Grips and handles
Soft silicone over a rigid core for tools, devices and sports kit.
Overmoulding · Substrate overmould
Substrate overmoulding.
Your rigid part arrives, goes into our tool, and leaves with silicone permanently attached. No glue line, no assembly step, no seal to fall out.
The detail
The substrate does half the work
A good overmoulded part starts with a substrate designed for it. Undercuts and through-holes that the silicone can lock into, surfaces that can be primed, walls that won't distort at tool temperature.
We like to see substrate designs before they're finalised. Small changes at that stage — a row of holes, a groove, a slightly thicker wall — make the bond far more reliable than any primer can.
Where it fits
Common substrate jobs
Integrated seals
A seal bonded to a lid or housing edge.
Bumpers and protection
Impact edges on handheld devices and equipment.
How we run it
How we run substrate overmoulding
Substrate receipt and inspection
Incoming substrates checked for size and surface condition.
Preparation
Cleaning and priming where the bond strategy needs it.
Load and mould
Substrates placed in the tool, silicone moulded around them.
Bond verification
Peel or pull testing on each batch, recorded.
To quote it
To quote it
Substrate drawing and material
Including any bond features already designed in.
Substrate supply route
From your moulder, or from our partner network.
Silicone coverage
Which areas are covered and which stay clear.
Volume
This decides between single-cavity hand-loaded tools and multi-cavity fixtures.
At a glance
The idea in a picture.
How overmoulding works
Swipe to see the whole diagram
Questions
What people usually ask.
What if the substrate supplier changes?
Tell us before it happens. A different resin or mould release on the substrate can affect the bond, so we'd retest.
Could two-shot moulding do this instead?
Sometimes. Rigid-soft two-shot makes both materials in one tool, which suits high volumes.
Keep exploring
More from overmoulding.
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Back to the overviewDesigned and developed in the UK. UK moulding capability, with some higher-volume production placed with trusted partners where that's the right commercial answer.
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