Rubber pads for quick clamps

[FrancisRJ (Francis Rhys-Jones)]

I had noticed quite a few of the quick clamps in the wood shop were missing their rubber feet, its kind of annoying as they don’t work that well without them.

I thought it would be a fun project to try and make some replacements!

I did some modelling in fusion.

Then 3d printed a four pad mould on the bambu.

Then used this 2 part polyurethane rubber compound to make some pads.

Polycraft DuroFlex 85 Polyurethane Liquid Casting Rubber

I tested a couple of them out and they seem to work pretty well.

So I made up around 24 of them which should be enough to replace all of the missing pads with a couple of spares!

Ill fit them to the clamps next time Im down.

Im not entirely sure how durable the compound I used will end up being, it seems pretty tough. I have the moulds so I can try something different if they dont stand the test of time.

[asander1 (Andy Sanderson)]

Very cool! Nice very useful project!

[Federico]

Great thanks!!!

Question ( because of my ignorance in the subject) would it be good enough to print them directly it tpu?

[FrancisRJ (Francis Rhys-Jones)]

Hey @Federico, yes its a good point, Im pretty new to 3d printing myself.

I did briefly consider printing the parts directly but the flexible filament was quite pricey and there didnt seem to be much variety or much info on the physical properties like the hardness of the finished parts.

I guess the parts would almost certainly be less durable which was something I was maybe overly concerned about, these ones seem pretty tough.

Doing the moulding was a bit of a faf so it would definitely be a benefit not to have to do it.

I dont know if anyone else has any experience of printing flexible items?

[mbg (Max G)]

Huge!! Thank you Francis!!!

[Federico]

Well now that we have the moulds we can make all the rubbers we what!

[joeatkin2]

Brilliant