RTV vs HTV Compression Silicone Molds

RTV and HTV are not two hardnesses of the same custom mold. RUUIPON quotes two mold-tooling routes in Shenzhen (shop since 2018): an RTV silicone casting mold you pour into, or an HTV/HCR compression mold - the steel/compression tool for solid silicone. Finished vulcanized parts, LSR shots, kitchenware OEM, and finished gummy depositing cartons are quoted here as HTV products or molds, or as a different LSR-tool RFQ - ask us. HTV is not the production version of an RTV mold. The longer split lives on RTV vs HTV silicone molds.

RTV path: photos, sketch, or CAD. After CAD lock: 3D-printed pattern, often a temporary silicone flip, resin production mother, then batch RTV. Free DFM. CAD revision about USD 50 when we edit your 3D. Prototype usually 3-7 business days after CAD lock. Production MOQ 20 pieces per design. HTV/HCR compression molds stay on this RFQ: free DFM on the tool. Do not copy RTV MOQ 20 or the 3-7 day window onto that tool. Quantity, lead time, and cycle life wait for DFM. We will not invent an HTV MOQ, FDA stamp, or mold-life number here.

Two mold-tooling routes on RUUIPON

The resin production mother is the hard production tool we pour batch RTV against. It is not the 3D-printed pattern. A jacket / mother-mold support shell is a different noun. Do not send an HTV/HCR compression mold or a steel compression mold RFQ as an HTV product RFQ here, or ask us for a high-volume LSR tool. Send the parts carton away. Keep the tool RFQ here.

HTV is not the production version of an RTV mold

Old catalog copy treated HTV as the grown-up way to make more silicone molds. That sentence mixes two objects. Your pectin tray is a pour cavity: the product is candy, the tool is RTV. An HTV/HCR compression mold is a heated steel/compression tool for solid silicone. A carton of vulcanized baking articles is a third object - a parts PO. Compressing a 10A-20A gummy sheet as an HCR part is a different drawing, a different shrink (about 1.5-2.5% HCR vs about 0.1-0.3% platinum RTV), and often a different factory for the part.

Platinum RTV copies a pattern/mother at room temperature. HTV/HCR starts as gum, runs through a two-roll mill, then vulcanizes in a heated press. Those press nouns belong on a parts PI, or on an HTV/HCR tool RFQ - not on an RTV recast line.

Common mix-up: same Shore A, same quote

A buyer sends "Shore 30A silicone mold, 500 pcs" with a figurine outline. One shop hears 500 RTV cavities of a resin character. Another hears 500 compression-molded silicone figurines. A third hears the steel tool only. All three say 30A. Tell us whether you pour PU into a cavity, you need the compression tool, or you sell a silicone figurine. We will quote the cavity or the tool here, or we will point the parts carton as an HTV product RFQ here, or ask us for a high-volume LSR tool. We will not split the difference on one line item.

Typical shop values

Reference values only. Confirm material-specific limits against the supplier’s technical data and agree project acceptance criteria before production.

Worked example: resin character vs compression tool vs 5,000 parts

Buyer A: resin character, 120 mm, deep undercuts, 30 RTV cavities. We named a two-part platinum skin (peel would have torn a one-piece), USD 50 CAD only to add the shut the STL was missing, locked CAD, ran pattern / flip / resin mother, poured in the 3-7 business day window, then MOQ 20 of that design.

Buyer C: the steel/compression tool so their plant can press solid silicone. That is an HTV/HCR compression-mold RFQ on this form: free DFM on the tool. We do not paste Buyer A's MOQ 20 onto that tool.

Buyer B: the character itself in silicone, Shore 30A, 5,000 pcs. That sister RFQ went as an HTV product RFQ here as finished HCR parts. Same outline. Two factories for the carton. We did not price Buyer B's parts on a RUUIPON letterhead, and we did not send Buyer C's mold RFQ away.

Stay on RUUIPON / skip as an HTV product RFQ here, or ask us for a high-volume LSR tool

Stay for an RTV pour cavity or an HTV/HCR compression tool. Free DFM on both routes.

Skip / send as an HTV product RFQ here, or ask us for a high-volume LSR tool for finished parts POs: vulcanized articles, LSR injection jobs, kitchenware OEM, finished gummy depositing cartons.

We will not treat a parts carton as a mold RFQ. We will not copy RTV MOQ 20 onto an HTV tool. We will not send steel compression molds as an HTV product RFQ here, or ask us for a high-volume LSR tool.

Related: RTV vs HTV pillar, RTV vs steel by volume, manufacturer, contact.

What to send

• Object: RTV pour cavity or HTV/HCR compression tool (RUUIPON) or finished part (an HTV product or mold RFQ here, or ask us if you need a high-volume LSR cold-runner tool)
• Dump material if RTV; tool function if HTV/HCR mold; part function if an HTV product or mold RFQ here, or ask us if you need a high-volume LSR cold-runner tool
• STEP / sample; CAD still moving: yes/no
• Photos / sketch if there is no CAD yet

Object sentence first: "I need a cavity to dump X," "I need an HTV/HCR compression mold - the steel/compression tool," or "I need Y molded silicone parts." [email protected] · +86 135 3006 2969.

FAQ

Is HTV just a harder RTV mold? No. HTV/HCR as a part is millable rubber pressed in steel. An HTV/HCR compression mold is that steel/compression tool. RTV is liquid rubber poured as a cavity. Same polymer family, different objects.

Can RUUIPON quote an HTV/HCR compression mold? Yes - the steel/compression tool. Free DFM on that RFQ. We will not quote the finished vulcanized part as a RUUIPON production carton. That parts PO stays an HTV product or mold RFQ here, or a different LSR-tool RFQ - ask us.

Why do shrink numbers disagree between two quotes? Platinum RTV cavities sit around 0.1-0.3%. HCR parts often 1.5-2.5%. LSR often 2-3%. Unmix them on the CAD. HTV tool shrink is confirmed after DFM on that tool.

I need 20 silicone grips. Is that your MOQ 20? Twenty molds per design is the RTV tray MOQ. Twenty grips are parts. Different site.

Should I prototype in RTV and then move the same mold to HTV? No. Recast RTV here if you still need a pour cavity. Open an HTV/HCR compression-mold RFQ here if you need the tool. Open an HTV product or mold RFQ here, or ask us if you need a high-volume LSR cold-runner tool if you need finished parts. New shrink, new drawing, new PO.