Metal insert moulding
Anti-vibration mounts, bonded seals, grommets with metal sleeves. Metal insert moulding creates a permanent bond between rubber and metal…
Open this variantCombined route · insert loaded, silicone moulded around
Insert moulding.
A pre-made insert — a threaded stud, a metal contact, a printed circuit, a stiffening plate — placed into the tool cavity, then silicone or rubber moulded around it. The insert becomes structurally part of the moulded part.
Why insert-mould
Because a fastener moulded into the part will never fall out.
A threaded metal insert moulded into silicone is captured. Nothing you assemble to it can pull it out. The alternative — moulding the part, drilling it, pressing an insert in — always risks the insert coming loose under load, temperature cycling, or vibration.
The same principle applies to any component you want permanently located inside the moulded part: a metal contact for an electrical connection, a stiffening plate that stops the silicone from stretching in a specific direction, a printed circuit that needs to sit in a defined position, a threaded stud for later assembly.
The insert arrives at the tool, is located in the cavity (by hand or by a pick-and-place robot), and the tool closes around it. Silicone or rubber flows in and cures. The finished part comes off the press with the insert permanently in place.
It's not exotic — most of what we mould at volume for OEMs has some form of insert in it. What matters is designing the insert-location features into the tool so the operator can't put the insert in wrong.
Drill down
2 ways we run insert moulding.
Each variant has its own page with the specifics: where it fits, how we run it and what to send us.
Threaded insert moulding
A rubber foot with a stud, a bumper with a threaded boss, a mount you can bolt through. Moulding the fixing into the part removes an…
Open this variantWhere inserts help
Three common insert types we mould around.
Threaded metal fasteners
Studs, brass inserts, threaded bushes. Moulded in, they're captured for the life of the part. Assembly torques them without worrying about pull-out.
Electrical contacts and PCBs
Metal contacts moulded into a silicone housing; a small PCB moulded into a wearable's silicone shell. Silicone becomes the case, the insert stays put.
Stiffening or reinforcement
A metal or plastic plate embedded in silicone to control how the part deforms under load. Useful on flexible parts that need to resist stretching in one direction.
How it runs
Load, close, mould, inspect.
The mould cycle is standard. The extra work is on the loading — the tool has to hold the insert accurately, and the operator or robot has to place it right every time.
Insert prep
Inserts arrive from you or from a nominated supplier. They're cleaned if needed, checked to spec, and — if the bond is chemical — primed.
Loaded into cavity
The operator places the insert onto locating pins or magnets in the tool. On higher-volume cells, a pick-and-place robot loads them and a vision system verifies orientation.
Tool closes, moulded around
The tool closes around the insert and the silicone flows in. Correct tool design keeps the insert in position through the fill; a badly designed cavity can shift the insert mid-cycle.
Cure and release
Cure completes. The part is ejected with the insert now bonded or mechanically captured inside the moulded body.
Bond and position check
First-off parts are checked for insert position and bond. On a defined interval, we pull-test to confirm the insert is fully captured.
To quote it
Four questions before we tool it.
The insert — drawing and supply
What it looks like, what it's made of, what its position tolerance is, and whether you supply it or want us to source it.
How the bond works
Chemical primer on the insert, mechanical interlock designed into it, or both. Each has different cost and different reliability.
Volume and load style
Manual loading is fine for a few thousand a year. Above that, robotic loading pays for itself in labour and consistency.
The insert's paperwork
For medical or electronics work, insert batches travel with the shipment alongside the silicone batch. That's built into the run record.
Related routes
Where this connects.
Overmoulding
Silicone or rubber moulded directly onto a pre-made substrate — a plastic housing, a metal insert, a printed circuit assembly — so the finished part…
Read moreTwo-shot moulding
Two materials moulded in a single cycle on a press configured for both — usually a rigid plastic first, then silicone bonded onto it, without ever…
Read moreElectronics-grade manufacturing
Silicone moulding for electronics OEMs — insulating gaskets, sealing membranes, keypad mats, connector boots, enclosure seals. Electronics-grade…
Read moreDesigned and developed in the UK. UK moulding capability, with some higher-volume production placed with trusted partners where that's the right commercial answer.
At a glance
The ideas in pictures.
How overmoulding works
Swipe to see the whole diagram
From drawing to delivered parts
- 01Drawing or sampleYour part and where it is used
- 02Material and routeCompound and process agreed
- 03PrototypeReal parts to test
- 04Sign-offYou approve the samples
- 05Production toolBuilt for your volumes
- 06Batches and checksInspected and delivered
Swipe to see the whole diagram
Get in touch
Tell us the part, the volume, and the timeline.
Rough annual volume, target unit price, and any deadlines. That's enough to work out whether compression, LSR injection or something else is the right tool.
Real people, a real workshop
You deal with the people who make it.
No call centre and no middlemen. When you contact TCI Products, you speak to the team who design, build and check your mould.
- A real Warwickshire workshopUnit 15, Waterloo Park, Bidford-on-Avon, Alcester B50 4JG.
- Real people on the phoneCall the team on 01789 224228, Monday to Friday.
- The same team on every jobDesign, production and aftercare come from the people you see here.
- Part of TCI GroupFive specialist brands, one engineering team. Visit TCI Group.
Thomas LaneManaging Director
George PrestonDesign & Project Manager
Kelly BallingerHead of Partnerships
Jim AndertonProduction Manager
TheodoreEmployee Welfare