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Mold tooling

A two-part female tool split at the leading-edge / trailing-edge parting line, flange out to the block walls. Two STEP files in one zip, in assembled position, in millimetres. CAD-native NURBS: the cavity is a smooth surface and every block corner is a real edge. Generation takes about 10-15 s.

Settings

• Flange margin: flange and wall margin around the wing planform.
• Floor depth: block material beyond the deepest (or highest) point of the cavity.
• Registration: dowel pins for machined tools, ball and socket for printed tools, or none.
• Finish cutter: the ball-end diameter you will finish the cavity with. Preflight checks the cavity against it.

Preflight

The panel reports the block size and each half's thickness. Errors block the export. Warnings describe process compromises (cutter reach, pull direction); you can accept them, and accepting records a compromise rather than proving the tool can be made.

Alignment pins

The exported tooling has Ø6.1 mm corner bores: use 6 mm dowel pins (ream to 6 H7 for machined tools). Printed bores shrink 0.1-0.4 mm undersize. Drill or ream them after printing, or pick the ball option, whose 0.3 mm clearance prints usable as-is.

Mold tooling is removed after cure; it never stays in the wing. See What am I building?.

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