Silicone Molding & Urethane Casting

What is Silicone Molding?

• A mold made out of Silicone with a cavity that follows the pattern to be reproduced.
• It is commonly known as Room Temperature Vulcanizing or RTV.
• A great solution to making parts in small batches or low-volume production runs without initial high investment inherent with injection molding/press dies.
• Offers high part detail retention as fine as fingerprint marks can be copied in the silicone mold.
• Can be used to reproduce around 10 – 50 units per mold, depending on material and design complexity.
• Insert molding and over-molding is also possible using this method.

What is Urethane Casting?

• Using a thermosetting plastic material (similar to epoxy) to create multiple copies of the master pattern.
• Together with the Silicone mold, parts can be produced with urethane plastic or urethane rubber materials that offer a wide range of mechanical, visual and electrical properties.
• Materials with UL and RoHS compliance are also available.
• Post processing such as machining and painting can also be done to urethane casted parts.
• Urethane casted parts offer suitability to be used as final material for your products.
• Typically has lower cost than 3D printing for parts greater than 10 units.
• Has an advantage over Injection molding, where investment of initial tooling is necessary, for volumes less than 1000 units.

What is Master Pattern?

It is the item that will be manufactured or reproduced.

It can be made from machined wood, plastic, metal, molded clay, or even 3D printed parts, depending on the complexity of the design.

It can also be an existing part that you want to reproduce.

Process of Urethane Casting