#two-shot mould made in china

[injectionmoldchina]

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The mold format plan from oem/odm medical injection moulding factory is striking for two different reasons. In the first place, this plan shows 16 center supplements stuffed straightforwardly in a 4×4 lattice in one huge pocket in the center plate with no interceding mold steel. This plan is considerably more minimal and less expensive to create than a plan with 16 individual pockets for the center additions. Be that as it may, the plan will require cautious machining, completing, and gathering of the form embeds since resilience issues can cause positional mistakes and issues during embellishment, for example, coolant spills, blazing at the splitting line, or out of resistance shaped parts. Second, the plan of plastic injection mold manufacturers china is a family shape in which each set of eight holes is formed with various thicknesses and at various dissolve pressures. Planning the hot sprinter feed framework would be testing. A stacked “X” type complex like the plan of Fig. 6.13 could be utilized with various measurements for the essential sprinters to ba spear the dissolve pressures during filling.

In any case, given the diverse part thicknesses and comparable pressing factors gave to every one of the depressions, the form creator ought to anticipate less shrinkage in the more slender cover moldings and indicate a lower shrinkage esteem appropriately.

The portrayed examination strategies give sensible direction to mold plan. Then again, underlying reenactments utilizing limited component investigation can be performed utilizing the definite shape math. Such underlying examination procedures [5, 6] are getting progressively coordinated with PC stream reenactments to give high-constancy expectations while likewise decreasing huge hindrances to routine execution.

The previous examination zeroed in on plate avoidance across the splitting plane. In any case, the shear stresses in the side dividers of the shape plates can likewise bring about abundance avoidance and even disappointment. This worry turns out to be particularly critical for molds with profound depressions. The cup form addresses a common situation with the heap case appeared in china large size mold. In particular, the profound pit gives a tall side divider along which the liquefy pressure, P, is applied. Assuming the pit is profound, critical shear stresses and twisting diversions can create. The width of the side divider, from the outside of the form depression to the side of the shape, is for the most part alluded to as the”cheek.”

A typical rule in form configuration is that the width of the cheek, Wcheek, ought to be equivalent to the tallness of the shape cavity, Hcavity. The most extreme shear pressure in the side divider can be assessed as a component of the stature of the shape hole, Hcavity, the width of the cheek, Wcheek, and the embellishment pressure.

Appropriately, the general guideline that the width of the cheek should rise to the thickness of the hole gives a slight factor of security under run of the mill suppositions. Despite the fact that the shear pressure may not surpass as far as possible, the form planner ought to likewise check the diversion of the side divider under load. Accepting that the side divider goes about as a just upheld pillar with a uniform burden, at that point the redirection because of twisting of the side divider can be assessed. This article is from www.injectionmouldchina.com.

[oumaheroes]

Old Age

Word Count: 1772

Characters: Canada, England, and France

---

There were some days where Canada truly felt his age.

Most of the time how old he was didn’t really hit him. He happily pottered around work or home as easily as he imagined most humans his physical age did: running for a train he was almost certainly going to miss, tripping down the last few steps on a flight of stairs because he was staring at his phone and wasn’t watching his feet, or spilling coffee on himself when he missed his mouth taking a sip.

His colleagues, despite knowing who he was, spoke to him as an equal and Canada could happily pass weeks, or sometimes even months, without consciously being aware of how old he was- or even really what he was.

It was easy to forget, surrounded by humans every day, that he was not one. His ministers and co-workers spoke to him without questioning his position that high in government- that was admittedly unusual for a face as young as his. Occasionally, he’d bump into a young intern or graduate who didn’t know him and he’d have a nice, genuine interaction before a look of shock crossed their face when someone high up greeted him respectfully. It was a helpful, yet stark, reminder.

But overall, when you were surrounded by people who did know it never really hit him that his presence or job was something he took for granted and the passing of time was something he didn’t really take notice of. It was normal. He was there, he was called Matthew, sometimes, or Canada, but both were his name and the potency of what he was, was surprisingly quite forgettable.

Of course, what he was was never something he could completely avoid. Someone would mention a time, or a date, or a thing that had happened and Canada would immediately feel the distance widen between them all as it was made obvious that, to everyone else, what they were discussing was history. It was something passed, something that had happened to other people too long ago to properly connect with on an emotional level. An old battle, an old political bill; something that someone long long dead had said or written that now remained only as faint ink on curling, dusty paper.

But to Canada it was there in his head, the words clear and as easy to recall as if they were spoken to him yesterday. A benefit of nationhood, he supposed, to be fully aware of things that had political consequence, to be able to trace the makings of himself back through time and see how they spiralled and grew.

History wasn’t just words, to him, or mere events. Such things made up the foundations of himself, the building blocks of his life and he felt them thrum through him like a song, twisting and moulding him into being.

Becoming aware of his age and the difference between himself and humans were when Canada really felt the weight of the years he carried. Over three hundred of them made themselves known, hanging off his shoulders and settling down to his legs to hold him up. It was easy to briefly forget how old he was, but that knowledge was impossible to rid himself of entirely- Canada was made up of history, of the bones of time and they cracked together as he moved through his life to remind him of who he was with every step.

He had burned, he had bled, he had died. He had seen.

That was the point of him. To watch to passage of time and remember it, to hold the memory of his people within him and use their voices and experiences to push for the continuation of the future. Their future.

Canada was his people, was made by his people for his people and as he sat amongst them, discussing old old moments long gone with humans who could only read and dream of them, the distinction of what he was would hit him like a thunderbolt.

It was heavy, to be so old. To have seen so many things, to have lived through so much. To be what he was.

He had just had one of those instances. He and his cabinet had spent the entire morning discussing the founding of their nation and its independence in order to plan for the yearly celebrations and Canada had suffered through the whole time feeling every second of his age press against him.

When talks finally drew to a close and he could escape, Canada dragged his ancient body towards the centre of town. England and France were visiting, along with the rest of the UN, and he’d promised to meet them both for lunch before they too were pulled into an afternoon of far more internationally inclined meetings.

If he were honest with himself, what Canada really wanted to do was go home and watch TV; switch his brain off so that he could numb himself with bad reality shows. It was a good pastime that he enjoyed with guilty abandon and one that he would much rather have preferred doing. However, he’d made a promise and Canada was nothing if not a nation of his word.

Sadly.

England and France were already there when he arrived, tucked away in a corner table. France glanced up as the door jingled with his entrance, waving him over with a smile. Canada nodded at the waiter who motioned him through and settled himself down in a chair at their table between them.

‘Good afternoon,’ France greeted him with his usual cheek kisses, hair tickling Canada’s nose as he leant in close, ‘you arrived just on time, I was about to throw Arthur out of the window.’

‘You wish,’ England looked up from his phone and shot him a quick, but warm smile, ‘Hello Matthew.’

Canada’s heart sank. He really wasn’t in the mood to play mediator today, ‘Dare I ask why?’ he said, turning to France.

France gave an effortless shrug and settled back in his seat, ‘Do I really need a reason?’

‘Yes.’

Both England and Canada spoke at once and France gave a sly grin, ‘I won’t darling, you don’t deserve the trouble,’ he patted Canada’s knee soothingly and politely ignored England’s muttered “as if you could” from across the table, ‘but the idiot seems to think he’s correct about something which he very much is not.’

‘Oh, of course,’ England retorted immediately, ‘you can’t remember properly but I’m the one who’s wrong.’

‘Yes.’

‘No.’

‘What is it?’ Canada interjected quickly. The waiter who had greeted him at the door was shooting their table looks of alarm out of the corner of his eye and Canada smiled at him apologetically, ‘Maybe I could help.’

To his surprise, England and France shared a look, something unspoken passing between them, ‘You weren’t about yet,’ offered France, sounding apologetic.

‘When was it?’

‘Oh, not too long ago,’ England waved a hand airily, ‘only six hundred years or so.’

Canada blinked, ‘Six hundred?’

‘Or there abouts,’ England frowned again, ‘I’m not sure when exactly, but I know France is wrong.’

France scoffed, ‘You can’t remember when it is, but you know I’m wrong?’

‘Obviously. I know it was about fifty years after Agincourt, I’m not sure of exactly when but-‘

‘Well, there you go! You’ve muddled it up with something else.’

‘I haven’t! You held that ball, the one with the fucking shit tonne of flowers everywhere, and were displaying those golden goblet things you were so damn proud of and I gave you that stupid painting-‘

‘No!’ France interjected angrily, ‘You took that painting and then were made to give it back.’

‘I didn’t! It was my bloody painting- Jesus fucking Christ,’ England held his head in his hands, ‘that’s not the point, I’m using that as a reference-‘

‘Yes well, pick a reference that has a grain of reality in it, would you?’

England opened his mouth to argue back again but Canada didn’t hear him, by now long tuned out of the conversation.

Only. Only six hundred years ago. Canada couldn’t even imagine that amount of time, couldn’t imagine having lived so long that six hundred years was considered to be a mere drop in the ocean.

But to these two, it was. England and France had both been alive for millennia, had known each other for that long and had been alive without each other for even longer before that.

Sitting next to them, his own existence suddenly felt like nothing, felt insignificant in the history of mankind. What had Canada seen, that these two had not? He couldn’t even begin to imagine. Three hundred years felt more than enough.

It hit him, then, how long most of their kind had lived. He’d realised this before, of course, but still the comprehension about the difference in age between him and most of the world left him dumbstruck anew. Fuck, what about China; Lord only knew how old he really was. There wasn’t a point in history that it didn’t seem as though China hadn’t been around to experience, even from across the world. Whole empires and civilisations had risen and fallen and most of the nations Canada knew had personally been involved in them somehow. It was astounding to consider all the people who had lived throughout the centuries that, to Canada, felt like nothing more than characters in a story.

What on earth was three hundred years to age like that? To history that felt so ancient to him, so disconnected that it didn’t really even feel real, but that was as normal to most nations as his own history was.

How many years would Canada have to live until three hundred was something he would describe as ‘only’?

‘Are you alright, lad?’ Canada was jolted out of his spiral to find England looking at him with concern, a hand on his arm.

‘Yeah, sorry,’ he shook his head, ‘it’s just- you’re both so old.’

England coloured and France laughed, ‘We’re not old,’ England jabbed a thumb in France’s direction, ‘Well, he is.’

‘It is more about how you feel and act, dear, that’s more important and in that regard, you are far older than I.’ France yelped suddenly as England kicked him under the table, ‘Does the truth sting, Arthur? Is that why you felt the need to vent your frustrations on me?’

‘As if I need more of a reason-‘

They began again, in earnest, but Canada let them continue uninterrupted, silently and guiltily enjoying the feeling of being a child once more.

---

AN:

I must admit that not much thought or plot went into this. I wanted to write something short and somewhat silly as a treat for spending most of yesterday editing. Ideally, one day I want to take this concept and explore it more with greater care and detail because I think it’s something a newer nation like Canada would really struggle with.

300 years is a long time, and I’m sure it must be hard for him to feel that age and then go and speak to anyone from the Old World and be met with the reality of how truly old their kind can be. Canada is a baby, despite the centuries he has collected for himself, and I feel like there would always be that conflict within him about how old he feels around humans comapred to how old he is next to other nations. Maybe this idea is best explored as a headcannon rather than a fic, but I had a fun time writing it.

Anyway, that is my tuppence worth- thank you for reading!

[speedypandaweasel]

One Big Adventure - a Wilford Warfstache and Abe story (Non-Ship) (2,914 Words)

Thank you for the request @canceltheact! I hope you enjoy reading this as much as I enjoyed writing it!

If you would like to submit a request, see the information at the Masterlist and submit through the Q and A!

PSA - THIS IS NOT A SHIP oke, let us begin...

Dazed images fog up the minds of two *very* hungover men as they stagger their way up to the apartment. Abe fumbles his way through the door and over strewn clothes. He continues on and manages to put together the kaleidoscope of scenery that is right in front of him. To his left, a saggy sofa sits and a cheap TV dangerously hangs off the stripping wallpaper by a thread. To his right, a grimy kitchen is on display which even the worst chef in the world wouldn't waste his time in. The other man, however, is blabbering away, slurring his words like a car on an icy motorway. "HA!, I tell *hick* you Abe, I'm so glad I remembered you, you see *hick*, I can't even remember where I put my-" Aaaand he's gone. His body moulds into the cushions that poorly support his droopy frame, and his scuffed platform boots dangle over the side. Abe smiles, slightly soberer than before. Who would have thought that this stock still of a man, whose only aesthetics were the colour beige and veterans, would somehow have a goofy, lighter side to him? All the criminals he's met and caught among the years...

