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What are the most flexible/elastic resins for printers? Are there any easily accessible additives that could make standard resins more flexible? (programming.dev)
submitted 6 months ago by to c/3dprinting@lemmy.world
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Title. I'm looking for resins with the lowest Shore hardness, the lowest one I've found (that I can buy on aliexpress) is Resione F39, with Shore 60-75A. Ideally, I'd want to get something closer to Shore 30-40A.

So, failing that, anyone with a higher understanding of chemistry can explain what additives are usually added, resulting in a cured resin with greater elasticity?

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[–] 1 point 6 months ago (3 children)

If you've got a manifold mesh for the object you want, you could make a mould by getting a cube that contained it, using a boolean modifier to subtract the mesh from the cube, then adding one or more cylinders for pour holes at the high point(s) of the mesh and subtracting those, too. If you only need one of the object, so don't need to reuse the mould, you can stop there and print it, then once you've cast it and let the silicone cure, just hit it with a hammer until the mould smashes and the silicone will probably be fine and pull out in one un-scarred piece.

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  • [–] [S] 2 points 6 months ago (2 children)

    For the size I want to print, a pure cube won't cut it, but I did manage to make a form-fitting mold by making the cube hollow, then removing the cube proper, being left with the mold proper.

    I've been spending quite some time trying to figure how to properly cut the mold into 2 or 3 parts in a way that I can actually close the thing and pull out the cured silicone without it deciding it'd rather stick to the cured resin. I've given some thought on making a single use mold, but I also gotta figure how to ensure its interior gets enough release agent to help me demold.

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  • [–] 1 point 6 months ago

    I've never needed release agent with platinum-cure silicone as it's not stuck to anything except itself unless it was porous. I have needed to lubricate bits of moulds that would have had too much of a vacuum if just pulled, though. Also, when I initially referred to coating the mould, I didn't mean a release agent but rather something like PMMA (acrylic) dissolved in acetone to protect the silicone from the resin as described here: https://blog.honzamrazek.cz/2022/07/preventing-platinum-cure-silicone-cure-inhibition-in-resin-printed-molds/

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