Route one of five · fastest to a working mould
Silicone is poured or brushed by hand around a master, with no press or vacuum chamber involved. It is the cheapest way to make a mould that works, and the right answer far more often than people expect. It is also the least repeatable thing we do, and we will not pretend otherwise.
When it is right
Hand-made isn't simply the budget version of a cast mould. For some jobs, it's the only sensible route.
For architectural details, panels and large decorative pieces, boxing them in and pouring silicone over the top would use a fortune in material without adding any benefit. Brushed layers give you a skin where you need it, without using material where you don't.
If you have a carving on a building, a fitted detail, or something too fragile or too valuable to take off site, a brushed mould can be built in place. Nothing else on our list can.
Development pieces, samples for a show, or a shape you're still discussing internally. Committing to a proper boxed mould before the design is settled means spending money twice.
With rounded forms and soft relief, there is little detail for the eye to pick up. If the geometry is forgiving, the extra discipline of casting or vacuum casting may offer very little benefit.
The choice
There are two hand-made methods, and choosing between them mainly depends on size. If your master fits in a box and the volume of silicone needed is reasonable, pouring is a good choice. It creates a solid mould with even walls and no brush marks, and it takes less skill to get right.
If boxing the part would be absurd, use a brush-on approach. Silicone is applied in layers and thickened so it stays where it is put. The mould is then supported with a rigid jacket, helping it hold its shape when the part is removed.
Brushed moulds can have some real drawbacks. Because they are applied by hand, wall thickness can vary. The layers may also pick up brush texture, which can transfer to your casting. The jacket adds extra handling steps for whoever uses the mould. Most importantly, the first layer must be worked properly into every detail. Any air left behind becomes a void in every part you pull from the mould.
When your part has fine relief or lettering, hand pouring can be challenging. That is where vacuum casting comes in: it is a short step up, not a different world.
What we need
You don't need anything more formal at this stage. We just need to see the shape and understand roughly how large it is, because the volume of silicone is the largest single cost on this route.
Whether you're working with plaster, concrete, resin, wax or soap, tell us what you're making. Concrete is abrasive and shortens mould life, while resin runs hot. Each material affects the silicone grade we recommend.
As a rough guide, a hand-made mould has a shorter working life than a cast one. If you need a high number, we'll advise you to move up a route rather than sell you three of these.
If there's nothing available to mould from, a master pattern must be made first. This is a separate piece of work with its own cost.
The honest bit
Hand work is honest work, but it does not produce identical work. Two moulds made from the same master by the same person on different afternoons will differ slightly in wall thickness and surface. For a garden ornament, that difference may not matter. For a component that has to fit something, it matters a great deal.
Silicone cures in its own time, and it is sensitive to what it touches. Sulphur in some clays and modelling materials, certain adhesives, and residue from some release agents can inhibit the cure, leaving a tacky patch that never sets. This is not a defect in the mix. It is contamination on the master, so the solution is to prepare the master properly rather than add more catalyst.
This route has a clear limit. It will not hold a crisp arris for long, produce the same part five hundred times, or tolerate rushed demoulding. If any of those is essential, your project needs a cast mould or a hard tool. Moving up early is more cost-effective than discovering the limitation halfway through a season.
It will do one thing better than anything else we offer: get you a working mould from a shape you cannot easily draw, for the least money and with the fewest assumptions made on your behalf.
Next
That really is enough to get a sensible answer. Two or three photographs from different angles, one dimension so we know the scale, and a sentence about what you are casting into it.
If your job suits a different route, we'll explain which one and why. Many enquiries for a hand-made mould become cast moulds. A few become low-volume production, where we handle the casting and you buy the finished parts instead.
At a glance
From idea to finished mould
Swipe to see the whole diagram
Ready to start?
Send us a drawing, photograph or sample. We'll come back to you with a mould strategy, material recommendation and price.
Real people, a real workshop
No call centre and no middlemen. When you contact TCI Mouldings, you speak to the team who design, build and check your mould.
Thomas LaneManaging Director
George PrestonDesign & Project Manager
Kelly BallingerHead of Partnerships
Jim AndertonProduction Manager
TheodoreEmployee Welfare