Rigid-soft two-shot
The rigid part and the silicone are moulded in one tool, one after the other, without ever leaving the machine. It's the most integrated…
Open this variantCombined route · two materials, one cycle
Two-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 leaving the tool. The finished part is complete when the press opens.
Where two-shot fits
Volume, mostly. But the physics is nice too.
Two-shot (or 2K) moulding puts both materials into the same tool on the same press in the same cycle. The rigid substrate is moulded first, the tool rotates or the core retracts, and the silicone is injected onto the substrate while it's still in place.
The result is a bond made under ideal conditions: substrate still hot, still perfectly located, silicone injected onto a clean surface that hasn't been out of the tool. On the right geometry, the bond is stronger than anything you could achieve by overmoulding as a second operation.
The catch is tooling investment. A 2K tool is roughly double the cost of a comparable single-material tool, and the press has to be equipped for both materials. Below annual volumes in the tens of thousands, plain overmoulding is usually the better answer.
Where 2K earns its keep is on parts where the substrate and the silicone will always travel together — a consumer product with a soft-touch grip, a medical device with an integrated seal, an electronics enclosure where the gasket has to be perfectly located.
Drill down
2 ways we run two-shot moulding.
Each variant has its own page with the specifics: where it fits, how we run it and what to send us.
Two-colour silicone
One silicone part, two colours or two hardnesses, with a clean line between them. Useful for keypads, straps, grips and seals with a soft…
Open this variantWhat 2K is good for
Three shapes of part where 2K makes obvious sense.
Soft-touch consumer parts
A rigid handle with a silicone grip moulded onto it. In one cycle, no adhesive, no locating jig. The grip is exactly where the design put it, every time.
Integrated seals
A housing with a sealing lip moulded onto it. The lip is on the housing, not glued on afterwards. Assembly picks up one part, not two.
Colour-and-material effects
Two colours or two hardnesses on one part, bonded cleanly. Design gets an effect that would take multiple assembly steps by any other route.
How the cycle runs
First shot, rotate, second shot, cure, release.
The tool is the whole story. A 2K tool has two cavity sets and a rotating core or an indexing platen that moves the first-shot part into the second-shot cavity without human intervention.
First shot — substrate
The rigid plastic or thermoplastic is injected into the first cavity. Cure or cool completes.
Tool rotates or core retracts
The substrate, still in the tool, is rotated or repositioned into the second cavity by an indexing mechanism. It never leaves the steel.
Second shot — silicone
Silicone is injected into the second cavity, flowing around and onto the substrate. Cure completes.
Tool opens, finished part ejected
The finished, bonded part is ejected. The next first-shot cycle has already started in the first cavity, running in parallel.
Inspection and pack
First-off parts checked against the approved sample. Bond integrity is checked visually and, on a defined interval, with a pull test.
To quote it
Four questions before we spec a 2K tool.
The materials, both of them
Rigid substrate grade, silicone grade, and any chemical or mechanical bond requirements. Compatibility is checked before the tool is drawn.
Annual volume, honestly
2K tooling only makes sense above a threshold. Below it, plain overmoulding wins on total cost even accounting for the extra assembly step.
Cycle time expectations
2K cycles are longer than single-material cycles. We'll model realistic cycle time and per-part cost before you commit.
Long-term programme fit
2K tooling amortises over years. If the part is a seasonal product with a two-year life, 2K is probably the wrong answer.
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 moreInsert 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…
Read moreTooling and part continuity
For parts that will be in production for years — components inside a device family, sealing parts on long-lived equipment, consumer parts on a…
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 idea in a picture.
How overmoulding works
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