Silicone Mold DFM Review: Draft, Islands, and Undercuts Before CAD Lock

What this DFM service is (and is not)

Buyers send jewelry STLs with hooked bails and expect a one-piece cookie-tray demold. Soft Shore does not delete a hook. This page is the DFM review service: we screenshot the lock risk, recommend fillet, flatten, or split, then you lock CAD.

RUUIPON has cut custom silicone molds in Shenzhen since 2018 for brand and Shopify runs. MOQ 20 trays per design. Prototype commonly 3-7 business days after CAD lock. Quote about 24 hours on a complete RFQ. Drawing deposit about $50 USD when we must model cavities.

This is not the manufacturer hub and not a high-volume starch-mogul / steel-first plant quote. Same topic family as other factories is fine. Same outline as a sister brand is not.

Manufacturer hub · One-piece vs split

What we actually mark on the screenshot (not a vibe check)

We circle the hook. We write KEEP or FLATTEN next to it. We call island width in millimetres if the letters look like they will tear on pull 3. Draft 1-3 degrees on walls when the geometry still looks like your listing after we add it.

If your ads already show a hooked bail, say KEEP in the email. If you can lose 0.3-0.5 mm of undercut, say FLATTEN. Silence here is how samples come back and you fight the photo.

1. 01

   Open the STL in mm

   If units are silent, we stop. A 25.4x earring is not DFM. It is a units miss.

2. 02

   Pull vector

   Cookie-tray pull vs split. Soft Shore does not invent a second direction.

3. 03

   Islands

   Hairline serifs fail first. We would rather thicken a letter than ship a stamp you throw away.

4. 04

   You reply on the mark-up

   That reply is CAD lock material. A thumbs-up on WeChat with no KEEP/FLATTEN is not lock.

Gates we check before we cut a master

We would rather reopen a screenshot than ship a tray you will hate on restock. CAD lock starts the prototype clock. Hidden hooks discovered on demold 1 are a CAD reopen, not a free Shore nudge.

Same DFM gate. Three different fails.

Do not send three pour families on one STL and ask for one Shore. We split the quote. See the pour-lock page if chemistry is the missing line.

Pour and peak C · One-piece vs split

Files that start the ~24 hour quote clock

STEP or watertight STL in millimetres, or ruler photos in the plane of the part. Pour family and peak C if heat. Target OD or grams. Whether the listing photo can lose 0.3-0.5 mm of undercut. Ship-to country if food-contact is in scope.

A marble flat-lay without a ruler does not start the clock. Complete RFQ definition lives on a separate URL.

Complete RFQ · Quote form

CAD lock is a date. It is not the first hello.

Prototype commonly 3-7 business days after lock. Not after the marble flat-lay. If we remodel because you changed the hook after lock, that is a new lock. Drawing deposit about $50 USD when we must model cavities from a sketch or a sample you own.

We do not invent a mill count or an ISO theatre line. Shenzhen shop since 2018. You can see the factory photos on About / Factory. This page is the review, not a brochure.

What we will not rubber-stamp

Licensed characters we cannot tool. FDA-approved factory language. A tin hobby kit Shore copied onto a production sheet. Guessing inches when the STL is silent on units.

If the job is a steel mogul line or depositor nest at plant scale, that is a different lane. We quote soft trays for brands who need MOQ 20 and a prototype they can pour.