Custom Vacuum Casting Services for Prototypes & Low-Volume Production

Launch products faster with high-quality vacuum cast parts. From concept validation and prototype testing to bridge manufacturing and low-volume production, we help shorten development cycles and reduce tooling costs.

5–15 Day Lead Time
ISO 9001 Certified Process
40+ Engineering-Grade Resins
Paint-Matched Finishing Included
No Minimum — 1 to 200 Parts Per Order
Master Pattern to Finished Part, In-House

Casting Vacuum Applications by Industry

From Automotive Prototypes to Medical Device Samples — One Process, Every Industry Racing Its Own Tooling Timeline

From automotive interior teams validating fit before a single steel mold is cut, to medical device startups building samples for an early regulatory submission, to consumer electronics brands turning around a new housing revision before next week’s design review — Senses Mold’s vacuum casting service gives engineering teams real, testable parts now, not in six weeks.

Automotive Parts

Interior trim, console parts — pre-tooling validation

Medical Device Vacuum Casting

Device housings, handles, early-stage regulatory samples

Consumer Electronics Prototyping

Enclosures, buttons, knob assemblies

Robotics & Drones

Sensor housings, joint covers, fast-iteration prototypes

Industrial Equipment Parts

Panel covers, protective housings, gaskets

Lighting & Cosmetic Packaging

Lenses, diffusers, bottle and cap samples

Don’t see your application listed?

If a part needs to exist in days rather than weeks, there’s a good chance vacuum casting fits. Send us your model and we’ll tell you honestly whether it does.

Our Urethane Castings Capabilities

Built for Speed Without Sacrificing the Detail Your Engineers Actually Need

Every project starts with a silicone tool — and every silicone tool we make is built in-house, which means no outsourced mold delays, no surprise lead time additions, and no quality gaps between the tooling team and the casting team.

1–200

Parts Per Order
From a single validation prototype to a full bridge production run, no minimum order required

±0.1mm

Dimensional Tolerance
Consistent across rigid, rubber-like, and clear resin families — not just on showcase parts

5–15

Business Days Lead Time
From approved master pattern to finished, surface-treated parts at your door

40+

Engineering-Grade Resins
Rigid, flexible, transparent, flame-retardant, and high temperature matched to your end-use requirements

Specification	Details
Maximum Part Size	2,000 × 1,200 × 800 mm
Minimum Wall Thickness	0.75 mm
Dimensional Tolerance	±0.1 mm (general) / ±0.2 mm on parts over 500 mm
Parts Per Mold — Safe Zone	20–30 parts (dimensional consistency fully maintained)
Parts Per Mold — Extended Zone	30–50 parts (minor dimensional drift, acceptable for non-critical features)
Silicone Tool Lead Time	3–5 business days
Total Project Lead Time	5–15 business days from approved master pattern
Surface Finish — As Cast	Replicates master pattern surface (Ra 1.6–3.2 μm typical)
Surface Finish — Secondary	Painting, texture, pad printing, polishing, IMF available
Resin Shore Hardness Range	Shore 20A (very soft) to Shore 85D (rigid)
Color Options	Pigmented-in-resin or full painting to Pantone reference
MOQ	1 part
Quality Standard	ISO 9001 & IATF 16949 Certified
DFM Review	Included free with every order

Not sure if your part geometry fits within these specs?

Upload your model — we’ll run a free DFM check and flag any issues before you commit to an order.

Vacuum Casting Secondary Operations

From Raw Cast to Reviewer-Ready — Every Finishing Step In-House

A vacuum cast part straight out of the mold is already dimensionally accurate. What secondary operations do is make it indistinguishable from a production part — so your stakeholders are evaluating the design, not the process.

CNC Touch-Up & Critical Dimension Machining

Tight-tolerance features that exceed what silicone tooling can hold — bearing seats, thread profiles, precision mating surfaces — machined directly on the cast part post-cure. Combines the speed of vacuum casting with the dimensional accuracy of CNC where it matters most.

