Hello,

Introduction:

I am new here, I am an Engineering student, and I am developing a product for a start up company, and have an interest in machining and I do simple conventional stuff myself as well as some diy CNC, nothing complicated though.

My project:

I need to modify an existing injection mold die, it is over 10 years old and made outside the U.S. It was originally pre-hardened, EDM machined, and coated with TiN. It is extremely expensive, which is why I would rather modify it than have it remade. I need pockets milled into the mold to accept inserts. The mold die was hardened to accept high volume production, it no longer needs to serve that purpose, I only need it for low volume production. For this reason the TiN can be removed and it really won't matter at all.

My Problem:

I have been developing this product for months, and it would be ready to go in about 2 weeks, and all that had to be done was modification of the mold die, I had the machine shop lined up, Purchase order issued. However, when I went to deliver the mold die, they asked if it was hardened (the answer is yes) then they said it would not be possible to machine. It is likely a hardened tool steel (maybe A2, I have no idea since I have no documentation on the mold die) and it is probably around 60 HRC. Does anyone know if it is possible to machine this steel, or is it truly a lost cause? I thought it was possible to machine hardened metals, but I could be wrong? Do I have to turn to EDM? I wanted to avoid EDM due to cost. I would appreciate any advice!

Thanks!