3D printed rubber molds

[Nifty]

This is pretty cool-fun stuff!

Designing these complex molds seems way WAY over my skillset, but I'm tempted to try this with some less complicated parts.

... of course, I guess I could just try to do that with flex filaments.

 

[Artur5]

Yes, this is well above my scope/skills.
On the other part, flex filaments aren't easy to deal with. Logically, the softer the filament, more problems we have with extrusion, overhangs, etc.
I've tried only TPU-95 and it's flexible up to a point, Flexibility depends A LOT on the number of external perimeters, the amount and pattern of infill, the shape of the object..
Honestly, I don't think I could make those rubber parts seen in the video with flex. Probably they would end up being too stiff and hard or prone to deformation if printed with the very minimal amount of infill and outer perimeters.
Maybe with filament as soft as 40-60A ?. but I bet that it would be a nightmare to print.

 

[The Hat]

This is pretty cool-fun stuff!

I reckoned the object of the 3D printer was to replace broken moulded parts and make your own, anyway designing an injection mould is a bridge to far.. For me…

 

[Nifty]

Great points guys!

Ya, this definitely crosses the line from "I could try that!" and well into "I'll watch and admire people with more skills and patience do it!"

 

[Fenrir Enterprises]

I tried using an FDM printer for molding small parts 3 years ago (use-once and break molds) and it's just not capable of that kind of detail. I had some good results with less detailed items, but trying to do some filigree jewelry effects with resin it was incapable of it even with a fine nozzle. While I have a cheap Monoprice Select Mini, after much research it was pretty obvious it was a limitation of the FDM process.

In the past year or so, high resolution resin vat SLA printing has reached incredibly affordable levels. I bought a Voxelab Proxima but have no place to set it up yet, and I am still somewhat concerned about the fumes (but I was using ABS in the FDM so that was pretty 'toxic' too).

 

[Nifty]

high resolution resin vat SLA printing has reached incredibly affordable levels

Yup! It's pretty crazy how tight the resolution can get on those SLA printers!

... but ya, the messiness / toxicity of SLA are my biggest reasons why I'm just not inclined to go that direction.

That said, if/when you set your SLA up, please post about it!!!