Enquiry
A photograph, a line about the mix, a rough count of pours. Same-day human reply with a route recommendation and an honest rough number.
TCI Construction · Processes
How tooling gets made, in plain language.
Five steps from enquiry to formliner on your bed. Each one is straightforward on its own; the skill is in specifying the right combination for the job in front of you.
The five steps
From your first photograph to a formliner on your bed.
Design and DFM
Draft angles, split lines, splice positions, lifting features, backing frame. Nothing left to be worked out at the pattern bench.
Pattern and mould
Master pattern machined, sculpted or scanned. Silicone or polyurethane poured against it. Mother mould built where the geometry needs one.
First-off approval
Tool delivered to your bed. First-pour approval attended where the geometry is unusual or the customer is new. Any tweak happens before we call the tool released.
Run and reorder
Tool stays with you. Drawing, pattern and material spec stay with us. When end-of-life is approaching, order the replacement early — it comes off the same pattern.
Pattern making
The pattern is where the finish is decided.
Machined patterns. Cut from tooling board or timber on a CNC bench, sometimes hand-finished. The right choice for geometric relief, repeat modules, and anything where the drawing is definitive.
Sculpted patterns. Hand-worked in clay, plaster or dense foam. The right choice for organic detail, foliage relief, hand-drawn ornament and heritage-style detail that would look wrong if machined.
Scanned patterns. Digitised from a physical original — a surviving cornice, a competitor's piece, a natural texture. The right choice for reproducing something that already exists but isn't drawn.
Most jobs use one route; some combine two (machined base with sculpted detail set in, or scanned original with hand-finished repairs). We pick the combination that fits the job.
Moulding
Silicone or polyurethane, poured against the pattern.
Silicone pouring
Two-part silicone measured, mixed, degassed and poured over the pattern in a controlled bench pour. Cure time set by the grade. Backed with a rigid mother mould before demoulding from the pattern.
Polyurethane pouring
Two-part polyurethane mixed and poured. Slightly different bench setup than silicone. Typically doesn't need degassing at the same level; still needs a rigid backing frame for larger tools.
Insert building
Where a tool has silicone details in a polyurethane surround (or vice versa), inserts are moulded first and set into the surround pattern before the main pour. Coordinated to align exactly on the finished tool.
Backing and lifting features
Rigid backing frames in GRP, plywood or steel depending on scale. Lifting features (vacuum-lifter fixings, frame attachments) built into the mould at the same stage.
Delivery and first-off
How the tool arrives at your bed.
The tool is inspected, photographed and packed at our workshop. For anything small enough to fit on our own vehicle, we deliver directly. For larger tools, we co-ordinate a suitable freight route.
For new customers or unusual geometry, we attend first-off pour with you. That's typically a half or full day at your yard. It's part of the price on those jobs — we don't invoice it separately.
The tool comes with a written material spec, a release-agent recommendation, and photographs of what the tool looked like on delivery. That record is the baseline for any warranty conversation later.
Where to read next
Related pages.
Applications
Where the tooling gets used — eight application areas from precast to decorative.
Read moreAt a glance
The idea in a picture.
From sample to finished cast
- 01Sample, drawing or scanWhat the finish must match
- 02Master patternCarved, machined or taken from the original
- 03Liner or mouldMade in the right elastomer
- 04Trial castChecked with your mix
- 05Production castsLiner reused across the run
- 06Kept on fileReady for repeats
Swipe to see the whole diagram
Get in touch
Send us a photograph of the panel or the elevation.
One photograph tells us what surface you're chasing, and one line about the mix tells us what silicone or polyurethane will survive it.
Real people, a real workshop
You deal with the people who make it.
No call centre and no middlemen. When you contact TCI Construction, 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