Hold up, has he met anyone? He can't remember any experiences where he HAS met any, so why did he think that? Hm, must be the Tequila talking. Abe hopscotches over the empty Wine and Martini bottles that are decorated across the stained carpet. Damm, William has not been taking care of himself. Mind you, neither has he so he can't really say anything. He arrives into the walk-in kitchen and opens a dusty cupboard. His tired eyes only meet with shot and tumbler glasses.

How much does this Man drink!? Shuffling used plates and greasy cutlery out of the way, he fills a scotch glass with water. Dowsing the liquid felt like heaven. His exhausted physique felt like a body that's been stuck in the desert for a considerable amount of time and didn't know it needed water to survive. Oh, now he feels the headache coming on.

Reader, you know when water tastes funny? It's because your brain hasn't been receiving enough H20 because you've been drinking too many energy drinks. Yeah, that feeling is exactly what Abe is feeling right now. CONTINUING ON!

The scotch glass watches from the draining board whilst the Detective plays the quietest game of the floor is lava, whilst the moustached man is making much more noise. He manages to reach a corridor which he thinks leads towards the bedroom and tiptoes down the tight hall to find a vacant room. On the way, he passes another room. It was Barnum's. His mind was split in two, Does he go in? Or stay out? Through the crack in the door, the catastrophe has indeed spread into his sleeping quarters. A mountain of flamboyant disco clothes gathers dust in front of his Chester draws, the bed's not made and more liquor bottles are having a social gathering on top. Oh William, you may be a murderer, but you need to prioritise yourself. He takes a last look at his passed out flatmate down the hallway, before shutting the guest bedroom door. Grey. It's all he's met with. Much like his exterior. He slips his shoes off and starts to unbutton his off-white shirt. he runs a hand down his chest and over the scar. How the Hell did he survive that? He can't be bothered to go into it right now, he's too tired. He snuggles into bed and does the infamous cold bed dance.

You know the one.

Abe gets out of the tempting bed once more and walks back into the living room. He creeps over to William, the man's mouth catching flies. He carefully takes his enormous shoes off and places them on the floor. Barnum's mismatch socks disappear underneath the blanket. "Night William."

~ A gorgeous smell of Breakfast wanders its way through the apartment and Abe groggily wakes up. His eyes peel open and with a yawn, he trudges through to the living room. Remembering from earlier this morning, he needed to position himself for his dance routine around the non-existent floor. "What are you doing my main man?" Barnum brightly asks, a hearty chuckle accompanies the question. Resided in the pristine kitchen, his big, strong hand holds a Skillet and two China plates are centred on the pebble grey marble island. Abe, however, is currently squatting as though he was playing a game of leapfrog with some imaginary friends. The Detective goes to jump but then is taken back at the sight. The apartment is now spick and span, no more Wine Bottles, no more strewn clothes. The windows are tied wide open and it overlooks the sketchy neighbourhood that they reside in. "How did you do this?" "Do what?" "You know, clean up this quickly?" Barnum checks his watch. It's 7:30 am "Oh well you see, I ironed a nice pair of jeans and found a lovely dandelion coloured shirt. Accompanied by some rainbow braces I think I look quite dashing don't you think so?" "No William, I-I mean the Apartm-AAH!" Abe clings his hand over his head, damm this- "Headache is killing you?" William slides a glass of water over with an Aspirin pill. "And no, I didn't clean the apartment, she did." Wilford looks- wait, why are you looking at me!? "Anywho, we need to get going my slightly hungover companion! But first, breakfast!" Wilford sets a serving plate down of a full English Breakfast: Sausage, an Egg, two cooked Tomatoes, Bacon rashes, Baked Beans and a slice of Buttered Toast. Wow. He didn't know William could cook? The two men got stuck in right away and the TV is turned on. Two bright and very similar faces appear on the screen "Badgers the secret Killer?... And now for the weather, Jim?"

The camera pans to, what they believe, is Jim. Their face resembles a deer in headlights. "I swear, they don't know what they're doing. It's hilarious!" The Detective says with a mouthful of Toast. Barnum laughs, wipes his mouth with a napkin and takes a swig of his Orange juice. "Right! I mean, who is their boss anyway?!" The men eat and laugh their way through their plates talking about what topics they would cover if they were reporters. After a while, they both recline back into their bar stools and the cook starts to tidy up the dirty dishes. "Oh, no, let me do it. It's the least I can do." "You're alright my man, I've got this. Besides, you need to freshen up!" "But whe-'" "First door on your left"

They share a light chuckle. "Thanks Wilford, I really appreciated that," Abe says before going back down the hallway, whilst Wilford rolls his sleeves up and starts to clean the less-silver cutlery.

He smiles. That's the first time he's ever said that to him. "No problem Abe."

~

The passenger door slams shut on the Detective's Vintage SUV and Wiford pulls out a gigantic map from his pocket. This map includes hundreds of paths scrawled with crayons and a hint of Martini can be smelt.

"Are you sure, you know where you're going?" Abe questions. Judging by what that map reads, they are going to get lost very easily.

"Of course I know where I'm going! I am Wilford Motherloving Warftsache after all." A pang of guilt hits the Detective, he genuinely can't remember who he was.

"Ok, Wil, you can drive."

After playing at least 3 rounds of rock paper scissors, or when Wilford won, Abe hesitantly let the murderer drive. God knows where though.

Wilford excitedly thrust the keys into the ignition. He couldn't wait for what the day entailed!

"Careful Willford, you're gonna break the keys!" Abe says through gritted teeth.

"Oh pah-lease! I know how to drive" he retaliates. His brown boot floors the pedal and reverses straight into the iron fence.

"Yep, it's working."

The Detectives face, now pale, grips tighter onto his seatbelt and his feet are glued to the floor. "Wil, of course it's working. Now, step on the ga- nope, that's the brakes Wilford."

Pedestrians quiver in fear as they see a horribly driven brown vehicle screech to a stop and then start again. They have to clamp down on their ears as the monster of a car drives past them down the alleyway, swerving left and right much like the driver's speech the other night.

The SUV survives to the end of the road and dents a stop sign perched, well once, straight on the kerb.

"Will, which route are we taking?" Abe asks as he takes the map from the driver's hands.

"It's the one marked Highway of Life, it's gonna be a good one, trust you me."

"Well, this has got off to a surprising start so why not go for an adventure?" Abe says. He's given up at this point.

~

"LIFE IS A HIIIGHHWWAYY! I WWAAANNNA RRIIDDEE IIT ALLL NIIGGHTT LOOOOONNGG!" The two pop stars start belting out of the car as Wilford drives them to their last stop. Who would have thought that two polar opposites positions of the law would be in the same car together, let alone blasting Disney songs out of the car.

Wilford's hair whips away from his face as the SUV's top winds down.

"LIFE NEEDS A BIT OF MADNESS EH ABE?"

"HELL YEAH IT DOES"

The Afternoon sun blazes down onto their blacked-out sunglasses and the Golden Gate bridge paints a picture for the Detective that prescribes him with a carefree attitude.

Life was his to choose and he was here for it.

~

The SUV turns off the Highway onto Richmond Street. The Afternoon sun glowing dimmer.

Just in time.

Now reader, if you haven't read my WKM Tumblr Song series, then you won't understand this next section.

The SUV passes bountiful shrubberies and picket fences. Cherry Blossom dust drift its way into the car and Wilford starts to tear up.

"You ok Buddy?"

"Yeah, I'm ok." After all his years of interrogation, Abe knows that that answer was a lie. Yet, he didn't want to push it.

The car comes to a halt and is parked underneath a summer coated oak tree.

"Why'd we stop?"

"I want to show you something."

Abe opens the vintage door and steps out. In front of him, wildflowers and grass sway on the cliffs breeze and small pink flowers grow on its edge. Overhead, a sea glistens with sunlight rays and pink and amber hues dust the sky.

Man, this is enough to make a grown man cry.

The cars driver door can be heard shutting and a shadow walks up behind him. An intimate silence roots itself between the two men.

"You may be wondering why I brought you here."

Abe nods, still looking forward, yet intriguingly listening.

The man sighs, "I used to come here all the time as a young lad. We used to have picnics and dance until dawn. We were so free up here. Away from life, away from Duty, and she was away from Him, that was all that mattered. "

His voice breaks.

"But things change, people change and suddenly, I couldn't do that anymore.

That's why I want you to see it."

Wilford wanders over to their spot and picks up one of the pink flowers sprouting through the grass.

"You may have thought of us as the scum of the Earth Detective. But there are two sides to every story."

The Detective joins the Murderer and puts a hand on his shoulder.

Wilford chuckles. The last time he was here, he was completely and utterly alone. He was like- like a freshly born fawn still trying to find his legs into this world that didn't make sense.

But now...but now things are looking a little brighter.

"If there is anything I can do to make it up to you, just name it."

"You can't do anything really, it's just the way this messed up world works."

The two friends sit down in the grass, making fresh new imprints into the cliff edge, next to two fading ones.

"Can I ask you a question?"

"Sure" "How many people have I killed?"

...

That question lingers in the air for an uncomfortably long time. All that can be heard are the lapping of the waves below them and the occasional swallow talking in the trees.

...

"I don- don't know Wilford," Abe breaks the silence, "I should know, but I-I don't.

...

Abe looks at Wilford, his broken and tear-stained eyes manage to glance back before returning to look out at the sunset.

Abe must do something here. But what? He said himself that nothing can be done so what can he do?

He reminisces on the day they were reunited. So much anger, so much confusion. But Wil was so cheerful, not a care in the world!

Now look at him.

And it was all his fault. If only he didn't get involved...

A second flashes by and Abe does something he should have done the second Will did it.

He hugs Him.

...

"I'm sorry Will."

...

Moments cling on for seems like forever and the embrace is broken. The two tear-stained friends look up.

The afternoon sun has now gone beneath the horizon and is replaced with the all too familiar twilight scenery, which glows softly for miles and miles, each star a lantern that has been entrusted with keeping something special.

"There was another reason why I wanted to bring you here."

Wilford wipes his eyes with his sleeve. "Do you see that star, the big one?"

"Yeah" "That's the Evening Star. That Star is the reason why I have hope. And now I want to share that hope with you. I know we got off the wrong foot but since we're in the same boat now, I think it's time I opened up about where I've actually been."

Abe swallows, this man is truly broken, and he can't do anything about it.

"Thank you for trusting me." "We're not done yet. It's your turn!" "What?" "Make a wish." Cautiously, the Detective slowly stands up from his permanent grassy imprint and walks towards the cliff's edge. The man looks around and sees only patches of shrubbery and wildflowers.

And his newfound friend encouraging him to proceed.

He clasps his hands together and wishes hard. His eyes scrunch together as he becomes a child once more as well. His once tight shoulders have finally become relaxed. After so many years of searching for answers, he doesn't need to worry any more.

A single tear is swept away from the Murderers face as he watches on from the patch of grass. He remembers that feeling and the dream he wished for all those years ago. Yet now, his wish is slowly changing.

Granted, he can't remember who he was but bully does he know what he wants to be. And being here for him, at this very moment, is a wonderful way to start it.

Abe's hands fall to his side and he stares out onto the ever stretching view. His feet are glued to the spot and his mind is only fixated on that one goal. Wilford slowly joins his side, already having a hunch on what he dearly wants.

"What did you wish for?" The Murderer asks.

The Detective huckles, "Now if I told you, it wouldn't come true, would it?"

"Very true my friend."

Little did the men know that their newly found wishes were the same.

"Don't you mean, Best Friend?"

CRACK

The heartwarming moment is abruptly stopped by the sky blasting wide open and millions of sounds exploding across the cliff. The light breeze has rapidly sped up into a storm and is propelling thick gusts upon the two.

"WHAT THE BLOODY HELL NOW!?" Wilford yells at the hole, completely unfazed.

"YOU KNOW WHAT THIS IS!?" Abe yells at his Friend.

"OF COURSE I DO, IT'S TIME FOR WORK."

"WORK!? SINCE WHEN DO YOU HAVE A JOB!?"

"WE ALL HAVE A JOB - WE'RE ACTORS! I'LL EXPLAIN EVERYTHING IF WE DON'T GET SPLIT UP."

"IF WE DONT GET SPLIT UP!? WHERE ARE WE GOING!?" "I HAVE NO IDEA! BUT THAT'S THE FUN OF IT! AFTER THREE, WE WALK IN."

"ARE YOU CRAZY WE'RE GONNA FALL!"

"TRUST ME, WE WON'T."

Wilford grabs Abe's hand and he stares at him. Abe stares back, fear-stricken. Finally, he nods.

"TOGETHER?" "TOGETHER."

"ONE"

"TWO"

"THREE!!!!" The two Actors charge straight over the cliff and into the blinding light.

~

Wilford finds himself in some kind of leather chair with neon lights surrounding him. A script in one and his prop gun in his other.

No pants on, no wonder he feels too comfortable.

