Page 1 of 2 12 LastLast
Results 1 to 10 of 17

Thread: Molded Rubber

  1. #1
    Insider PBSteve's Avatar
    Join Date
    May 2012
    Location
    Los Angeles
    Posts
    3,084

    Molded Rubber

    Does anyone here have any experience with molded rubber?

    I'm just looking for some design guidelines. I'm designing a part that's going to wrap tightly around a square tube; what considerations do I need to make? Are there certain required drafts? How much is an appropriate amount of stretch to give it? Minimum thicknesses? Anything I'm not thinking of?

    Thanks,
    Steve

  2. #2
    Insider PBSteve's Avatar
    Join Date
    May 2012
    Location
    Los Angeles
    Posts
    3,084
    On a side note, this has nothing to do with Vanguard.

  3. #3
    Wayne
    Join Date
    Apr 2012
    Location
    Vail, AZ
    Posts
    370
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b3eR8...eature=related

    That's the whole process right there. You would have to get a little more complex since you are overmolding, but it's close enough.

  4. #4
    Insider PBSteve's Avatar
    Join Date
    May 2012
    Location
    Los Angeles
    Posts
    3,084
    Cool video, but I'm not sure it helps me with design constraints. Am I pretty much free to do as I will?

  5. #5
    Wayne
    Join Date
    Apr 2012
    Location
    Vail, AZ
    Posts
    370
    Are you only looking to do it a handful of times? If so, this is a reasonable route to go with IMO. When you make your mold, you can cover the metal piece with the clay and get it how you want. Then elevate it in your pouring box and pour around it. This will give you a place to put your square tube and then mold around it. If you completely cover your tube and clay, you can cut the silicon mold into two pieces so that they break away from your part. Add in a pouring hole and air escape hole with an xacto and you can use that mold 15-25-100 times.

  6. #6
    A little more information would help but in essence you can get away with a lot more if your material is soft. You need to watch out for wall thickness being too thin and tearing as it exits the part if your not putting draft on or if you are undercutting. Yes, depending on the material you can have no draft or even under cuts and have the parts still release from the tool.

    But then what type of tooling? Production steel tooling or silicon prototype tooling, or have made tools?

    Are you going to mold it around the tube or put it around the tube after it's made?

    Do you intend to texture the parts or leave them with a smooth finish? Smooth won't necessarily need draft, but texture might or it will pull and look crappier.

  7. #7
    Are you doing injection molding or pour molding?

  8. #8
    I have some experience with injection rubber molding, but it doesn't sound like that's the route you are taking.

    Looking into RMA design guidelines. It's an easy google search and you will find lots of information.

  9. #9
    Insider PBSteve's Avatar
    Join Date
    May 2012
    Location
    Los Angeles
    Posts
    3,084
    I think I'm leaning Injection molding with the two-piece design. It's for grips... those use injection molding, right?

  10. #10
    Grips can be done either way. For instance the Mini grips are poured. The Axe grips are injection molded.

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •