Certified Design, Tooling & Production — All Under One Roof

At HB Silicone, all stages in the silicone product development process occur under one roof, including product design, precision tooling, manufacturing, and fulfillment.

Silicone Compression Molding
Silicone Overmolding

Silicone Compression Molding

What is silicone compression molding production?

Silicone molding (moulding) is a manufacturing technique used to transform uncured (unvulcanized) silicone rubber into a pre-defined shape.

Compression molding is one method of silicone molding production, in which the uncured silicone rubber material will be placed between two halves of a pre-heated tool mold.

Custom Silicone Products & Silicone Molding Service

The mold is then closed under a top force from the vulcanizer molding machine. The high pressure will force the silicone material into contact with all areas of the mold cavity.

The heat and pressure will last for a few minutes until the raw material is fully cured, so this process is also known as silicone vulcanization. The shaped silicone components together with excess material which we called flash will be removed or demolded by hands then.

Searching for a new silicone factory either to make a mold for your next product or a factory that provides a complete service (mold + production and packing)? HB Silicone is your choice.

Silicone Overmolding

What is silicone over-molding?

Silicone overmolding is a process in which the finished component in metal or thermoplastic or even a different silicone part is overmolded with silicone in silicone molding production.

Simply put, silicone overmolding lets you combine multiple materials and colors with silicone for better performance and a more pretty appearance.

Silicone overmolding

Metal overmolding

Plastic overmolding

Silicone overmolding requires more than just the right equipment, it also calls for extensive knowledge of raw material property and their compatibility, particularly when it comes to factors like shrinkage and temperature requirements and stable combination.

If you’re ready to collaborate with a team of experts who believe in your vision, let HB Silicone provide you with an innovative, end-to-end design and manufacturing solution. Contact us today.

Silicone Molding Production Process

By offering the complete product development cycle under one roof- from designing parts & building molds to launching into full-blown production- you will reduce the risks of working with multiple vendors, improve time to market & lower costs.

1. Choose the right silicone material and durometer

The silicone molding production process begins with silicone raw material selection. Silicone rubber materials are formulated to meet different application needs, so they are divided into Different Options. Choosing the right silicone material when manufacturing a new silicone product is vital for its success.

By understanding our client’s needs properly, we will recommend the best silicone material. Based on product structure/function, application environment, performance, safety test requirement,s and customer’s budget, the most feasible material will be selected.

2. Silicone material compounding and blending

Silicone raw material itself is milk-white or transparent gum-like component with no any elasticity and strength. In order to improve the characteristics of raw silicone material and to have the desired colour, silicone material will be compounded with many ingredients such as vulcanizing agent, reinforcing filler, accelerator, colorant, etc.

Silicone compounding is the complex technology of selecting and blending silicone with other ingredients. The proper mixture is crucial to the success of silicone molding production.

3. Cutting / Blanking

Silicone material after blending will be collected in large rolls covered with film to prevent dust or dirt. It then will be cut into slices by an automatic cut machine. The slices’ length and width will be controlled according to the silicone part’s weight to be molded. Silicone blanking makes it easier for our molding operators to weight the material during silicone molding production.

4. Weight and place the silicone material onto preheated tool mold

Molding operators should be able to cut slices into small pieces and weight accurately, then place them quickly onto the tool mold in right place. Material weight is crucial, as too much material will lead to silicone parts size increase, and lack of material will cause small size or missing part.

HB Silicone offers standardization training to each molding operator, all our molding staffs have at least 3 years of work experience in silicone molding production. Their years of experience allow them to solve any manufacturing problems in silicone molding, and ensure reliable and high-quality outcomes.

5. Silicone part vulcanization molding

Silicone material will be fully cured under high temperature and pressure from vulcanizing molding machine, then the silicone parts are formed. Our molding department is equiped with 8 high precision automatic vacuum vulcanizing machines which can be used to craft more high performance silicone parts. Our sophisticated molding machines, coupled with our skilled operators, provide the capacity and flexibility to mould high-quality, high-volume silicone parts in short peroid.

6. Demolding

When the silicone is fully cured, the vulcanizing molding machine will release the pressure automatically, tool mold will come out and open for molding operators to remove the molded silicone parts. The raw material will be placed again for the next round of vulcanization.

7. Deflash

Silicone Flash – Is a thin flap of material at the parting line where the mold splits. Due to the low viscosity of silicone material and high molding pressure during heating and curing, The pressurized silicone material will flow to every spaces of tool mold. Flash can be minimized with favorable designs and better tooling and accurate material weight during vulcanizer molding production. Flash will be removed mainly by hands, cryogenics deflashing can also be applicated for some cases.

Note that on all silicone parts, there will always be a flash line with a small amount of silicone flash (less than 0.3mm) remaining, we call it parting line. For some products which have value much on outlook, the parting line may affact, so please inform us in advance, our engineer will design the mold layout in a better way during programming.

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