He scans his scene and sees his co-actor, Kathryn, running her lines on the other side of the room.

A chair sits opposite him and behind that, a red T-30 minutes until showtime sign is displayed for him.

Abe, however, isn't needed on set yet. His adventure hasn't begun.

But both of their characters will have to cross at one point or another, it's just a matter of time. Yet for a fact, no one can edit their Friendship; Their Joint Wish.

Because, as they say, Life is a road that you're travelling on, when there's one day here, and the next day gone.

[plastic-mold]

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We manufacture thin wall mould, among other products. Our company is producing a series of thin-wall moulds based on experience and knowledge. These moulds include - spoon, fork and knife mould,  - thin-walled container mould, - fast food box mould, - thin wall bowl mould and - other disposable thin wall moulds. Nowadays, plastic containers are widely used in various applications, including food storage, snacks, oil packaging, and so on, from small to large, and can be found from 100 milliliters to 20 liters in size. https://res.cloudinary.com/dl8a9jvpa/video/upload/v1526610295/20547399_1869774216607468_3555276217122816000_n_2_znux1k.mp4 -

How to run thin wall injection molding

According to industry standards, thin wall parts using engineering resins have a wall thickness between 0.5mm and 1mm and a volumetric flow length to wall thickness ratio exceeding 75.  Amorphous resins, such as polycarbonate, challenge this definition, especially when used as engineering composites. Because a thinner wall section dissipates heat rapidly during injection, it changes processing, tool design, and part design rules. For this reason, the fill pressure will be up to 15,000-35,000 psi (100-240 MPa) and the fill time will be up to 0.75 seconds. As a result of high fill pressures applied for short periods, mold equipment has to be capable of - Pumps of high torque and accumulators are required for injection and clamping. The clamp force can be 4-6 tons/inch2 under fill pressures of 30,000 psi (200 MPa). - High-precision sensors used to control hydraulic systems. - Powerful machines whose platens are thick enough to prevent deflections to as little as 0.0005" (0.013mm). - The shot capacity can be limited to 40-70% by using a smaller barrel. Tooling is affected by high pressure in the following ways - The number of support pillars and the thickness of the plate(s) must be increased to prevent tool deflection. - There needs to be more research on cavity-core shifting. The core may need to be interlocked to prevent shifting. - Ventilation needs to be increased. Vaccum vents may facilitate faster fill speeds. - In addition to numerous large gates, a melt-feed system that provides a high flow rate promotes easier filling. - A hotrunner system is almost essential. - Hardened tool steel of the highest quality must be used. - To facilitate part ejection, ejector pins should have a large and numerous diameter (2x normal). Part ejection will be improved with low friction coatings. - It is important that the entire tool has an equal thermal expansion.  -

Steel for thin wall mold

For thin-walled moulds, The steel material should also be considered carefully. We recommend at least 718 steel for thin wall mould making about 800 thousand. If a mirror finish is required, H-13(DIN 1.2344) steel will be recommended. The plastic mould life will be 1-3 million, and the product's surface will also keep the same finish. P20 steel is widely used for normal mould making, but the mold must be made very strong because of the higher pressure of thin-walled injection moulding. H-13(DIN 1.2344) and other hard steels add an extra safety factor to thin wall moulds. However, the H13 thin wall mould cost may be higher than that of the standard mould by 30%-40%. The increased cost is usually offset by increased production performance. On the other hand, we will install a beryllium copper insert at the top of the core, with a depth of about 40mm, which can ensure better cooling to shorten the cycle time and allow customers to produce more products as quickly as possible. In terms of the cooling system, we have our own ideas. The diameter of the cooling channel and waterway layouts could assure the thin wall mould has the best cooling effect. Therefore, the thin-wall mould we made is of good quality, short cycle time, and fast delivery time. If you want to make high-quality thin-walled moulds, look for China's mould suppliers, Topworks plastic mold company will be your best choice. You can get not only the quality thin-wall mould but also to get the best service. -

Why thin wall mold get popular recently

One of the determining factors for the success of thin-walled injection molding is its speed.   By applying high pressure and fast filling into the mould cavity, molten thermoplastic can be injected into the cavity at high speed, preventing the gate from cooling and solidifying.   A complete injection moulding cycle can be completed in two seconds if the wall thickness can be reduced by 25%. This allows the filling time to be reduced by 50% within one second, thereby reducing the cycle time by one second.   With a thin-walled injection, there is less material to be cooled because the wall thickness is reduced.   The moulding cycle can be drastically reduced as the wall thickness decreases.   In a reasonable setting, neither the hot runner nor the runner system will interfere with the shortening of the moulding cycle.   Molding cycles are shortened to a minimum with the use of hot runners. " order_by="sortorder" order_direction="ASC" returns="included" maximum_entity_count="500"]      Read the full article

[plungermusic]

“Kinda bent, but we ain’t breakin’… in the long run”

Maverick Saturday stretched out before us like a challenge - thirteen hours is a long time on your feet for a couple of oldsters, but we’d give it our best shot…

We didn’t catch all of Dan Walsh’s opening Barn set, but his closing number, a lyrical, backwoods folk-flavoured instrumental that peaked in an increasingly frenetic celtic reel to the whoops and stomps of the crowd, was enough to impress us with its fleet-fingered dexterity.

Kelly Bayfield made her second barn appearance with another stylish set drawn from the new album: Kelly taking to the piano to give us a new short number Sing which was twinned (“well, they’re a similar flavour, and in the same key!”) with her last single Hitchhiker, both oozing classy 70s chanteuse vibes and the latter closing in some great Telecaster work from Andy Trill in a majestic closing solo.

There’s not much that’d drag us away from a Kelly performance early, but having spotted his programme picture (“Long hair, Les Paul? That’ll do!”) we pottered down to the open air Green Stage for David Banks and his band. He did exactly what we thought it said on the tin: lots of Springsteen/Petty influenced muscular Americana with a dash of Molly Hatchett topped with excellent southern-fried guitar and classic ‘big endings’… marvellous.

He was followed by Simon Stanley Ward (another ‘old fave’) who brought his Jonathan Richmanish irreverence and wit to Old Time Country in Excuse Me While I Feel Sorry For Myself; the Graceland-African-style I’m A Worrier (”…that’s worrier, not warrior”) a swinging rock’n’roller Bigfoot, Baby (Eddie Cochran meets cryptobiology) and Rocket In The Desert (the salad leaf not the projectile) with its Lawrence Of Arabia theme tease. While lampooning his own assumed-Nashville twang in American Voice the accompaniment was as echt as you could want, and the deadpan humour of Beluga Whale was sung to a properly stirring Journeyesque anthem.

As it wasn’t raining The Green seemed the place to stay, where Forty Elephant Gang came next. Reviewing their album we were a little sniffy about their ‘crowd-pleasing festival songs’ but aside from the field holler-meets-O Brother Where Art Thou-style Songs Of Praise, this set was mostly the ones we’d liked: the relaxed Tex-Mex of Strange Things Happening with three-part harmonies and intertwining mando’n’guitar lines; the melancholic waltz of Young Man’s Game and the Squeeze-y domestic wit of Drunken Promise Song. A final ‘crowd-pleaser’ came in the chugging bluesy Hands Out Your Pockets, an instruction the assembled masses eagerly followed to add the required clap-along.

Sam Chase Trio made another appearance at The Green, wooing the larger crowd with both edgy humour (including praising UK portaloos in comparison to US versions, and introducing Everyone Is Crazy But Me as “a children’s song... now, what they mean is that it’s simple, since kids are generally at the dumber end of the spectrum”), and songs as varied as the fiery protest of What Is All The Rage and the haunting, wistful Lost Girl, (from the “Faustian Spaghetti Western Of Epic Proportions Known As The Last Rites Of Dallas Pistol”) sung by cellist Devon.

Now Plunger do like a bit of bluegrass, whether it’s grainy b/w Flatt & Scruggs clips from the 50s, through Sam Bush and New Grass to Béla Fleck and Greensky Bluegrass so The Folly Brothers should have been our kind of thing… however what we heard of them was more My Old Man’s A Dustman than anything Appalachian so we wandered off…

Back at The Barn Dean Owens and the Southerners drew a large and attentive crowd, but the popular Scot also left us a bit underwhelmed. Mellow, melodious troubadoury country that wouldn’t have been out of place on a mid-afternoon 70s Radio 2 show, the kind of thing that takes a deep listen in your bedroom to appreciate the stories told: very easy on the ear for sure but without any particular thing to grab us at a festival.

After an abortive attempt to catch Ella Spencer and her accompanist at The Moonshine (an extremely long soundcheck with problems with feedback from pretty much everything they touched meant we gave up) we caught a snatch of Los Pistoleros as we rounded The Green: probably the most C.O.U.N.T.R.Y. thing of the weekend, complete with draggy fiddle, pedal steel and old time vocal harmonies… if I’d not left my cowboy boots at home I’d have been out line-dancing with the best of them.

Plunger had only just seen Alyssa Bonagura (with Tim De Graaw’s band) less than a week since. Here at The Barn she was nominally solo but Tim joined her to add sweet harmonies and mellow guitar to Alyssa’s polished Cali-country: her strong yet ethereal vocal equally at home in slow emotional confessionals or giggly upbeat Big Yellow Taxi-style big strummers.

Listed only as ‘Dogs Play Dead’ it was only a lucky guess that took us down to The Green for what turned out to be Friday’s headliners Black Eyed Dogs playing a set of Grateful Dead classics. Mainly those with a countryish twist to them already, like Casey Jones, I Know You Rider and Friend Of The Devil; and bringing that flavour with fiddle and pedal steel to others like Truckin’, China Cat Sunflower, Playing In The Band and the epic closing Franklin’s Tower. All done with the right degree of loose, shambling rhythms and discursive noodling on guitar (and fiddle!) Fabulous stuff for grooving on the grass under what by now were glorious sunshine-filled blue skies.

Brooks Williams’ jangly sonorous acoustic and warm, smooth higher register vox was ideal early evening fare at the barn, in covers like Dave Alvin’s King Of California, traditional numbers like Deep River Blues and originals like the Gordon Lightfootish melancholy of Frank Delandry, and the damp-eyed nostalgia of Palomino Gold, aided toward the end of his set by some more excellent banjo from Dan Walsh.

The USP of Eddy Smith & the 507 is Eddy’s gravelly soulful voice, ideal for their bluesy-edged material, like the harp-led strut of It Don’t Feel Much Like Living and the new single Ticket Out Of Here, a bustling two-step with impressive three-part harmony vocals. They definitely have moved up a level since we last saw them a couple of years back.

Somehow we managed to miss Sarah Petite with her band completely on Friday, and almost all of her stripped-back Moonshine set on Saturday. Which was definitely our loss gauging by the brief snatch of crackling husky vocal over restrained bass and reverb laden guitar that we heard while hunting for a still-open toilet (a water supply problem having rendered all loos unusable for a considerable portion of the late evening... pretty much the only fly in the ointment all weekend!)

As the sun set the two-month date differential was beginning to tell: clear night skies in September aren’t quite the same as July and the growing chill was testing our stamina a bit. We headed for The Peacock and the tribute show to John Prine, hosted by Rich Hall. Pretty much every act who was on site came to do a turn in honour of the recently-deceased songwriting legend, with their own favourite from his oeuvre. Kelly Bayfield band gave us Hello In There, Tim De Graaw with Alyssa did That’s The Way The World Goes Round, Alyssa gave us the obligatory Angel From Montgomery, and Simon Stanley Ward (plus Kelly) gave a fantastic rollicking Lake Marie. Entirely in character, Sam Chase Trio broke the mould and gave us their own tribute song John Prine.

Rich Hall had to skip out on MC duties to attend his own set at The Barn: sacrilege to say, but the appeal of stand up (even to music, even from such a big name) palled a little. It was getting bitterly cold (you could see your breath hanging in the air) and given that what we could hear of his set was the same as we’d heard last time he was here we spent much the time attempting to warm up with piping hot beverages. However it was by far the rammedest set of the weekend, with the tightly-packed crowd spilling out of The Barn for some distance.

Jon Langford was unsurprisingly somewhat hindered by the draw of Rich Hall (which left The Peacock a bit underpopulated!) His spiky, punky approach wasn’t entirely our bowl of chilli, although the rendition of Eddie Waring (originally by Help Yourself with Deke Leonard and BJ Cole, who was sitting in with Jon tonight) was very good.

The programme description of headliner Jerry Joseph did its best to weaken our staying power too: with our deep suspicion of any write-ups that include the ‘p-word’, and somewhat incredulous of the mention of ‘jam bands’, Jerry looked like he wouldn’t be our kind of thing at all. However he didn’t live down to expectations (wholly). A very animated stage-prowling audience-provoking figure in shorts and no shoes, there was no shortage of energy even if it was largely unchannelled and could get a little wearing… (maybe it was that, maybe it was the chill, but The Barn steadily thinned out during his set, ending less than half full). War At The End Of The World was the pick of the bunch, although like most of his material it would probably have sounded better with a band (like, erm, Stockholm Syndrome, which he co-founded; or, erm, Widespread Panic who he has written for… so much for our ‘jamband incredulity’!)

