Save Time and Production Costs with RTV Molds and Urethane Castings in Houston, TX
If you’re a manufacturing company in Houston looking to cut production costs and turnaround times, consider urethane casting. Urethane castings provide a cost-effective alternative to injection molding for producing prototypes and low to medium runs of plastic parts. Urethane casting provides many advantages, including:
- Low tooling costs compared to injection molding.
- Extremely fast turnaround times compared to injection molding and other processes. In some cases, parts can be delivered in less than a week.
- There is a wide variety of urethane casting materials to select from. The urethane casting process can produce parts with a wide range of properties, including hardness, durability, and flexibility,
- There are many options when it comes to finishing urethane cast parts. Cast materials can be pigmented to create solid, opaque, and translucent colors.
- Urethane casting is ideal for manufacturing parts with complex geometries and intricate surface details. It can even achieve geometries impossible for injection-molded parts.
RTV Molds for Urethane Casting
RTV (Room Temperature Vulcanization) molding makes it easy to cast urethane parts. RTV molds are made from silicone rubber compounds that cure at room temperature. They don’t require additional heat or pressure for the curing process, making them convenient and cost-effective for small-scale manufacturing or prototyping.
The resulting product is malleable enough to capture even the finest details of a master pattern/part. RTV molds are widely used in industries such as prototyping, model making, special effects, and small-scale manufacturing due to their ease of use, versatility, and ability to produce high-quality reproductions of complex shapes and intricate details.
During the RTV molding process, the RTV compound is poured or brushed onto the master pattern to create the mold. It’s allowed to cure at room temperature, forming a flexible and durable mold. Once the RTV mold has cured, it is removed from the master pattern. The mold is then ready to be used for urethane casting.
The urethane material is mixed according to the specifications and poured into the mold cavity. The mold is typically clamped or secured to prevent leakage during casting. The urethane cast material is then allowed to cure within the RTV mold. This curing process can take several hours, depending on material type and environmental conditions.
Once the urethane material has fully cured, the casting is removed from the RTV mold. An RTV mold can be reused multiple times to produce additional urethane castings. Proper care should be taken to clean and store the mold between uses to ensure its longevity and performance.
Why Choose ProTek for RTV Molding and Urethane Casting in Houston?
ProTek Models & 3D Printing is here to serve you at every step of the urethane casting process, from printing the master pattern/part from your digital file to finishing the final product. Everything is done in-house. Our highly experienced engineering and design team produces precision, high-quality parts that are free of air bubbles and surface imperfections. In many cases, our urethane-cast parts are indistinguishable from injection-molded parts.
Customers can choose from many different materials for their urethane castings. ProTek offers:
- Rigid Polyurethanes
- Semi-Rigid Polyurethanes
- Flexible Polyurethanes
- Polyurethane Rubber
- Silicone
- Epoxy
- Polyester
Contact ProTek Models Today
Located in Conroe, TX, ProTek Models & 3D Printing serves businesses throughout the greater Houston area. We possess the expertise and capabilities to tackle just about any RTV molding or urethane casting job. Call us at (832) 968-6636 or contact us online to get answers to any questions you have about urethane casting and how it can benefit your project. We’ll work closely with you to ensure the end results meet your specifications, deadline, and budget.