Surface Painting & Color Matching

Full-body spray painting with Pantone or RAL color reference matching. Primer, base coat, and protective topcoat applied in sequence — not a single-coat shortcut. Suitable for cosmetic sign-off samples, investor demos, and trade show units where color accuracy is non-negotiable.

Pad Printing & Surface Texture

Logos, serial numbers, warning labels, and UI markings applied directly onto curved or irregular surfaces. Texture replication from the master pattern surface, or secondary texturing applied post-cast to match your production tool spec.

Insert Installation & Assembly

Threaded brass inserts heat-pressed or ultrasonically embedded into cast parts. Multi-component assemblies — rigid housing with rubber-like overmold sections, or parts with metal hardware pre-positioned — completed before delivery. One shipment, fully assembled.

Need a specific surface finish or assembly spec not listed here?

Send us your finishing requirements — we’ll confirm feasibility before the order starts.

Why Global Buyers Choose Senses Mold For Their Urethane Molding?

Not Just Fast — Accurate Enough to Make Real Decisions With

20+

Years In Low Volume Production

5,000+

Vacuum Cast Projects Delivered

30+

Export countries

98%

On-time delivery rate

One Team From Master Pattern to Finished Part

Your master pattern, silicone tooling, casting, and surface finishing are handled by the same in-house team — no handoffs to subcontractors, no quality gaps between steps, no lead time surprises because a third party is behind schedule.

We Tell You Exactly How Many Good Parts to Expect

Most suppliers quote “20–50 parts per mold” and leave you to find out where quality drops off. We separate the safe zone (20–30 parts, full dimensional consistency) from the extended zone (30–50 parts, acceptable drift on non-critical features) before your order starts — so you can plan accordingly.

Your Sample Behaves Like a Production Part

Resin selection is matched to your intended production material — not just the closest available option. If your production part will be ABS, your vacuum cast sample uses an ABS-like resin with comparable stiffness, surface quality, and impact response. What you test is what you’re actually signing off on.

DFM Feedback Before a Single Gram of Resin Is Poured

Every order starts with a free DFM review. If your geometry has a wall that’s too thin to fill consistently, a feature that will trap air, or a draft angle that will tear the silicone on demold — we flag it before tooling starts, not after the first batch comes out wrong.

Finishing That Holds Up to Reviewer Scrutiny

Our cosmetic finishing is done to the same standard whether the parts are going to an internal design review or an external regulatory submission. Pantone-matched paint, consistent texture replication, clean pad printing — because the people evaluating your sample shouldn’t be evaluating our workmanship.

Export-Ready Documentation Included

Material data sheets, dimensional inspection reports, and first article documentation prepared as standard — not as an add-on. Built for procurement teams who need a paper trail, not just a box of parts.

Ready to see how this works on your specific part?

Send us your model and requirements — we’ll come back with a DFM assessment and quote within 24 hours.

Complete Vacuum Casting Process Step By Step

From Your CAD File to Finished Parts — Every Step Managed In-House

Every vacuum casting project follows the same four-phase sequence. Knowing what happens at each step — and what we need from you at each handoff — is what keeps lead times predictable and first-batch quality consistent.

Phase 1 — Design Design & DFM Review Day 1

Geometry Review

CAD file checked for wall sections under 0.75mm, undercuts that will lock in the mold, and air traps that cause voids — flagged with specific fix recommendations

Resin Selection

End-use requirements matched against our 40+ resin library — Shore hardness, impact resistance, heat deflection, optical clarity, or flame rating. You approve before tooling starts

Master Pattern Assessment

Surface quality, dimensional accuracy, and material stability under silicone curing conditions verified — every imperfection on the master transfers directly to every cast part

Phase 2 — Tooling Silicone Mold Manufacturing Days 2–5

Master Pattern Preparation

Surface cleaned, sealed, and release-treated. Parting line determined, gate and vent positions planned to minimise weld lines and air entrapment in the final cast

Silicone Mold Pour & Cure

Platinum-cure silicone mixed, degassed under vacuum, and poured in a controlled environment. Cure time held to spec — undercured silicone tears on first demold