While it might have ended as a bit of a test of endurance, there were more than enough high points to make Saturday another enjoyable Maverick experience.

“Did we do it for love? Did we do it for money? More like stubborn dumb persistence and hot chocolate, honey…”

[icastingmachining]

Get to Know All about Zinc casting

For making complex-shaped components that require tighter tolerances, thinner walls and better surface finish, investment casting is the method that is used. The way by which the mould is made is a distinguishing feature of investment casting by zinc die casting mould manufacturer.

To melt the wax out, inside an oven the mould is dried and heated leaving behind a ceramic shell mould.

For precision casting of aerospace components, the investment casting method also known as lost wax process is used.

Using rapid prototyping processes rather than molded wax patterns are produced.

Zinc die casting mould, as well as die casting, produces parts of similar geometric shapes and size.

For complex shaped or finely detailed castings the investment casting or lost wax process is a manufacturing technique. Through net shape manufacture, investment casting works to eliminate costly and time-consuming machining operations and reduces product mass through better design.

Cold-chamber die casting machines are mainly used for aluminum alloys because these have a relatively high melting point. Here, at the exterior side of melt, the zinc investment casting china assembly is placed. To a shot chamber the molten metal is input, from where the metal is driven into the die by a piston. The two parts of the die are opened once the metal has cooled and solidified and by ejector pins the casting is automatically ejected from the die.

When low production volumes are expected then only zinc casting from zinc die casting mould company is used, whereas when high production volumes are expected die casting tends to be used.

By wide range of metal alloys investment cast parts can be made including stainless steels, aluminum and copper alloys, tool steels, nickel carbon and low alloy steels and cobalt alloys. To the furnace applying pressure of up to max is reliable. The molten metal is pushed by 1 bar (usually aluminum and magnesium) into the die chamber up through an intake port.

In investment casting, a metal die or mold is made. It gets the more complicated the shape is. Follow us on Twitter

[topwellspring]

Plastic Injection Moulding For Complex Part Design & Choice Of Color

Plastic injection molding is an amazingly flexible strategy for producing plastic parts and has various preferences over different techniques for plastic molding. Not exclusively is the process easier and more dependable than others strategies; however it is additionally incredibly effective.

Know how plastic injection moulding China works. Once the injection molds have been intended to the client's details and the presses pre-modified, the actual molding process is fast contrasted with different techniques of molding. Plastic injection molding process scarcely takes times and this permits more parts to be made from a solitary shape. The high creation yield rate makes plastic injection molding more financially savvy and productive.

Regularly, hot-runner injection mold systems produce leaves behind more steady quality and do as such with quicker process durations, however it's not as simple to change tones nor would hot runners be able to force some heat sensitive polymers.

The plastic mold manufacturer china knows how quality products are produced. The injection molds are exposed to incredibly high pressure. Therefore the plastic inside the molds is pressed harder against the mold contrasted with some other molding process. Because of this unreasonably high pressure, it is conceivable to add a lot of subtleties into the design of the part. Besides, due to high pressure during the molding process, complex and intricate shapes can without much of a stretch be planned and fabricated which in any case would have been excessively convoluted and costly to produce.

The plastic injection moulding China can deal with amazingly complex parts, and consistency, just as the capacity to make a great many practically indistinguishable parts. To enhance the viability of high-volume injection molding and boost the precision and nature of your parts, key design components should be considered. The part design should be created to expand the productivity intrinsic in high-volume molding. With the privilege design, parts can be made reliably and with quality. Without a decent plan, very expensive handling fault can be made.

Picking the correct material and color for a venture are two of the fundamental factors in making plastic parts. From clear to magenta, whatever color you need your plastic to be, injection molders can make it, even if incorporating multiple colors in one item when two-shot or over molding processes are employed. Because of the wide assortment of both, the potential outcomes are practically vast.

The advances in polymers throughout the years have added to the improvement of a huge determination of gums from which to pick. Plastics can be colored utilizing different coloring systems, every one of which offers its own remarkable properties, advantages, and disadvantages. Master batches, salt and pepper blends, Liquid Color, and pre-colored resins are four of the most widely recognized shading strategies. Find out more about the plastic mould in China. 

[injectionmoldchina]

New Post has been published on https://www.injectionmouldchina.com/mold-plates-compression-and-bending/

Mold Plates Compression and Bending

Most of the mold comprises of plates, including the top clasp plate, A plate, cavity embeds, center additions, B plate, uphold plate, ejector plate, ejector retainer plate, and the back clip plate. A prominent exemption is the plan of molds with profound centers, wherein the center supplement isn’t built from a plate yet rather from a pole; this sort of form configuration has a different arrangement of issues that are along these lines examined by china high precision injection molding machine.

Every one of the mold plates is regularly exposed to a heap on one face of the plate. While the sides of the plate might be obliged by encompassing plates, most of the applied burden is conveyed by compressive and shear stresses and consequently sent through the thickness and across the plate. Plate pressure and bowing are next independently examined.

In the event that the plate is completely upheld by basic mold plates and the form platen (as common on the fixed side of the form), at that point all plates are in pressure and there is irrelevant plate twisting. It ought to be noticed that compressive powers because of mold bracing will in general reason uniform compressive burdens through the form plates. The compressive pressure, σ, is characterized as the power, F, per unit of compacted territory, Acompression: σ=F/Acompression The strain, e, that creates is the pressure isolated by the versatile modulus, E: e=σ/E

Diversion because of pressure isn’t generally an issue since 1) it is moderately little and 2) it is uniform across the form. In that capacity, it doesn’t ordinarily cause blazing or huge dimensional change in the chinese mold component machining manufacturers. As the accompanying model will show, in any case, the mold planner ought to marginally expand the profundity of the form pit to make up for plate pressure if a tight resistance is determined on the thickness of a section with a profound hole.

In the event that the back essence of the plate isn’t completely upheld, at that point shear stresses will create and Cause the plate to twist, Plate bowing is a normal issue for the plates situated between the ejector lodging and the form depression 0n the moving side of the mold. The shear pressure, T, is characterized as the power, F, per unit of zone in shear, Ashear: T=F/Ashear

China high precision mold manufacturer  Guangzhou Klarm Mould Limited gives an illustration of a static power examination of a part of the bezel form that is in shear, While the genuine shear stresses will shift with the appropriation of the liquefy pressure across the mold depression, a sensible gauge can be accomplished by expecting a uniform circulation around the border of the mold hole. In that capacity, the region in shear is: The key issue with plate twisting in mold configuration isn’t the presence of shear stresses in the plates, yet rather the improvement of enormous redirections across any long unsupported ranges of the form plates. Most mold use a moving ejector get together, thus don’t completely uphold the help plate between rails of the ejector lodging. Likewise, the mold plates act like a pillar in bowing. The glorified case is spoken to in china molds produce services in which the whole burden, F, is thought to be applied to the focal point of the mold area. This supposition that is made to give a traditionalist gauge of the most extreme redirection.

As for different depression mold, the examination ought to be applied to isolate bits of the form cavity as suitable. china injection mold factory gives a top and side perspective on a format plan for a six-pit mold. One investigation approach is to lump the liquefy pressure across three holes together to register the applied power, F, which acts fundamentally on the compelling width, W. It ought to likewise be noticed that the powerful plate thickness, H, ought exclude the thickness of the centers when the centers don’t contribute altogether to the solidness of the form get together.

This article is from https://www.injectionmouldchina.com

[ma5ey]

My China Experience: Xi'an (Part 2 of 2)

// May 14, 2010

Xi'an Museum

Set amongst beautifully landscaped gardens and lakes, the Museum was a modern and impressive building that we waited a half hour or so to open before we could enter and start exploring a great deal more artifacts and historically important treasures from years dating back to 200BC and beyond.

Lighting levels throughout the museum were pretty low in order to preserve the exhibits on show and flash photography was prohibited (Dad found out the hard way), so it was pretty much left to me and my trusty Canon 7D to collect a few shots here and there to share with you all.

As with most other days on our China tour, a VIP experience awaited us beyond the areas accessible to the general public and it wasn't long before Andrew led us off to a back area in the basement of the Museum, behind electronically controlled security doors, where we eventually entered a room consisting of two official looking blokes, a standard office metallic cabinet and a large table covered in a sheet of red velvet and several pairs of small white gloves.

Show and tell time - sweet!

Our Xi'an Museum "white glove experience" allowed us to get that much closer to the kinds of artifacts that we had been marveling over throughout the past couple of days. One-by-one we were introduced to and allowed to explore in our hands, a number of ridiculously old relics presented to us by a softly spoken Museum staffer.

Andrew's translatory expertise really came into play here as we pawed a number of items including a ritual urn, a bronze drinking cup, a couple of ornate mirrors, and a tray of 8 x 250gm solid gold circular, roughly finished ingots.

The need for a security guard in our presence was more than understandable as the items we were fortunate enough to be holding were beyond priceless in the eyes of the Museum and I would assume the Chinese public at large. Again, photography was limited to one shot only, and Andrew did a good job of snapping a fairly descriptive frame for us to use to remember the experience (below).

Another half hour to an hour spent exploring the remaining sections of the Museum and it was time to exit and head out of town for the blue ribbon exhibit for the day - the Terracotta Warriors.

Reproduction Terracotta Warrior Factory

Along the way out to the Terracotta Warrior Museum, we made a quick "shopping opportunity" stop at a slick reproduction factory where we had the chance to take some cheesy warrior photos, get a tour of the processes involved in moulding, firing and finishing the various sized warrior replicas and, once again, find ourselves dumped in a maze of showrooms featuring lacquer ware, terracotta warriors in various forms, silk rugs, jade sculpture and ornaments and more.

Escaping with just a couple of quick purchases, we were back on the road headed for our final destination for the day.

Terracotta Warrior Tour

About an hours drive away along what appeared to be a fairly purpose-built freeway through market garden areas, we arrived at the Terracotta Warrior site. The endless vege plots we passed along the way gave way to a huge complex with acres of paved parking for the endless line-up of tourist coaches. Considering the cultural and historical significance of the site (I'll try to cover that below), the masses of humanity were to be expected. It's not like we weren't getting used to being herded, pushed and shoved around already! Tour leaders headed every which way with their flags held high, followed by their faithful charges and we just went with the flow.

Now, those of you who aren't familiar with this hand-crafted army of pottery are probably wondering what all the hullabaloo is? Well let me try and shed some light on the whole situation for you.

In 246 BC a young 13 year old fella by the name of Qin Shi Huang ascended to the throne of the state of Qin. By the age of 38 Qin Shi Huang had conquered the six neighboring states to unify China for the first time and cemented his position as China's first Emperor.

Remembered and admired for, amongst others, his achievements in bringing seven states together to form a nation, standardising a common script and establishing uniform measurement and monetary systems, he was also reviled for the brutality associated with his extravagant personal projects.

From the time he became King, Qin Shi Huang set about constructing his own tomb (or mausoleum) which took 11 years to complete and sacrificed the lives of 700,000 forced labourers in the process. As part of this tomb preparation, an estimated 8,000 strong army of Terracotta Warriors, horses, chariots and other impressive items were buried around the tomb to defend the Emperor in the afterlife.

In 1974 a group of peasant farmers uncovered some pottery while digging a well in the area that is now a well established museum. The find was of great interest to archeologists who flocked to the site in great numbers with the intention of extending the digs which have so far resulted in a total of 5 pits being uncovered and worked on.

Pits 1, 2 and 3 have so far been opened to the public, together creating a museum space that covers an area of 16,300 square meters.

With all this in mind, there's little wonder then as to why the Terracotta Warriors and Horses are considered the most significant archeological excavations of the 20th century and why the area was listed in 1987 as a UNESCO world cultural heritage site.

Archeologists can still be seen actively working on the excavation site like in the picture below which I shot towards the back right hand corner of Pit #1.

About 200 meters northeast of the massive Pit #1 is the smaller Pit #2 which was found in 1976, excavated and opened up to the public in 1994. It contained over a thousand warriors and 90 wooden chariots, and today gives visitors a good view of a number of warriors and horses.

Rounding off the museum tour, you arrive at a modern building where, in a typical showroom layout, you can get up close and view, behind large glass cabinets, some of the more complete warriors, chariots and other artifacts that have been excavated from the various pits. Impressive, but certainly not as impressive as the up close and personal introduction we had received at the Shaanxi Archeological Research Institute the day earlier.

