Plastic Fantastic

Injection molding matches the accuracy and quality of diamond turning in the production of precision military optics.

Injection molder Fosta-Tek Optics (Leominster, MA) is claiming a first for its process for molding precision military optics that match the accuracy and quality of glass optics machined via diamond turning. The result, say company officials, will enable the mass production of lightweight, high-quality plastic optics at a fraction of the cost of the machined glass alternative.

Said Fosta-Tek Vice President Jim LeBlanc, “There are tooling and temperature issues, mold shrinkage, induced distortion caused by shrinkage, and more. What we’ve been able to do is duplicate a high-quality optical surface very accurately and predictably. We’re talking submicron-level tolerances.”