Mold Opening & T1 Inspection

Silicone mold cut along parting line, master removed. First pull inspected dimensionally before production begins — if the mold has a defect, we remake it

Phase 3 — Production Casting & Quality Control Days 5–12

Resin Mixing & Degassing

Two-part resin measured by weight, mixed, and placed in the vacuum chamber. Air evacuated before pouring — this is the step that separates a void-free part from one that fails in testing

Vacuum Pour & Cure

Resin poured into the silicone mold inside the vacuum chamber, then transferred to a temperature-controlled oven for the full recommended cure cycle — no shortcuts

Demold & First-Off Inspection

Part demolded and measured against CAD nominal. Critical dimensions, wall thickness, and surface condition checked on the first part before the remaining batch is run

Phase 4 — Finishing Surface Finishing & Delivery Days 10–15

Secondary Operations

Painting, pad printing, insert installation, and CNC touch-up completed per finishing spec. Each step sequenced so earlier operations aren't damaged by later ones

Final Inspection & Documentation

Full batch checked dimensionally and visually. Material data sheets, inspection report, and first article documentation packaged with the shipment — not sent separately

Export Packaging & Shipping

Parts individually wrapped, nested in custom foam, packed for air freight or courier. Export documents prepared for customs clearance in your destination country

Want to know exactly where your project stands at each stage?

Every order includes a production milestone update — you’ll know when tooling is done, when casting starts, and when your parts ship.

Urethane Mold Structure Explained

What's Inside a Silicone Mold — and Why Each Element Affects Your Final Part

A silicone mold looks simple from the outside. Inside, every design decision — where the parting line sits, where resin enters, where air escapes — directly determines whether your parts come out clean or come out with defects. Here’s what we’re working with on every tool we build.

Have a complex geometry with undercuts or multi-material requirements?

Send us your model — we’ll assess mold feasibility and parting line strategy as part of the free DFM review.

Vacuum Casting Types We Offer

The same silicone tooling process covers very different project needs depending on where you are in your product development cycle. Here’s how we approach each one differently.

Most Common

Prototype Validation

1–10 parts · 5–7 days · Functional & assembly testing

The earliest physical check of your design — fit, assembly, and basic function verified before any production commitment is made. Speed and geometry accuracy matter more than cosmetic finish at this stage.

Most Requested

Bridge Production

20–200 parts · 7–12 days · Gap between prototype and production tooling

Your injection mold is still being cut but the market can’t wait. Vacuum casting fills the gap — same geometry, same material family, delivered while your steel tool is still in machining.

Multi-Material

Multi-Material & Insert Casting

Custom qty · 10–15 days · Overmold simulation, assemblies with hardware

Rigid housings with rubber-like buttons, metal inserts pre-positioned, or two-Shore assemblies cast in sequence — simulating multi-component production parts in a single vacuum casting workflow.

Performance-Matched

Functional & Performance Testing

5–30 parts · 8–12 days · Drop test, stress test, certification pre-test

Material properties matched to your intended production resin — hardness, impact response, heat deflection. Test results are only meaningful if the sample behaves like the final part.

Pre-Production

Pre-Production Validation

50–200 parts · 12–15 days · Assembly line verification, early customer delivery

Larger run for teams preparing to go to market on a small scale or validating the production assembly process before steel tooling is fully signed off.

Show-Ready

Cosmetic & Presentation

10–50 parts · 10–15 days · Trade show, investor demo, client sign-off

Parts finished to production-equivalent appearance — Pantone-matched paint, consistent texture, clean pad printing. Built for rooms where people are evaluating your product, not your process.

Not sure which type fits your project stage?

Tell us where you are in your development cycle — we’ll recommend the right approach and flag anything that could affect lead time or quality before you commit.

Vacuum Casting Materials We Support

Rigid, Flexible, Clear, or Specialty — Matched to Your Production-Grade Requirements

Material selection is the step most suppliers rush. We don’t. The resin your sample is cast in determines whether your test results, cosmetic approvals, and assembly checks actually mean anything when production tooling arrives. Every material below is stocked in-house and matched to your end-use spec before the first gram is poured.

Rigid ABS-Like

The most commonly requested resin family

Stiff, impact-resistant, and machinable post-cure. Suitable for structural housings, brackets, and functional assemblies where the production part will be ABS or a similar engineering thermoplastic. Available in multiple Shore D ratings to fine-tune stiffness.

Rigid PC-Like

For higher-temperature or higher-impact applications

Stiffer and more heat-resistant than ABS-like grades. Used when the production part will be polycarbonate or PC-ABS blend — instrument panels, protective covers, and load-bearing enclosures where standard ABS-like resin undershoots on stiffness.

Rigid PP-Like

For living hinges, snap fits, and flexible-but-rigid assemblies

Lower stiffness and higher elongation than ABS-like or PC-like grades. Used when the production part will be polypropylene — thin-wall containers, snap-fit lids, and any geometry that needs to flex without fracturing.

Rubber-Like (Shore A Range)

From very soft to semi-rigid elastomers

Covers Shore 20A through Shore 80A — soft grips, gaskets, seals, overmold sections, and buttons. Matched to your target Shore hardness, not just the nearest available option. Can be cast directly into a rigid housing in the same mold for overmold simulation.

Clear & Transparent

Optical-grade clarity for lenses, diffusers, and packaging

Water-clear resin with low yellowing index. Used for light pipe prototypes, lens covers, packaging samples, and any application where light transmission or visual clarity is part of the approval criteria. Can be tinted for colored transparent parts.

Specialty Resins

Flame-retardant, high-temperature, and food-contact grades

For applications with specific regulatory or performance requirements that standard resin families don’t meet. Flame-retardant grades tested to UL94 V-0, high-temperature grades with HDT up to 200°C, and food-contact grades for packaging and medical adjacent applications.

Need a resin that matches a specific datasheet or production material grade?

Send us your production material spec — we’ll identify the closest vacuum casting equivalent and confirm suitability before the order starts.

Vacuum Casting Design Guidelines for Better Results

Most first-batch problems in vacuum casting aren’t material problems or process problems — they’re geometry problems that were locked in before tooling started. These four guidelines cover the issues we flag most often in DFM review. Fixing them at the CAD stage costs nothing. Fixing them after the first mold is cut costs a new mold.

Wall Thickness

Minimum 0.75mm · Recommended 1.5–4mm for most resins

Walls thinner than 0.75mm don’t fill consistently — resin cools and gels before reaching the far end of the feature. Walls thicker than 6mm in rigid resins risk sink and internal voids as the outer skin cures faster than the core. If your design has sections that vary widely in thickness, flag them early — we can adjust gate position to compensate for fill imbalance.

Draft Angle

Minimum 0.5° on vertical faces · 1–2° recommended

Silicone is flexible enough to release most geometries without draft — but zero-draft vertical faces on tall, narrow features still cause tearing on demold, especially as the mold ages past 20 pulls. A minimum 0.5° draft on interior vertical walls extends mold life and keeps demold clean. Exterior faces with texture require more — typically 1.5–2° to prevent the texture pattern from shearing on pull.

Undercuts

Handled by silicone flexibility · Deep undercuts need assessment

Unlike rigid tooling, silicone molds can flex around moderate undercuts on demold — this is one of vacuum casting’s genuine advantages over injection molding for complex prototype geometries. Deep internal undercuts, through-holes at oblique angles, and re-entrant features beyond 15° still need to be assessed individually. We’ll flag these in DFM review and recommend either a mold split or a sacrificial insert approach.

Pour Gate & Vent Placement

Planned during DFM · Affects surface witness and fill quality

Where resin enters the cavity and where air exits determines where witness marks appear and whether thin features fill completely. On cosmetic parts, gate position is planned to land on a non-visible surface — bottom face, inside edge, or a feature that will be machined post-cast. If your geometry forces the gate onto a visible surface, we’ll flag it before tooling starts so you can decide whether to accept the witness or modify the geometry.

Want your CAD file checked against these guidelines before you commit to tooling?

Upload your model — our DFM review is free, covers all four of these criteria, and comes back within 24 hours.