Pit #5

Our absolute final tour and private VIP experience for the day was Pit #5 – the most recently discovered and excavated pit. Unexpectedly, the site was a good 5 minute drive away from the existing Terracotta Warrior Museum. In the literature given to us by Cathay Pacific prior to our departure, Pit #5 was described as follows:

Take a tour of this famous underground works site that is typically closed to the public. Here you'll have the exclusive opportunity to see an armor of a Terracotta soldier that has been buried for over 2000 years. As it lays now, this armor is still in the ground as originally discovered.

What we experienced and found was... well... somewhat different. I'm going to regurgitate Dad's recollective notes of the visit simply because I think he summed it up pretty well.

A short drive through the market gardens brought us to a narrow dirt track too rough for the car so we walked about 1km through rural settings to an ordinary looking old shed. It appeared we weren't really expected. There were phone calls back and forth before we were granted entry. Inside the gloomy shed was a big hole in the ground with some plastic sheeting covering whatever lay in the bottom. Somewhat of an anticlimax after the amazing and impressive site already seen.

Haha! After all the build up to what we thought was going to be one final, special, private experience, we were met with a pit that had been covered up and, as we found out from one of our reluctant site hosts, was due to be completely closed in the coming weeks. Hmmm...

Considering what we had already seen throughout the day, however, we were certainly not about to argue with the last little hiccup. Instead we piled back into the car and made our way back to Xi'an Airport where we bid Andrew a farewell and boarded a quick 1 hour flight to Chengdu - China's panda capital!

Also in this "My China Experience" series:

🇨🇳 A Preview

🇨🇳 Cathay Pacific Hospitality

🇨🇳 Beijing

🇨🇳 Xi'an (Part 1 of 2)

🇨🇳 Chengdu

🇨🇳 Shangri-La

🇨🇳 World Expo 2010 Shanghai

Links & credits:

All images // Rob Masefield

Terracotta Army // wikipedia.org

Xi'an Museum // travelchinaguide.com

[vampearlgrey]

Injection molded plastic auto parts

Injection molded plastic auto parts gives various preferences contrasted with different materials or production processes. Has been leading and supporting all engineering departments in various areas: being up to date in parts & process design, mold design, FEA analysis, GD&T and automation. Our team of experienced injection molding professionals works closely with automotive OEMs and Tier 1 clients to evaluate and define all technical requirements and therefore optimize the production of impeccable exterior vehicle components. Plastic injection molding is becoming a very popular technique for manufacturing. Automotive plastic injection molding using plastic is a common method of producing parts because it is sustainable and able to serve the increasing demand. Our expertise in chrome plating and wheel trims, along with our two-shot plastic injection molding capabilities, allow us to provide turnkey solutions that support customers in bringing their products to market successfully. KI automotive partners demand high levels of engineering, quality, and project management. Industry manufacturers are increasingly using plastic molded parts. For each of our products, we develop and maintain a Process Quality Document (PQD) that describes all the critical aspects of running that product. 

Whether you are for group or individual sourcing, we will provide you with the latest technology and the comprehensive data of Chinese suppliers like Auto Part Mould Factory list to enhance your sourcing performance in the business line of manufacturing & processing machinery. From the raw material to the finished product, checks are carried out scrupulously and randomly, as scheduled by the customer or according to the complexity of the moulded pieces. Because it is auxiliary equipment, it requires no changes to the injection molding machine. Through our EG TranSpire subsidiary, we've been designing, developing, and manufacturing a wide range of components and sub-assemblies for the automotive market for more than 35 years. Letoplast focuses on co-design and engineering, high quality plastic injection moulding, painting and sub-assembling. A Full-Service Plastic Injection Molding Company. The mold is prepared for production right after the principal testing, which shaves off many weeks. SAC Plastics also helps small start-up companies with small production runs bring new parts to market by making high quality custom molded parts available at competitive rates. Many customers choose to source many electrical components through our electronics division of Cypress Industries. 6. The best advantage that can be gotten from the usage of plastic molding application to the car business is the expenses being driven down; it is an assembling method to bring down overhead costs by the utilization of parts from a few assortments of plastic materials.

Arkal's unique one-stop ‘design-to-manufacturing' approach enables its automotive customers to benefit from optimally cost-effective solutions by integrating Smart Product Design, Efficient Process Design and Automated Production under one roof - enabling our clients to meet and exceed aggressive targets for weight reduction, safety performance and cost reduction. WELCOME TO ELITE PLASTIC PRODUCTS, INC. The latest in equipment, computers, and software along with our greatest asset, trained and experienced personnel, allow Quality Mold Shop to provide injection moldings with shortened lead times, quality designs, made-to-last through production mold demands. We provide custom injection molding solutions, ranging from co-development, mold design and raw material expertise to the final delivery of products and services. Primex Plastics is a leading manufacturer of plastic injection molded components. The tools manufactured here in the UK by our partners are used to produce automotive, electronics, medical, engineering and the construction industries plastic parts, components, fittings and enclosures. After going over some technical innovations in this article, we should make a special mention of one of the main applications of plastic injection moulding: parts and equipment for the automotive industry. We prove that beautiful products can take shape using plastic. The ability to produce plastics in a wide variety of appearances, colours, and textures has made them an irreplaceable part of automotive design. Injection molding involves injecting molten material into a mold or pre-design. Complementing our tooling services are 10 injection molding machines, ranging from 50 to 600 ton capacity. In the automotive industry, injection molding is becoming necessary for manufacturers to keep up with competitors and climbing production rates. 

Aside from building parts with efficiency and affordability, injection molders have also been instrumental in reducing the cost of heavy metals by opening new material possibilities. Please contact us for more information on the benefits of working with the leading plastic injection mold manufacturers. MVA Stratford is an injection moulding company with a focus on manufacturing and supplying parts to the automotive industry. In addition, our cleanroom allows us to manufacture products for the healthcare industry and we have an ESD room for assembly. Exterior: Plastics are used in many exterior components of the vehicle, including body panels, bumpers, and grilles. Warehousing and engineering at our central U.S. location in Texas, or shipping from our manufacturing facilities in China gives Cypress Industries a unique edge in servicing customers with large custom plastics needs. Injection moulding consists of the high pressure injection of the raw material into a mould which shapes the polymer into the desired shape. Precisely engineered from optimum quality components and using best available technologies, these containers are extensively used in various industries including electrical, automobile and plastic manufacturing industries. Whether you are adopting the injection molding process in your business or seek an understanding of its capabilities, these depictions of how injection molders have shaped the automotive industry will enlighten and inspire you to learn more about this profound technology. Yuval has over 13 years of experience in the Plastic industry, starting in 2005 as a mold designer and project manager at Rimoni Industries. The industry expanded rapidly in the 1940s because World War II created a huge demand for inexpensive, mass-produced products.

Our molds are used to produce plastic and rubber injection molding products in a multitude of applications and industries such as automotive, electronic, and consumer products industries. Custom manufacturer of precision injection molded plastic parts. Our highly experienced staff includes tooling engineers, injection mold designers, programmers, micro and laser welders. Injection moulding is widely used for manufacturing a variety of parts, from the smallest components to entire body panels of cars Advances in 3D printing technology, using photopolymers which do not melt during the injection moulding of some lower temperature thermoplastics, can be used for some simple injection moulds. Our cutting-edge facilities include much more than injection moulding machinery. KI Industries is a world leader in the contract manufacturing of plastic, decorative parts for the Automotive Industry. KASO's custom automotive capabilities include materials selection to help you evaluate a variety of engineering grade resins. Overmolding can enhance the cosmetic appeal and performance of a product. This greatly improved design flexibility as well as the strength and finish of manufactured parts while reducing production time, cost, weight and waste. We at Quality Mold Shop pride ourselves on Customer Support and providing you, our Customer, with the support to run plastic injection mold production around the clock. As long as we are molding the parts, we will guarantee the molds for the life of the project. Cypress Industries also has additional capabilities including bonding, painting, printing, automotive connector molding, automotive tooling manufacturing and basic assembly of electronic components and plastic products. Welcome to ASPEL, your dedicated global partner for injection molding, complementary manufacturing and logistics solutions.

[kristamedicalmould]

Syringe Mould-Vent Slot Design Process Features

The design of the exhaust groove in the syringe mould is very particular. Today, the Chinese medical mould manufacturer will briefly explain it, and I hope it will be helpful to everyone.

Insufficient filling often occurs in the production of syringe mandrel moulds. Compressed air burns, high internal stresses inside the product, surface flow lines and fusion lines. In addition to adjusting the injection moulding process for these phenomena, it is also necessary to consider whether the mould gate is reasonable. When both the injection moulding process and the gate are eliminated; then the exhaust of the mould is the main problem, and the main means to solve this problem is to open an exhaust groove.

1 The role and design of the exhaust slot of the syringe core mould

1.1 The role of the exhaust slot of the syringe core mould

The function of the vent groove of the syringe core mould mainly has two points. The first is to exclude the air in the mould cavity when injecting the molten material; the second is to exclude the various gases generated during the heating of the material. The more thin-walled the product is, the farther away it is from the gate, the more important it is to open the vent. In addition, for small parts or precision parts, it is necessary to attach importance to the opening of the exhaust groove, because in addition to avoiding surface burns and insufficient injection volume, it can also eliminate various defects of the product and reduce mould pollution. So, how can the exhaust of the cavity be considered sufficient? In general, if the melt is injected at the highest injection rate without leaving a focal spot on the product, the exhaust in the mould cavity can be considered to be sufficient.

1.2 Exhaust method of syringe core mould

There are many methods for venting the cavity of the syringe core mould, but each method must ensure that: while venting the vent, its size should be designed to prevent material from overflowing into the slot; secondly, it should prevent blockage. Therefore, from the inner surface of the mould cavity to the outer edge of the mould cavity, the length of the exhaust groove of 6-12 mm or more, the groove height should be about 0.25-0.4mm. In addition, too many exhaust slots are harmful. Because if the clamping pressure applied to the part of the cavity parting surface that is not vented is large, it is easy to cause cold flow or cracking of the cavity material, which is very dangerous. In addition to venting the mould cavity on the parting surface, the purpose of venting can be achieved by setting an exhaust groove at the end of the stream of the pouring system and leaving a gap around the ejector. Because of the choice of the depth, width and position of the exhaust groove; if it is not appropriate, the burr generated will affect the appearance and accuracy of the product. Therefore, the size of the gap is limited to prevent flashing around the ejector rod. It should be particularly noted here that when a product such as a gear is vented, even the smallest flash may be undesirable. This type of parts is best vented in the following ways: ① thoroughly remove the gas in the flow channel; ② shot blasting the mating surface of the parting surface with a silicon carbide abrasive with a particle size of 200 #. In addition, the opening of the exhaust groove at the end of the flow of the gating system mainly refers to the exhaust groove at the end of the runner. Its width should be equal to the width of the runner, and the height varies depending on the material.

1.3 Design Method of Syringe Mandrel mould

Based on many years of experience in the design of syringe mandrel moulds and product test moulds; this article briefly introduces the design of several vent grooves. For product moulds with complex geometries, the opening of vent grooves; it is best to determine after several trials. The biggest disadvantage of the overall structural form in the mould structure design is poor exhaust. There are several methods of venting the entire cavity core: ① Use the groove or insert of the cavity to be taken; ② Use side insert seams; ③ Partially made into a spiral shape 4. Install slotted laths in the longitudinal position to open craft holes; ⑤ When the exhaust is extremely difficult, use a mosaic structure, etc. If the dead corner of some moulds is difficult to open the exhaust groove, the mould should be appropriately changed to mosaic processing without affecting the appearance and accuracy of the product. Exhaust gas cleaning can sometimes improve the original processing difficulty and facilitate maintenance.

With the increasing attention to health, the market demand for     Syringe Mould     and safety needle moulds is growing. Yuhuan Shengjiu Mould Co., Ltd. makes these uses of medical mould more with its superb technology. Is a professional syringe mould manufacturer and syringe mould supplier in China. Welcome to buy: https://www.medicalmould.net/

[alvarad982stedk]

INSERT MOLDING VS COATING MOLDING

Injection molding of inserts is similar to other molding methods, but there are some differences in each process. Injection molding involves injecting one or more molten plastics into a mold to form a single finished product.

Coating molding

What is the coating molding? Simply put, the coating process can be plastic, flexible or flexible.

There are physical and chemical methods to realize the coating moulding (including overmolding). The former, for example, relies on snap design, surface tapping threads, and then coated with the second material to achieve the coating forming. The physical joints have strong adhesion, while the parts outside the physical joints have little adhesion.

Chemical method is based on the molecular affinity between two materials and the bonding force of chemical bonds. The two materials are bonded together to form a single component, two or even many kinds.

