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Cast Urethane Molding

  • Parts As Soon As 2 Weeks

  • Low-Volume Prototyping & Bridge to Production

  • Mimics a Large Variety of Production-Grade Thermoplastics

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Trusted by Industry Leaders
Edwards Lifescience
Multilink, Inc.
Paragonix Technologies
Kimball Electronics
Lucid Motors
“Fathom has been a strong partner on our EV programs. They helped us optimize a few key components for weight and manufacturability, and they consistently hit the tolerances we need. Their fast turnaround times have kept our development cycles moving, which is critical in EV work.”
Senior Manufacturing Engineer
EV Systems Supplier
“I’m impressed with your quality, expertise, speed, and customer service.”
Professor James F. Antaki, PhD
Carnegie Mellon University
“The team at ICOMold continue to provide us with great service. Starting with initial DFM reviews, fast tooling development and quick turn-around times, ICOMold is a partner keeping us on track to deliver quality products to our customers. Thank-you to all the ICOMold team.”
Tim Latham / Project Manager
Litepanels, Inc.
“We have been very satisfied with ICO’s performance in every aspect: pricing, delivery, quality, and customer support. It is a pleasure doing business with ICO, and honestly, I wish there were more companies like them.”
Mark Merg / Procurement Manager
Alpha High Theft Solutions
“I want to thank you and the rest of the team for the great support. Over the 15 years that I have been working with mold vendors I have never seen such personal attention and such great communication efforts in addressing my concerns on samples. The fact that ICO went the extra step to provide me with a second set of samples at no cost and in two days to improve my texture concerns goes a long way. I know that I have made the right choice going with ICO. I’m looking forward to a long relationship with you and the rest of the ICO team.”
John Doe
Level, LLC
“This is a huge milestone for our team. This product is no longer a vision… I received the parts today from ICOMold. They look and function great! I don’t see any reason why we cannot move forward now and order parts for the upcoming proto build.”
Dave Boretti
Schneider Electric
“As a small, growing company, we cannot say enough good things about ICOMold. They have been willing and able to adapt to our rapidly changing needs and have helped us get out of a pinch on occasion. Special thanks to Brian and Carla – they have been great to work with!”
Scott
SLight LLC
“It has been a genuine pleasure dealing with the ICOMold team. You have been very patient and have been a wealth of helpful information. Your response times to my questions and comments are superb and your answers are specific and to the point. Thanks for your patience and all the time it has taken to get the details worked out.”
Scott Bixler
Polyvance
“We are very pleased with ICOMold. Response time is fantastic, customer support is great, and the online group project management tool is very helpful.”
Connie Blevins / Quality Coordinator
Leprecon
“I have to say that so far I’ve enjoyed this process – having the customer portal (and your well-detailed DFM reports) makes it very easy to comply with the design requirements.”
Cory Starr
Blaster One
“I just wanted to let you know, we have all been very impressed with the quality and turnaround time of our parts. We have used several shops in the past, but so far the quality of ICOMold has been the best we have ever received.”
Gregg Garrett
VEGA
“I just want to compliment you and your team how you are managing this project with all of the changes on the fly. Kudos.”
Mark Ezzo / Plastics and Composites Engineer
Materials & Chemistry Network of Excellence
“Our SteriPen product must meet the quality standards of a medical device — if it ever malfunctions, people will get sick. Yet it must be economical enough to permit many people to own one. And we need the design flexibility to keep pace with rapidly changing technology. Our production at ICO meets all three challenges.”
Don Snoke / VP of Operations
Hydro-Photon, Inc.
“I was very impressed with your company’s ability and willingness to work with a novice in plastics as I am, and work through some design changes. I have learned a lot from you and hope this is a huge success for both of us. Frankly, I did contact two other companies and they acted like they had no time for me!”
Kevin Jensen
Quik-Load
“After reaching out to over 20 manufacturers, ICOMold was the only one that was able to take on my project, create the molds and manufacture the parts I needed. What impressed me the most is that they were able to work overtime to meet my demanding deadline and get the parts to me on time.”
Aziz Razakov
Berry Good Bottle
“I found it refreshing to work with a company with such a phenomenal online quoting tool. It allowed us to experiment with different materials, quantities, and mold configurations to see the cost impact in real time.”
Mike Yin / Founder
Nunchuck Grips LLC
“The parts came in a few days ago and I wanted to thank you and your team on the very impressive quality of the parts. We were thoroughly impressed by the finish and clearness of the parts. Thank you for the great customer service and we are looking forward to using your expertise in future projects.”
Akash Shankar
PMC Smart Solutions
“We appreciate the effort you put into making our order smooth. The molded parts are used in our device that makes water safe to drink in areas of the world that do not have access to safe water. Thanks again for everything!”
Sarah Yoder
WaterStep
“Fathom brings an open mind to each project with a positive attitude to tailor their processes to meet my needs, from part design to mold build and molding. They work hard to make sure my needs are met with a professional attitude, expertise, on-time delivery and competitive pricing.”
Bob Rohr
RDR Design and Development LLC
“With their response time, quotes and communications, Fathom is highly regarded because they are always upfront. They say what they do and do what they say.”
John Doe
Consumer Technology Company
“It is a pleasure to work with a company whose personnel are willing and able to think out of their box. With your commitment to staying on the cutting edge of technology, you supply tooling to us that is right on time and works first shot.”
Norman R. Akens
Medical Murray
“Quick response time for RFQ, excellent lead time for rushed order and quality parts were manufactured and delivered on-time.”
Manufacturer of Compressed Gas Storage Systems
“The workmanship was outstanding – we are over-the-top happy with the unit! The product that arrived at my door far exceeded our expectations, and all on short notice…amazing. Please pass our very best wishes on to everyone on your team who was involved in fast-tracking our prototype. It all started with you and your can-do attitude, Nate. I cannot thank you enough!”
Larry Cole
TerraCube
“Fit and finish is great and the parts passed all our regulatory tests. Thank you for all your help and for the role you played helping the factory work through some of the stickier parts of the design.”
Drew Macrae
Linkitz
“As a small, growing company, we cannot say enough good things about ICOMold. They have been willing and able to adapt to our rapidly changing needs and have helped us get out of a pinch on occasion.”
M. Nasilevich
Morpho Detection
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How Does Cast Urethane Molding Work?