Casting Silicone Mold Material Selection

The Mold Material You Choose Determines How Many Good Parts You Get Out of It

Not all silicone is the same. The grade we select for your tool affects surface detail replication, mold life, dimensional stability across pulls, and how cleanly the mold releases rubber-like resins without tearing. Here’s how we make that decision.

	Standard Tin-Cure Silicone	Platinum-Cure Silicone	High-Durability Platinum Silicone
Best For	Simple geometries, short runs, internal verification	Most production applications — rigid, rubber-like, and clear resins	High-detail cosmetic parts, extended runs, transparent resin
Mold Life	10–20 pulls	20–35 pulls	35–50 pulls
Surface Detail	Good	Excellent	Excellent
Dimensional Stability	Moderate — some drift after 15 pulls	High — consistent through rated life	Very high — minimal drift across full run
Cure Inhibition Risk	Low	Moderate	Moderate
Typical Application	First-article verification, single-use cosmetic samples	Bridge production, functional testing batches, multi-pull runs	Optical parts, Pantone-matched cosmetic batches, maximum run length
Lead Time Impact	Fastest	Standard	Standard

On Cure Inhibition Platinum-cure silicone is inhibited by sulphur-containing clays, tin compounds, and some photopolymer 3D print resins. If your master pattern is SLA-printed, we seal the surface before pouring — this is standard in our process, not an add-on.

On Mold Life vs Part Count Mold life figures above reflect dimensional consistency within spec, not physical mold failure. We track pull count per tool and flag when a mold is approaching its rated life before quality is affected, not after.

On Resin Compatibility Rubber-like resins are harder on mold surfaces than rigid resins. If your order is predominantly Shore A parts, we recommend platinum-cure silicone regardless of run length — demold forces on soft elastomers accelerate surface wear faster than rigid resin pulls.

Not sure which silicone grade your project needs?

Tell us your resin type, part complexity, and target quantity — we’ll specify the right mold material before tooling starts.

Vacuum Casting Advantages and Disadvantages

An Honest Assessment — So You Commission the Right Process for Your Project

Vacuum casting is the right process for a specific window of product development. Outside that window, a different process will serve you better. Here’s where it genuinely excels, and where its limitations will matter to your project.

Advantages

Where Vacuum Casting Genuinely Excels

Production-Equivalent Surface Quality From Day One

Silicone picks up surface detail at micron level from the master pattern. The first cast part has the same texture, grain, and surface Ra as every subsequent part — a cosmetic sign-off sample from pull one is a valid representation of what pull twenty will look like.

No Tooling Commitment Before Design Is Locked

A silicone mold costs a fraction of a steel injection mold and is ready in 3–5 days. If the design changes after the first batch — and in early-stage development, it usually does — a new silicone tool is a minor cost, not a project-threatening rework.

Rigid and Rubber-Like Parts From the Same Process

A single workflow covers Shore 20A elastomers through Shore 85D rigid resins. Overmold assemblies — rigid housing with soft-touch buttons — can be produced in sequence from two silicone tools without outsourcing to a second supplier or process.

True Low-Volume Economics

No minimum order quantity, no per-cavity amortisation, no penalty for ordering 5 parts instead of 500. Total project cost for quantities under 200 parts is almost always lower than injection moulding when tooling cost is included in the comparison.

Material Properties Matched to Production

Engineering-grade casting resins replicate the mechanical behaviour of ABS, PC, PP, and TPE production materials — not just approximate their appearance. Functional tests, drop tests, and assembly checks on vacuum cast samples give meaningful data about how the production part will perform.

Faster Design Validation Cycle

From approved CAD to first parts in 5–7 days. Weekly design reviews can be supported with physical parts rather than renders. Issues found at this stage — fit problems, ergonomic mismatches, assembly interference — cost days to fix, not months.

Limitations

Where a Different Process Will Serve You Better

Not a Substitute for High-Volume Production

Silicone mold life tops out at 50 pulls under optimal conditions. Unit cost at volumes above 500 parts crosses over into injection moulding territory. Vacuum casting is a bridge and prototyping process — not a long-term production solution for parts needed in thousands.

