Just An Idea For Now
As the title implies, I think we can use 3D printing to make seals. The basic idea is to design or reverse engineer the seal and then 3D print a mold to cast silicone or PU rubber into. I have thought about it for a while now - but while I have seen a few other people do it on Youtube for non speargun purposes, I have not yet ventured into it myself. But I think it could be a viable method to e.g. keep old airguns with "strange", propriatary seals alive.
Here's a video showing an example but you could really make quite complex geometry. E.g. I have no doubt, I can make a vacuum cuff to my own design but whether I can find a PU or silicone rubber which wont tear after a few shots is the real question:
In reg. to the mold materials, you could use most cheap and easy-to-print 3D printing filaments unless you pick a rubber which needs an elevated cure temp, but many don't. As for the seals, while silicone is often very soft, you can actually get 2-component silicones that go up to hardnesses of around 60A which is almost NBR O-ring territory (O-rings are mostly 70A Shore). Some silicones might be even harder but the hardest and easily available one I found with a bit of searching was 60A hardness. Also, silicone would likely release easily from a 3D printed mold. If that same mold was surface treated and with proper use of release agents it could be possible to use 2-component polyurethanes which come in hardness from soft to very hard.
I am still not back to my 3D printer in China and no idea when I will have time to run some test in this but wanted to plant the seed for others. If I do end up doing this, it would be to try to make a custom vacuum cuff a la Dima/Salvi/Pelengas that would work with shafts larger than 8mm. But while I actually do think we can use this method to make static seals, I am not 100% sure I can find a PU rubber or a silicone that will stand up to the abuse a vacuum cuff takes.
I'll update this if I have more news - but as said, just wanted to share the idea for now
As the title implies, I think we can use 3D printing to make seals. The basic idea is to design or reverse engineer the seal and then 3D print a mold to cast silicone or PU rubber into. I have thought about it for a while now - but while I have seen a few other people do it on Youtube for non speargun purposes, I have not yet ventured into it myself. But I think it could be a viable method to e.g. keep old airguns with "strange", propriatary seals alive.
Here's a video showing an example but you could really make quite complex geometry. E.g. I have no doubt, I can make a vacuum cuff to my own design but whether I can find a PU or silicone rubber which wont tear after a few shots is the real question:
In reg. to the mold materials, you could use most cheap and easy-to-print 3D printing filaments unless you pick a rubber which needs an elevated cure temp, but many don't. As for the seals, while silicone is often very soft, you can actually get 2-component silicones that go up to hardnesses of around 60A which is almost NBR O-ring territory (O-rings are mostly 70A Shore). Some silicones might be even harder but the hardest and easily available one I found with a bit of searching was 60A hardness. Also, silicone would likely release easily from a 3D printed mold. If that same mold was surface treated and with proper use of release agents it could be possible to use 2-component polyurethanes which come in hardness from soft to very hard.
I am still not back to my 3D printer in China and no idea when I will have time to run some test in this but wanted to plant the seed for others. If I do end up doing this, it would be to try to make a custom vacuum cuff a la Dima/Salvi/Pelengas that would work with shafts larger than 8mm. But while I actually do think we can use this method to make static seals, I am not 100% sure I can find a PU rubber or a silicone that will stand up to the abuse a vacuum cuff takes.
I'll update this if I have more news - but as said, just wanted to share the idea for now
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