                                                    china mold factory

Insert molding

Inserts for plastic inserts are usually made of brass, steel or stainless steel and have threaded surfaces to provide better adhesion to plastics. Injection molding inserts are placed in the molds manually or vertically by a machine.

This position allows gravity to keep the plug-in in place when the mold is closed. As the molten plastic is slowly poured into the mold, it helps to fix the insert in a fixed position.

About JasonMould Industrial Company Limited

Jasonmould is a China mold maker of plastic molds- injection mold, die casting moulds, plastic blow molding, rotational molding, medical plastic injection molding, two shot plastic injection molding, insert molding, overmolding, metal injection molding, micro injection molding, powder injection molding, ceramic injection molding, liquid injection molding, husky injection molding, household mold, casting mold, die mold tool, custom molds, china moulds, rapid prototyping tooling, plastic prototyping tooling, punch press tooling, die and tooling for mobile/ cell phone parts, automotive parts, vacuum cleaners, rechargeable tools, telephones, copiers, computers, multimedia speakers, and many other electronic products and household appliances. And also a plastic product manufacturer, mold manufacturer China– plastic parts, plastic water tank, plastic balls, plastic containers, plastic buckle, plastic anchor, plastic hanger, plastic spoon, plastic pipe fitting, plastic tumble, plastic tableware, plastic cups, plastic bottles, plastic tray, plastic cosmetic container, plastic case, plastic food container, plastic chairs, plastic caps, plastic cap closure, plastic tubes, plastic water pipes, plastic knobs, plastic tubing, plastic utility boxes, plastic racks and so on.

Contact: Person: James Yuan Company: JasonMould Industrial Company Limited Add:  LongGang Village,LongXi Town,BoLuo County,HuiZhou City,GuangDong Province, China Tel: 86-752-6682869 Email: james@jasonmolding.com

[injectionmoldchina]

New Post has been published on https://www.injectionmouldchina.com/reverse-ejection/

Reverse Ejection

The depression embeds in many molds are situated inside the fixed side of the form and the center additions are situated on the moving side of the shape. Since the formed part contracts onto the centers as the plastic cools, the shaped parts will in general stay with the centers on the moving side of the form when the shape is opened.

Appropriately, molds are normally planned with an ejector lodging and ejector plate on the moving side of the shape to such an extent that ejector pins can eliminate the part from the center. In any case, this ordinary plan from china high precision mold manufacturer is tricky in that it doesn’t accommodate a simply stylish surface, totally liberated from abandons, on one or the other side of the formed part. Witness imprints will ordinarily be left on the center side of the formed part from the ejector pins while witness imprints will commonly be left on the depression side of the shaped part from the feed framework.

To give a totally tasteful surface, molds can be planned with “switch launch.” One such plan is appeared in oem/odm automotives molding factory, which incorporates a form hole plate 68 on the moving side of the shape and a form center plate 38 on the fixed side of the shape 36. The sprue 76 passes on the plastic liquefy from the machine spout 14 through the shape center plate 38 to the form cavity 40 and 74. Since the shaped part will in general stay on the form center, the fixed side of the form 36 likewise incorporates ejector pins 48 and different segments that work with an ejector plate 30 situated between rails 18. Since the trim machine’s ejector pole is situated on the moving side of the embellishment machine and is futile with this shape plan, the form configuration likewise incorporates water driven chambers 32 for incitation of the ejector plate. Because of this shape plan, the whole surface of the formed part inverse the center is liberated from restorative imperfections.

There are points of interest and inconveniences of the shape plan of oem/odm industrial injection mold factory contrasted with the past plan of china mold component machining. The essential preferred position is the utilization of various equipping stages to decouple the incitation of the rack and pinion from the turn of the centers. All things considered, it is conceivable to defer and in any case program the pivot of the centers during the form opening while at the same time evading the exceptionally huge stack stature related with the coarse helix of the past plan. The essential burden is the enormous number, complex design, and huge volume of the outfitting stages. Furthermore, the planetary design proposes an outspread format of pits thus may require extremely enormous molds for a high number of holes. Appropriately, the planetary stuff configuration might be ideal in a shape with a moderately low number of cavities requiring high incitation forces.

This article is from https://www.injectionmouldchina.com/

[sportsleague365]

We take a daily look at all the latest big Birmingham City transfer news and rumours. We also take a quick glance at the big headlines from the rest of the Championship. Birmingham City have been linked with a shock move for Stoke City’s Saido Berahino. The Potters forward, who came through the ranks at West Midlands neighbours West Bromwich Albion , is out of favour at the Bet365 Stadium after a highly public off-field issues. Costing Stoke £12m when they brought him from Albion in January 2017, Berahino has scored just three league goals in two-and-a-half years and they’re ready to cut their losses and moving him on. READ MORE The 25-year-old has returned from Egypt after representing his native Burundi in their first ever African Nations Cup campaign. According to the Sun , Blues will look to offer him a Wast Hills trial in pre-season to permit him the chance to earn a contract at St Andrew’s. Blues boss Pep Clotet is in the market for a new striker after losing Che Adams to Southampton. However, BirminghamLive has been told a move for the striker is unlikely. KEEPING KALVIN Blues’ Championship rivals Leeds United have opened contract talks with Kalvin Phillips in a bid to keep the midfielder amid interest from Aston Villa. Villa have been chasing Phillips this summer and still retain an interest as they mould Dean Smith’s squad ahead of the Premier League season. They have tested the water with an offer of around £14m but so far have been met with a determination from Leeds to hold onto the fan favourite. Che Adams and Kalvin Phillips battle at St Andrew’s (Image: TIM EASTHOPE/BIRMINGHAM MAIL) The Elland Road club are said to have placed an asking price of around double that fee on Phillips, who made 44 appearances for the beaten Championship play-off semi-finalists last season. Now, in an attempt to fight off transfer interest, talks have been opened with the academy graduate over a new deal according to Leeds writer Phil Hay. The deal on the table would place Phillips among the club’s top earners with his current contract set to expire in 2021. READ MORE WHAT’S HAPPENING AT BLUES? NEAL FEE The Standard are reporting Sheffield United will have to pay more than the £15m Southampton paid Blues for Che Adams. The French striker is reportedly interesting Chris Wilder after an outstanding campaign in the Championship which saw him score 28 goals. Maupay’s agent has been to Sevilla with La Liga outfit claimed to be interested but the Blades are also in the running. Wilder has already broken the Bramall Lane club’s transfer record once this week bringing in Luke Freeman from QPR. Neal Maupay of Brentford The undisclosed deal eclipsed the £4m United paid for John Egan last summer from Brentford. Brentford are believed to be demanding well over £15m for the forward signed from St Etienne for £1.7m in July 2017, which they say has cooled rival interest from Aston Villa. Maupay has previously made overtures towards a reunion with his ex-Bees manager – and current Villa boss – Dean Smith saying last season. “I have a really, really good relationship with Dean. So obviously if one day he calls me and says ‘Neal, I need you in my team’ I would consider it….Obviously, I really liked working for him, so if one day he wants to bring me to Villa or wherever I would listen to him because he has done a lot of good things for me.” READ MORE BAGGIES MOVE Slaven Bilic has made his first signing as head coach of West Brom , after securing the transfer of Filip Krovinovic from Portuguese outfit Benfica. Midfielder Krovinovic, 23, has agreed a one-year loan deal at The Hawthorns and become compatriot Bilic’s first capture since replacing Darren Moore last month. The Croatian moved to Benfica from Rio Ave in 2017, but has struggled to find regular football at the Estadio da Luz; he only made a handful of appearances last term, albeit some of them in the Europa League, and manager Bruno Lage has agreed for Albion to borrow him for the forthcoming Championship campaign. Albion have sold Craig Dawson to Watford this summer, but besides the number of senior players who were released at the end of their contract – including James Morrison and Gareth Barry – business has been low key thus far. Bilic and technical director Luke Dowling are working on a number of targets; the Baggies have recently been linked with winger Opa Nguette, Bristol City striker Famara Diedhiou and Chelsea midfielder Trevoh Chalobah. READ MORE PALM-ED OFF Kasey Palmer has travelled with the rest of the Chelsea first-team squad to Dublin, casting doubt over any potential return to Bristol City. Bristol Live understands the 22-year-old is part of the Blues’ touring party for Frank Lampard to run the rule over following his appointment at Stamford Bridge on Thursday. The Mirror reported on Wednesday night that Palmer is one of a number of young players Lampard is considering keeping hold of for the Premier League season due to the transfer embargo the Blues are under. It is believed that has come from sources close to the player, who made 17 appearances on loan for City last season, and there is no definite confirmation at this stage that he won’t be leaving Chelsea on loan or a permanent deal. However, the fact that Lampard wants to take a closer look at the attacking midfielder delays any potential for a loan return to Ashton Gate, should Lee Johnson be interested in such a move. Steve Cotterill was interested in bringing Palmer to St Andrew’s in January 2018. READ MORE ARNIE WINDFALL Stoke City are expected to receive about £500,000 from a sell-on clause as West Ham United prepare to get shot of Marko Arnautovic, say the Sentinel . Arnautovic is due to return for pre-season training on Monday in Switzerland, ironically where he submitted his transfer request to leave Stoke just two years ago. Leander Dendoncker of Wolverhampton Wanderers is challenged by Marko Arnautovic Arnautovic is close to a move to Chinese side Shanghai SIPG for £22.4m and the 30-year-old told the Hammers he wanted to quit London Stadium earlier this week when he learned of renewed interest from China. West Ham’s initial reaction was to tell the Austria international, who signed a new deal five months ago, to honour his contract. But an increased bid has been received which is now likely to be accepted. The Premier League club feel it is better to let Arnautovic leave than allow a potentially disruptive influence remain in Manuel Pellegrini’s squad. This is your round up of all things Birmingham City; the one-stop shop that will keep you updated on the latest goings on at St Andrew’s and beyond. Transfers, injuries, match-days and managers, we’ve got you covered. We’ll be bringing the very latest on Blues throughout week and around the clock. Make sure you keep yourself updated with our handy daily catch up… MUST-READS * Pep’s message – READ * Che confirmed – READ * Exciting links – READ * Blues’ fixtures – READ FOR ALL YOUR LATEST BLUES NEWS, OPINION, ANALYSIS AND TRANSFER GOSSIP, CLICK HERE LONDON BOY Fulham fear Harvey Elliott will leave Craven Cottage this summer, according to The Standard. Elliott became the youngest ever Premier League player – aged 16 years and 30 days – in May but he has failed to agree a new contract and Fulham are powerless to prevent him leaving. That has alerted some of Europe’s biggest clubs with Liverpool, Barcelona, Real Madrid and RB Leipzig all claimed to be interested. Fulham could receive handsome compensation if he moves to another English club – but relatively little if he goes overseas. TalkSPORT have picked up on the fact Elliot follows the official Liverpool Instagram account, Jordan Henderson, Mohamed Salah and Roberto Firmino and even recently started following Sepp van den Berg, who joined the Reds earlier this month to become their first summer signing. For all your latest Blues news, opinion, analysis and transfer gossip, click here Source link The post Birmingham City striker latest as West Brom make first move, Liverpool receive teenager boost and Leeds United battle Aston Villa interest – Championship rumours appeared first on 10z Soccer. #LeedsUnited #BirminghamCityFC #DarrenMoore

[dannylenihan]

Why things cost what they cost...

In the last couple of weeks my little brand, 3 Legged Thing, launched a brand new Universal L Bracket - the QR11. For the most part, the response has been overwhelmingly positive.

Then, somebody sent me a link to a well known forum, where a conversation had started about the press release for the QR11. The comments were almost wholly negative with more than one contributor stating “You can buy this from **Insert website** for $7″ or “I got one from China for $5 and it works just fine”. 

Fantastic. What you actually did is perpetuate a cycle of intellectual property theft, and put your own equipment at risk by using something that has zero accountability, or any certification, made with unknown materials, in a factory where you have no idea what the conditions are like. That’s what you did. I’ll take you through it, step by step, so you can understand.

1: Intellectual Property.

Firstly, we (manufacturers) all trip up on intellectual property from time to time. When you file a patent, it takes the examiners upwards of a year to do all of the searches required to see if any prior art exists. As a small company, we simply don’t have the resources or the time to do this kind of search, and neither do most larger corporations, but we try our level best to ensure that we are only filing utility patents for true innovation. From time to time every company inadvertently steps on another’s toes, which is why we have a licensing system.

Chinese manufacturers have little or no regard for intellectual property. They are well known for copying other designs. They just buy the product, scan it, pull it into a CAD system, and then load it up to their machining. Voila - product copied. Zero overhead, unless you count the cost of the product in the first place, plus the engineers time, reverse-engineering, and maybe two or three attempts for a production sample before it comes out correctly - or at least, how they perceive “correct”. The process probably takes a couple of weeks, if that.