01 Create a Master Pattern

A master pattern is designed using CAD software. The master pattern is created using CNC machining or stereolithography (SLA), a form of 3D printing. The master pattern is then placed in a mold box and liquid silicone is poured around it to form a mold. After the silicone mold has fully cured, it is halved and the master pattern is removed. The cavity left behind is what is used for casting.

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02 Casting the Urethane Part

Mix the two parts of the liquid urethane resin together with any additives or pigments. Degas the mixture in a vacuum to remove any trapped air bubbles. Then the mixture is poured into the silicone mold.. It is then placed in a vacuum chamber, which helps remove air bubbles from the urethane and ensures a clear and bubble-free part. The completed part is removed from the mold and the process is repeated.

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03 Post-Processing

Trim any excess material (flashing) from the part. Urethane parts can be painted and a variety of textures and finishes can also be apple dto meet a variety of cosmetic needs. Urethane parts can be post-machined to achieve tight tolerances and can accommodate inserts. Urethane casting process is an excellent way to make small quantities of parts quickly for functional and cosmetic testing and accelerate your prototyping process.

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Advantages & Disadvantages of Cast Urethane Molding

Advantages

  • Cost-Effective For Prototyping & Low-Volume Production

    Silicone molds are significantly cheaper to produce than metal injection molds. That makes them a cost-effective option for low-volume production and prototyping prior to investing in tooling for injection molding.

  • Fast Turnaround Time

    Cast urethane molding has rapid lead times, with molds that can be created in weeks rather than the months. This enables you to rapidly iterate part designs and bring your new products to market faster.

  • Material Versatility

    A wide range of urethane materials can be used to produce parts that are soft and flexible or rigid and impact-resistant.

  • Complex Geometries

    Cast urethane molding can create intricate features, such as fine details, ribs, and undercuts, that are difficult or impossible to achieve with other methods like injection molding.

  • Test Multiple Hardness Levels from a Single Mold

    One silicone mold can be used to produce the same part in a variety of durometers, so they can be tested side-by-side to determine which one works best.

Disadvantages

  • Lead Time

    It takes an average of two weeks for silicone tooling to be created. Once it’s done, however, parts can be produced quickly.

  • Labor Intensive

    Cast urethane molding requires manual labor. It isn’t suitable to automation, which increases the cost per part.

  • Silicone tooling can only produce an average of 20-25 parts. After that, new tooling must be built to

    Short Tool Life produce additional castings. This also means that urethane casting isn’t practical for large-scale part production.

  • Limitations for Prototyping

    The silicone tooling used for urethane castings tends to lock engineers into a single design. New tools can be built to accommodate design changes, but each one takes an average of two weeks to build. If a part requires frequent design changes, it could become time-consuming to build new models and silicone tools for each variation.

  • Environmental Sensitivity

    Cast urethane parts tend to be sensitive to changes in temperature and humidity, which may cause the urethane to deteriorate.

Applications of Urethane Casting

Cast urethane molding is used across many industries for a wide range of applications,

Aerospace

The light weight of cast urethane parts make them a popular option for aircraft interior components. For spacecraft, heat shields and tooling components are sometimes made using this method.

Medical

Cast urethane’s versatility and low cost makes it a viable option for catheters, medical tubing, surgical drains, prosthetic limbs and handles for medical instruments.

Automotive

Cast urethane parts have found a surprising range of uses in today’s automobiles, including bumpers, door panels, dashboards, seats and suspension bushings and gaskets.

Electronics

The durability of cast urethane parts means they’re favored for electronic device casings and enclosures as well as to provide protective outer layers for components against abrasion and impact.

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Urethane_Parts

Case Studies

MedicaSafe

Learn More

Hand Safety Tool

Learn More

Dial In Your Urethane Casting Material Selection

Explore durometers, mechanical properties, and finishing options for urethane casting. Perfect for teams needing molded-quality parts without the tooling investment.

Download Material Datasheet
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What Can Urethane Casting be Paired With?

Overmolding enables designers to create parts with rigid and flexible parts, such as armrests and door handles, consumer products with two-tone designs and products with grippable surfaces. It’s also commonly used in the medical industry to create components that are easier to clean for use.

Polyurethane is easy to bond to other materials, such as plastic, metal and wood.

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Traditional Technologies That Can Benefit from Urethane Casting

Many design engineers don’t realize that urethane casting is a viable and affordable alternative to producing small quantities of parts using injection molding. It produces parts with a surface finish and mechanical properties that are similar to injection-molded parts, making it ideal for late-stage prototyping and bridge production.

It’s also well-suited to parts with complex geometries and fine details.

Benefit from Urethane Casting

Explore Fathom’s Full Range of Manufacturing Equipment

Download our complete machine list for a detailed look at our capabilities across CNC machining, additive, molding, and fabrication.

Download Machine List
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Why Choose Fathom for Urethane Casting?

  • The Fathom team has extensive experience helping our customers optimize their part designs for urethane casting.
  • We utilize overseas partners to produce our urethane parts, which helps keep them affordable.
  • We can help you quickly validate and finalize your prototype part designs before committing to injection mold tooling
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