New to this? What is mold polishing, and what do SPI finishes mean?
SPI finish grades run from A1, a lens-quality diamond polish, down through B and C stoned finishes to D grades that are blasted matte. The grade on your print decides how the molded part looks and releases, and hitting it repeatably across a multi-cavity tool is hand work. Two full-time polishers do that work here, on new tools and on repairs coming back to spec. The SPI scale runs from A1, a mirror finish produced with diamond compound, down to D3, a coarse blasted texture. The finish is set by what the part has to do, not by preference: optical parts need the A range, textured housings the D range. Two full-time polishers do this work in-house, so a tool never leaves the building for it.
Before you order
What buyers ask about finishes.
Can you match an existing finish on a repair?
Yes. Blending a welded repair into the surrounding finish so it disappears is a normal part of our repair work.
Do you polish tools you did not build?
Yes, new parts or old ones that need a touchup, ours or anyone else’s.
Do you polish surfaces straight off EDM?
Yes. Stoning removes the EDM recast layer and machining evidence, then successively finer grits and diamond compounds take A-grade surfaces to a mirror.
What do you need from me to hit the right finish?
The grade off your print, the plastic you are molding, and what the part has to do. A cosmetic face and a sealing surface are polished differently, even at the same grade. If you are not sure, tell us how the part should look and release and we will recommend the grade.
How is polishing quoted?
Per job. The grade, the area, the shape and how much a hand can reach all move the number. A small cavity at A1 can cost more than a large one at C1.
Which finish should I specify?
It depends on the plastic, how the part has to look, and how it releases. Tell us what the part needs to look like and do, and we will recommend the grade.
Send the part, the print or the problem.
Rather talk it through?
(812) 422-8046Related: Mold Repair · Laser Welding · 5-Axis Machining