So, basically it’s a counterfeit, that took the hard work of a small company like mine, and without any consideration for the legalities (yes, it’s illegal) they copied it, stuck it in a box and sold it. But sure, you can have an L Bracket for six dollars.

2: Design & Deliver - this is just to demonstrate the work it takes to bring a single product, like our new L Bracket, to market.

a: Design meeting - new product introduction. What are the objectives? What are we trying to achieve?

b: Meetings with camera stores. Measure every camera. This takes a couple of weeks

c: We make a box sketch for the underside, and left side aspects, taking in to account every camera we've measured.

d: With all of the data in place I create a simplistic design which offers the most universal coverage for all cameras. Is it perfect? No. But that’s not the point - the point is a one-size-fits-all bracket, which may have some limitations, but serves to do the job it was designed for - to enable a photographer to switch from landscape to portrait without moving the tripod or head, retaining the composition.

e: Then I start to design the mechanical necessities - usually I start with the rubber pads. This process can take a long time. The rubber pads are crucial to the final product. My goal is to create maximum surface contact and grip, to provide a stronger, more secure connection. 

f: Innovation comes next - what other value can we add to this product? We add a number of extra functions to all of our products. This part of the process can take several weeks.

g: Once we have a final design, there are a number of stages. Filing patents or design registrations comes first - over the life cycle of a patent it will cost upwards of $100k for extending worldwide, annual renewals, legal costs, filing fees etc. 

h: Making a short run production for samples is next, and handing these out to a number of Pro-Team members to test and try and comment on.

i: Build the asset library. The costs and time implications of this should not be underestimated.

Photograph the products - pack shots

Lifestyle Images - shots in use, in different locations and environments

Product Video 

Product Information Packs for dealers

j: Packaging design and Instructions actually happens towards the end of the process. This can take a few months itself, as there are a number of things to consider - we write manuals in six languages, and our boxes and packaging have to comply to regulations in 206 countries - no easy feat.

k: Finally it’s the launch - Press releases, marketing, adding listings and writing copy for websites, blurb etc.

That whole process just took between 8 and 12 months, with thousands of man hours, and costs upwards of $100k in time, materials, legal fees, outsource costs etc.

The Bottom Line

The Chinese factory did it in two weeks, without any of the above effort. Is it any wonder they can produce something that looks similar for six dollars?

3: Factory Standards

Working conditions is an important part of our company ethos, as it is for most manufacturers in our industry. Sure, I could make things cheaper - the first factory I worked with, with one of my other brands back in 2005, was a total chop shop - I pulled out of there when I realised how bad the conditions were. That was a steep learning curve for me - since then, I inspect any factory for compliance to health and safety regulations before deciding whether or not to trial them, and I always, always stay at the factory for first production, to see that workers are treated fairly, provided with the necessary tools and safety equipment required to do their jobs properly.

"I always, always stay at the factory for first production, to see that workers are treated fairly, provided with the necessary tools and safety equipment required to do their jobs properly."

I’ve seen factories where the conditions are appalling. Where old ladies sit with woollen gloves, using their hands to knock burrs off die cast components, blood pouring up their arms. Where moulds that weigh over 600kg are carted around on rusty chains by workers with no safety helmets, wearing sandals or flip flops. Where workers using lathes or DMC’s sit with sparks flying at them, no goggles on, hands covered in splinters.

It’s inhumane. And for us, unacceptable. But sure, you can have an L Bracket for six dollars.

4: Materials

We use only the highest grade of materials. We use T6061 for aluminium with a 1.1% magnesium content. We use the highest grade of stainless steel for the safety pins and the camera screw. We’ve tested these to destruction, because we know that a 4mm shaft of stainless steel is the difference between holding your camera and losing it. Is the cheap, Chinese version free from materials that are restricted in most countries? Lead, cadmium and a few others besides? 

Here I am inspecting the aluminium billets at the factory. Our QC process starts at materials in, and is duplicated through every stage of production.

"We use only the highest grade of materials."

Then there are the actual processes to consider. I saw one comment along the lines of “got one from AliExpress, CNC’d, so every bit as good as a brand version”. That’s just not accurate. A CNC machine is just a 3D drill that does what it is mapped to do. There are all sorts of other considerations - which kind of lubricant do they use? Is it toxic? Do they have sealed waste flushing and specialist disposal? What about the tolerances? Is it precision engineered? Unlikely. Being that the aim of the game is to be as cheap as is humanly possible, I doubt that any single item sits in a block for more than five minutes, meaning it’s machined crudely and cheaply. It’s also the difference between using a $2 drill bit and a $100 drill bit. Both will make a hole, but only one will do it smoothly and accurately.

How is it finished? Is it anodized? Anodizing is a horrible chemical process that requires strict controls and safety equipment, and extensive training. Even the Chinese government have started to close many of the non-compliant factories, because of the injury and fatality rates, and the dumping of chemicals into groundwater.

"We recycle every gram of waste - from swarf to filings, everything is collected, rinsed, packaged and recycled."

So, the materials are unknown, potentially full of non-compliant chemicals, made in a factory that’s possibly poisoning the groundwater of the local community, and might be responsible for many workplace injuries, but sure, you can have an L Bracket for six dollars. 

5: Pricing

With months of development, huge legal costs for protecting designs and technology, thousands of man hours of labour, outsource costs, prototyping etc, this product has to make money. Contrary to popular belief, “profit” isn’t a dirty word. It enables everyone in the world who works in the private sector to have a job.

I have distributors in countries around the world. I need to sell the product to them, with a layer of profitability for my company. They need to sell it to camera stores, and also need to make a profit. The camera stores sell it directly to you, and they too need to make a profit, and it is this last link in the chain which is so at risk of extinction. Our industry has millions of employees around the world. We’ve already seen huge losses of jobs and stores since 2010, and we’re only just seeing small signs of recovery. A huge proportion of camera sales happen in stores - not online, and it is this facet that is most critical. The more stores that close, because they simply cannot compete with Chinese rip offs and off-the-shelf rebranded products, the less innovation will occur, and less production will happen, leading to higher prices and less jobs, until the economic viability of our industry is no longer sustainable.

The Reality

THAT is what you’re buying in to when you decide to get it cheaply. Far be it for me to judge anyone for their decisions - that’s not what this is about. This is about the disposable, throw-away comments that largely circumnavigate the actual circumstances of a product’s arrival in the market place.

Have you ever heard the expression “You get what you pay for”? Well, you do, if you buy something, anything, off the shelf in China, without any sort of verification process.

Anyway, I’m sure that any number of keyboard warriors will have something to say about this article. I’m not here to condemn anyone for their actions, far from it, I’m just trying to educate people to the realities of Chinese copies. 

There are only really a dozen or so global brands involved in camera support technology. As the smallest of these we are, perhaps, less affected by the Chinese copies, so I’m not writing this to protect my own company. This is about all of the great manufacturers, past and present, who spend millions on product development every year, only to see themselves ripped off by unscrupulous factories who don’t have the vision, the skill or the tenacity to create anything themselves. This is for the tens of thousands of employees of those companies who work hard, in daily fear of their livelihoods thanks to the incursion of illegal copies into our market place.

Are we perfect? No. But at least we’re doing it ourselves, with integrity, with compassion, with respect for human rights, with regard for regulations and compliance, with one eye on our planet and recycling, and with a degree of passion for this great industry.

That’s why it costs $50.

Thanks to Simon Pollock for the factory images.

[superjedders]

Back in the saddle again

Howdy! I’m new to this whole Tumblr lark but figured this would be the best place to share my ramblings and creative stories. I’ve been working on a long running fan fiction entitled Dawn of Absolution which I may share on here (it’s dotted around the internet at the moment) but for now I will treat you to a random chapter looking at our favourite gunslinger and his Recall to Overwatch. If you like this, maybe I’ll continue it on...who knows!

Early morning sunlight gleamed through the moth-eaten curtains of the dingy motel room Jesse McCree had called home for the past two weeks. The place looked like it was stuck in a 80’s time warp, the ugly floral pattern on the walls littered with patches of mould, the paper peeling from the ceiling and the furniture so old that sitting down on it too heavily would cause a cloud of dust to erupt from it. The place had been cheap, out of the way and despite the gross stickiness of the carpet beneath his boots the bounty hunter had decided it would be better than sleeping rough in some abandoned warehouse or under the stars again.

A gentle snoring rumbled from the bed as Jesse lay on his front, tangled in the off-white sheets, his robotic limb hanging over the edge of the bed and a pool of drool having formed under his face. He smacked his lips together as the sun cast across his face, grumbling in annoyance and rolling over away from the harsh light, the bed creaking and groaning beneath his body weight. His snoring increased with the shifted position, the gunslinger content to doze off. He didn’t stir the first time there was a knock at his door, simply mumbled in his sleep after the fourth attempt. The door to his motel room being kicked at certainly woke him however.

He jolted awake as the door was kicked open with a bang. His right hand flew towards the bedside table, grasping for his peacekeeper as he tried to get off the bed only proceeding to have his legs tangle further in the bedsheets and send him to the floor with a thud, the gun weakly raising towards the door as he heard the chuckling from an all too familiar female voice.

“Fuckin’ hell you tryin’ to give me a dam heart attack?” he muttered, his voice thick with sleep as he slapped his gun against the floor and rolled onto his back, untangling his legs from the bedsheets, his fingers fumbling with the fabric before he grabbed onto the bed and pushed himself up from the dirty carpet beneath him only to sit heavily on the edge of the bed, dragging a hand over his face as a yawn captivated him, his brown hair splayed out in all directions and a look of bewilderment on his face.

The female laughed again, shifting her weight to her right foot and raised an eyebrow at him. “Well if you bothered to answer the door I wouldn’t have to bust in on you” she replied curtly, gently taking the chance to adjust her plaid top that had risen just above her mid-section, revealing a sapphire belly button piercing and an intricate flower tattoo on her hip. Her long hair was tied in a plait, the vibrant red colour unnatural but suiting the woman’s rebellious personality and attire.

Jesse rubbed at his left shoulder, rotating some stiffness from the join before looking to her “Well if you didn’t guess, I was sleepin’” he said before scratching at his beard before leaning back and yawning loudly. “So, whatcha’ need that was so dam important you had to bust open my door at the ass crack of dawn?” rubbed at his eyes with his right hand, taking a second to pick some grit that had accumulated in the corner of his eyes, casually flicking it away from his fingers.

“Such the gentleman, you think I wanted to bust in and see you in nothing but your Y fronts?” she teased, watching the cowboy glance down to his boxers briefly before his lips parted in retaliation

“Now hold on jus’ a sec-“

“-You owe me cowboy.” She slotted her hands into the back pockets of her jeans casually “Now I know you said you were going to come into some money soon, but after that barfight you caused last week I need the money for a new bust. So, cough up” she demanded.

Jesse frowned at her, remembering the god awful looking bust of a previous motel owner that had been perched precariously on the end of the bar. He vaguely remembered using it to defend himself from a barstool that had been swung in his direction. He exhaled, reaching for his pack of cigarillos and popping one from the pack, quickly slotting it between his teeth and looking for his lighter. “Way I see it, I done you a favour darlin’ that thing was a goddam eyesore that was scarin’ away good customers” he flicked his lighter, lighting the cigarillo between his teeth and drawing a breath before exhaling the smoke and flicking his lighter shut.

“That eyesore was my great grandfather! ” The woman retorted, having plucked a cigarette into view and gesturing towards the gunslinger, Jesse lighting it for her with raised eyebrow.

“Then I’m sorry but y’all need to hire a different artist, that thing looked like dam rabid raccoon that lost a fight with a truck” he chuckled at the fury on her face before getting to his feet, tossing the lighter on the side and drawing another breath from his cigarillo, the smoke escaping his lips. “Besides, if memory serves I didn’t start that fight so you can’t hold that over me.” He had his cigarillo balance between his teeth again as he sauntered towards the kitchenette, filling the old kettle and letting it boil, leaning against the counter and folding his arms with a cocky smirk. He watched the female fume and smoke her own cigarette while she failed to think of a suitable response to his words. Chuckling to himself, he grabbed a cup from the cupboard and sneering at the stains within its china interior, taking a moment to rinse it under the tap before hunting for the half empty pack of coffee granules he had.

As he messily spooned sugar and coffee into his cup delicate hands ran up his exposed back, resting on his shoulders, fingers kneading his tense muscles before a chin rested on his shoulder, hands roaming around to the front of his torso. Jesse set down the spoon with a gentle smirk, turning around and tilting his head gently at the woman, her hands roaming over his chest, tracing across old scars occasionally, her gaze hidden somewhat behind her bangs. “I thought we had a good thing going here? Or am I wrong Joel?” she rested her arms on his shoulders, her hand interlinked behind his head as she met his gaze, biting on her lip, cigarette balanced between her fingers. The gunslinger had told her a false name, the female none the wiser to the real identity of the man before her.

