Casting WITH rubber? What do I need?

[KitSmasher]

Say I want to make a part OUT of rubber. What kind of rubber do I need? Is it some special kind, or will regular silicone do? Can I tint it? Can I use a regular silicone mold?

Lots of questions...

Thanks!

 

[micdavis]

Depends on the part you need. How many you need?

I'd hesitate doing a rubber part in a rubber mold. Silicone STICKS to silicone GOOD.

 

[clonesix]

There are a lot of products that come under the heading of "Rubber." They all vary in their uses and applications.

A good place to start would be Smooth-On.com and look at what they have. You will learn a lot more there. Some factors to consider are: Durometer (amount of flex), casting time, coloring, and shrinkage.

You want to make a "part" out of rubber? What kind of part? What will it be used for? How detailed is it?

 

[KitSmasher]

I'd hesitate doing a rubber part in a rubber mold. Silicone STICKS to silicone GOOD.

Yeah, that was my thinking. I need to make a few. 3 parts, maybe 6 or so.

There are a lot of products that come under the heading of "Rubber." They all vary in their uses and applications.

A good place to start would be Smooth-On.com and look at what they have. You will learn a lot more there. Some factors to consider are: Durometer (amount of flex), casting time, coloring, and shrinkage.

You want to make a "part" out of rubber? What kind of part? What will it be used for? How detailed is it?

I was looking at Smooth-On but couldn't find anything specifically about casting WITH rubber.

Basically, a few guys in the local garrison and I are looking to upgrade our Clonetroopers with rubber straps but wanted to make them ourselves. So they need to be white, and have some good flex, but be fairly strong as far as tear strength.

 

[LeMarchand]

you could make a silicone mold and cast PU Rubber, call smooth-on, tell them what you are making, so they can let you know what type of PU rubber you will need (shore). You can use so-strong pigment to color it.

 

[clonesix]

Clone straps? I think I get the picture now.

A shore 60 urethane would work well for that. It can be cast into silicone mold. It will have tiny air bubble in the small details if not vacuum degassed.


The issue of "white" rubber is one I have yet to solve. First, even if you add a lot of tint, you still get darkening with UV and age. If anyone has a source of white ruuber, please feel free to post it.

 

[jlong]

White silicone can be catalyzed with clear, colorless catalyst.

I'm not saying you would necessarily want to use silicone for
trooper straps, but if you ever do need a white silicone part...

 

[KitSmasher]

Well, I actually see that some of the guys that make these reinforce them by casting a nylon strap INSIDE the rubber, which actually bears the weight.

Thanks for the tip, John! Where can I get colorless catalyst? I actually have some white mold silicone... Burman?

 

[jlong]

" Thanks for the tip, John! Where can I get colorless catalyst? I actually have some white mold silicone... Burman?"

Yes, I believe they do carry it.