Dimensional Accuracy Has a Ceiling

±0.1mm general tolerance is sufficient for most functional and cosmetic applications. It is not sufficient for precision-fit mechanical components or parts where mating tolerances are tighter than ±0.05mm. Those applications need CNC machining or hard tooling.

Part Size Is Limited by Vacuum Chamber Dimensions

Very large parts — body panels, structural frames, anything approaching 2m in any dimension — push the limits of what vacuum casting equipment can handle. Beyond the chamber size limit, the process cannot be used regardless of geometry complexity.

Resin Properties Don't Fully Match Injection-Moulded Thermoplastics

Casting resins replicate mechanical behaviour — they don't replicate molecular structure. Long-term UV stability, chemical resistance, and fatigue performance under cyclic loading can diverge from production material datasheets. For regulatory submissions, this distinction matters.

Master Pattern Quality Determines Everything

Every surface defect, dimensional error, and finish inconsistency on the master pattern transfers directly to every cast part. A poor master produces a poor mold which produces poor parts — at volume. Investing in a high-quality master pattern is not optional.

Not sure whether vacuum casting is the right process for your specific part and quantity?

Send us your requirements — we’ll give you an honest process recommendation, even if that recommendation is something other than vacuum casting.

Where Are You in Your Vacuum Casting Project? Start Here.

Find the Resources That Match Your Current Stage — Not Your Content Category

The right answer depends on where you are. A team still choosing between processes needs different information than a team troubleshooting their third batch. Use the stages below to go straight to what’s relevant.

You’re evaluating vacuum casting against other options and haven’t committed yet

Vacuum Casting vs Injection Molding: When to Switch and at What Volume

Vacuum Casting vs 3D Printing: Which Process Gets You a More Useful Part?

Vacuum Casting vs CNC Machining: Real Cost Comparison at 5, 50 and 200 Parts

Bridge Production: How Long Is Too Long to Stay on Silicone Tooling?

You’ve decided to use vacuum casting and you’re getting your design ready

Wall Thickness in Vacuum Casting: Min, Max & Why the Ratio Matters More Than the Number

Draft Angle in Vacuum Casting: The Complete Engineer’s Guide

Parting Line Placement in Silicone Molds: How It Affects Your Cosmetic Surfaces

Master Pattern Requirements: Surface Finish, Accuracy & Material Compatibility

Undercuts in Vacuum Casting: What Silicone Can Handle and What It Can’t

Lead times, quotes, documentation, and handoff points — for procurement managers and project leads

Why Your Vacuum Casting Quote Came Back Higher Than Expected (A Transparent Breakdown)

The Hidden Cost in Low-Volume Manufacturing That Nobody Puts in Their Quote

3–5 Days for a Silicone Tool: What That Timeline Actually Includes

How to Get More Good Parts Per Mold Without Compromising the Ones That Matter

What to Send With Your RFQ to Get an Accurate Quote the First Time

Resin selection answers for both engineers specifying performance and buyers approving samples

“ABS-Like” Doesn’t Mean ABS: What Casting Resin Datasheets Actually Tell You

Choosing Shore Hardness for a Rubber-Like Part When You Don’t Have a Production Spec Yet

Why Your Clear Vacuum Cast Part Went Yellow — and How to Prevent It

Flame-Retardant Resins for Vacuum Casting: What UL94 V-0 Means and What It Doesn’t

The One Resin Property That Matters Most for Drop Test Samples (It’s Not Hardness)

Not sure which stage you’re at — or your question isn’t covered here? Our engineers answer directly. No contact form, no sales handoff, no wait for a callback.

Explore our other tooling and manufacturing capabilities:

Senses Mold offers complete tooling and manufacturing solutions for metal, plastic, silicone, and rubber components.

Frequently Asked Questions About Vacuum Casting

Ready to Validate Your Design Before Tooling? Get Your Free Vacuum Casting Quote Today！

Turn CAD files into production-quality parts in as little as a few days. Whether you need functional prototypes, appearance models, or low-volume production, our vacuum casting team is ready to help.