Jessed placed his hands on her hips, feeling the female press closer to his exposed torso “That we do darlin’ but this ain’t related to that is it?” he murmured raising a hand and gently cupping his finger under her chin with a gentle smile. She rolled her eyes at him, pulling away with an exasperated sigh, allowing Jesse to resume making himself a coffee.

“Can’t blame a girl for trying.” She said, leaning against the island counter “I take mine black, no sugar” she shot the cowboy a grin when he glanced over his shoulder at her before he mechanically grabbed another cup from the cupboard, stubbing out his cigarillo in an alrady full ashtray on the side.

Soon the pair were stood opposite each other with a warm cup of coffee between their hands, both had stubbed out their smokes and were staring each other down, Jesse breaking the silence first. “Look Melissa, I can’t give you what I don’t have. Last bounty ain’t paid up jus’ yet but when it does-“

“-You said that last time.” She exhaled in annoyance pinching the bridge of her nose before continuing “Look, I like having you here. It’s nice having someone stay that isn’t a complete dickhead, but I can’t let rooms go for free” she sipped from the coffee wincing at the taste and setting the cup down “Urgh, you make god awful coffee. How you manage that with instant coffee is beyond me” she said.

Jesse nodded in gentle understanding, finishing his own drink “Shucks I’m blushin’. Besides, the coffee tastes alright to me” he mused, remembering the diner he had spent much of his Deadlock gang days in. The middle-aged woman that had worked there, Doris. She had been a lovely soul to all that had entered the diner but the slightest hint of trouble brewing and she would rain down on the poor souls like a battle-axe. Made a mean roadkill burger but the coffee had always tasted boiled dirt. He smiled at the memory for a moment before setting his cup down and meeting the females gaze. “Lemme make myself presentable, then we can see about makin’ some sort of agreement a’ight?” the female nodded. “Make yerself comfortable” he said before grabbing his clothes from around the room and vanishing into the tiny bathroom to shower.

Melissa wandered about the motel room, picking up various items out of pure curiosity. The handful of flashbangs tucked in the corner of the room by a gold BAMF buckle made her wonder what type of man this Joel was. A gentle bleeping grabbed her attention, causing her to spin on her feet listening carefully over the noise of the shower. Again, a melodic bleed rang out, muffled under something in the room. She glanced towards the bathroom, the sound of the cowboy warbling something to himself that was somewhat reminiscent of a song told her she had plenty of time to investigate.

She’d overturned the sofa, the bed and even searched the kitchen, setting everything back afterwards before she finally turned her attention to the tattered cowboy hat that rested on a neatly folded red serape by the door. Lifting the hat, she rummaged through the layers of the folded serape, her hand clasping around a metal device and tugging it free. The circular device had some sort of ear piece wrapped around it, the female unwinding the cable and setting the ear piece aside before examining the chrome finish. It was unlike any phone she had ever seen, resembled something along the lines of a compass. As she tapped the front a few times the screen illuminated, the Overwatch logo in the background immediately grabbing her attention alongside the message dialogue box on screen;

“To: J. McCree From: Gibraltar

Subject: Attn; Overwatch Recall Initiated”

McCree? Her eyes widened taking the opportunity to pull a crumpled piece of paper from her pocket and quietly unravelling it, staring at the faded wanted poster, a glint in her eyes. 60-million-dollar bounty on the outlaw Jesse McCree. Dead or alive.

The click of the bathroom door unlocking grabbed the female’s attention causing her to whirl around and hiding the poster and device behind her back just as Jesse stepped into the room. The gunslinger was buttoning up his shirt with a melodic whistle before he paused and glanced up to her, frowning at her almost suspiciously. “Y’alright? You look more nervous than a hooker in church.” he said folding his arms and glancing around the room. Melissa tensed, biting the inside of her lip and almost expecting the cowboy to identify that she had been snooping from a speck of dust being out of place. Instead Jesse chuckled and wandered around his bed to fetch his belt and holster, ruffling a hand through his damp hair and continuing his gentle whistling.

Melissa seized the opportunity to crush the poster back into her jean pocket along with the device, folding her arms and relaxing for a while. “So I’ve been thinking about our little agreement” she spoke up softly, plucking her phone from her top pocket and constructing a short text message before continuing “I think I can wait a little longer for that payment after all”

Jesse glanced back over his shoulder with a raised eyebrow “Really now? That’s mighty kind of ye’ darlin’” he said turning back and continuing to rummage through his bedside table again “So why the change o’ heart?” he asked.

Melissa glanced towards the door of the motel room, biting on her lip before answering him “Well I remembered an investment that I can cash in on, so that’ll pay for the damage to the bar.”  Her hand snaked towards the base of her spine, fastening around the grip of a pistol she always had tucked into the waist of her jeans. The motel she ran wasn’t the most legit of places and the cliental she dealt with meant she always ensured to have a gun on her. Dead or alive the poster had said.

The device she had taken from the cowboy bleeped loudly in her back pocket again, drawing a curse from her mentally. She had intended to wait for a better opportunity but thought against it as Jesse ceased his searching. Quickly drawing the gun, she aimed it towards the cowboy, removing the safety and was startled when Jesse rounded on her at the same time with his peacekeeper in his right hand and a stern look etched on his brows.

Silence. The pair were as still as statues, muzzles of the guns pointing directly at each other. Jesse broke the silence first “I don’t like shootin’ a lady, so I’d appreciate it if you’d put the gun down” his gaze didn’t waver, Melissa scowling at him in return and shaking her head.

“Fat chance, there’s a nice bounty on you. Jesse McCree.” She enunciated his real name, every syllable like poison. Rich, bountiful poison “More than enough for me to retire somewhere nice. Why don’t you toss the gun aside and I won’t have to worry about the mess shooting you will make” her finger twitched on the trigger, threatening the cowboy.

McCree frowned in response, lips parting to retort when the infernal beeping of his Overwatch comms device caused him to roll his eyes “Ya mind darlin’? I’m assumin’ you took the liberty of snatchin’ it from me while I was in the shower” he asked holding out his left hand for it, the metallic limb glinting briefly as the sun reflected off it. Melissa’s free hand moved towards her back pocket defensively the cowboy rolling his eyes at her “Pretty certain we’re at a stale mate here pumpkin, jus’ hand it over” he prompted watching as the female reluctantly fished the device from her pocket and tossed it towards him. “Thank ye’ kindly” he murmured, having just about caught it with his left hand. Keeping the gun trained on her he tapped at the screen, barely averting his gaze, a look of thought crossing his features. A recall? Now?

“So, you were part of Overwatch” Melissa stated, mentally reminding herself to keep her gun trained on the man before her as he slotted the device into his shirt pocket.

“Not quite, I rolled with a much different crowd” he shifted his focus to her fully, a strange look in his brown hues. He had heard the voices down the hall, and knew Melissa didn’t intended on taking him down alone.

“Forgive me sweetheart” he said, before his gun jerked towards her leg and barked loudly. The bullet tore through flesh and muscle, downing the woman with a scream of shock and agony her own pistol clattering to the floor as she grabbed at the wound.

“You bastard! You fucking bastard! You shot me!” she yelled, about to grab at her gun when Jesse darted over, kicking it away with his foot before reaching behind her, taking a second to throw his serape over his head. He paid little attention to the woman at his feet who was still grasping at the bleeding wound in her leg. “You fucker!” she spat painfully.

“Ye’ I get that a lot, not like you weren’t gun’ shoot me. All’s fair in love an’ war sweetheart’” he muttered, slapping his hat on his head, checking his gun and glancing to the door of his room as rapid footsteps thundered up the stairs. Frantic voices signalling more company. His hand clamped over Melissa’s mouth when she went to yell more obscenities him, her words muffled into the palm of his hand. “Keep grumblin’ and you’ll have more than a flesh wound to worry about” Jesse hissed, crouching close to her, the scent of cigarillos, dust and shower gel wafting from him. Jesse took a slow breath, gun drawn at his side ready.

When the men burst into the motel room with guns, Melissa let out a muffled scream to draw their attention. Despite all three men spinning towards the noise, Jesse was already on his feet and fired first. The initial shot connected with the forehead of the male on the far right, blood spraying from the wound and the body staggering backwards. As it hit the floor with a sickening thud the peacekeeper was already trained on the middle target and barking loudly and drawing a yell from the assailant as the bullet collided with their knee, bone splintering on impact and sending him to the ground. By the time, McCree had his peacekeeper trained on the third he was staring down the barrel of the automatic rifle.

Diving behind the couch as the gunman open fired, Jesse kept his back pressed firmly against the musty fabric, wary of the bullets shredding the edges and tearing up the wall in in front of him, pieces of fabric, foam and plaster raining down on him.  He bided his time, checking the rounds in his peacekeeper briefly and placing his left hand against the floor, poised for the inevitable click of an empty magazine which would signal his chance to retaliate.

Clunk!

McCree drew a breath and reacted, popping up from behind the like a jack rabbit, his peacekeeper barking twice in succession and silencing the last two men. He stood confidently, watching thick crimson blood pool by the kitchenette before breathing out and letting his gun arm drop to his side. He never enjoyed taking lives, no matter what the circumstance. With Blackwatch it was taking out the trash, doing a little bad for a whole lot of good and for Deadlock it was simple survival instincts. As a bounty hunter, he had cultivated the best of both, dispensing justice where he saw fit, allowing some to live and just fighting for his survival where needed. Reyes had always told him that the life of the criminals they took down were not worth a fleeting thought. Ana Amari, however, carried the weight of her kills heavily, striking a notch in her gun sparing a thought for those with a family, friends.

‘Better to spare a thought for those who lives we are forced to take. It makes us human, stops us becoming the monsters we fight’ her words had stuck with him for years, Gabe’s too. Sometimes having conflicting advice made it harder to know how to react.

“McCree”

He had let his guard down. Not for long but for a snake in the grass it was long enough to strike. The call of his name caused him to turn towards the noise, finding Melissa stood awkwardly across the room from him, lopsided in pain with her pistol gripped tightly in her right hand, the left clutching a blood-soaked cloth to the bullet wound he had inflicted. The crazed look in her eyes, messy hair and tear stained face matched the pure menace of her words.

“Fuck you!”

The first shot collided with his chest, a burst of pain and a hot wave of panic washing over him as he stumbled backwards and felt his back meet the wall waiting for the sticky sensation of blood to soak his chest, waiting for the pain. Nothing? His right hand moved to the spot, feeling the hole in his shirt and no blood just the sensation of shattered glass jostling in his pocket. A breath caught in his throat as realisation began to wash over him before the second shot struck him in the left shoulder, driving a cry of agony past his lips and sending a white-hot pain searing through the nerves. Dark crimson blossomed from the wound immediately, the cowboy sliding down the wall to sit on the floor grasping at the wound with a grimace, slow breaths helping drive the pain towards the back of his mind. He squeezed his eyes shut for a moment, waiting for another shot to collide with his body and cursing himself for letting his guard down. Instead he heard the thump of a body hit the floor, opening his eyes to take in the scene before him.

Melissa was slumped in the corner, blood pooling from a chest wound and a stillness falling over her that only death could create. He hadn’t heard his gun fire, didn’t recall pulling the trigger but he knew the damage his peacekeeper dealt. He had fired out of pure instinct. Survival instinct.

Leaning his head back against the wall he exhaled slowly allowing his right hand to release his left shoulder, sucking a pained breath past his teeth as blood flowed freely again from the wound. Slowly he eased his blood-stained fingers into his shirt pocket, fumbling to pull the shell of his Overwatch Communication device free. The metallic back was dented, the pistol bullet having driven into the case and shattering the screen. A few taps of his thumb and the screen spluttered briefly, the recall message displayed as a kaleidoscope of unidentifiable shapes and colours before the device died in his hand. A worthy sacrifice. He let the device drop from his grip, moving his hand back to the wound in his shoulder and grunting painfully. A recall after all this time? Whether it was legit or not, would even entertaining the idea be a wise choice?

Slowly pushing himself to his feet, concern was etched on his face as the fingers on his left hand juddered and twitched involuntarily. “Shit” he muttered, grabbing a towel from the side and pressing it against the bullet wound with a hiss of pain. The bullet had torn into some of the complex wirings and nerve endings that allowed his robotic limb to react to his thoughts. He had spent the last few years maintaining the limb himself, but this was something beyond his level of ‘expertise’

As he cast his eyes around the room he found his gaze shifting back to the broken comms device on the floor as the glass crunched beneath his boots, a tired smirk crossing his features. “Still got my back after all this time” he mused thoughtfully before exhaling softly and adjusting his hat “Maybe it’s time to get back into the mix.”