EEVblog Electronics Community Forum
General => General Technical Chat => Topic started by: alexg on October 10, 2017, 02:15:47 pm
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Hi All, it is a long shot asking this on electronics forum but since it is for electronics project I will give it a try.
I have aluminum mold for keypad and I wanted to use real HTV silicone rubber, I can get a cheap vulcanizer and I also going to receive a sample batch of raw silicone, however I was told that I will need to add a curing agent into it before I can put it into vulcanizer, otherwise nothing will happen. I have no idea where to get that curing agent, what it is, etc. I did some googling and seems that there are couple kind, sulfur and peroxide, also seems like nobody in US sells it or you need to get it in quantities starting from 100kG.
Can anybody suggest where I can find HTV silicone with curing agent for DIY silicone mold?
I already tried variety of room temperature two-component ones and while they work in general, they seem to be far away in performance from HTV silicone.
Any info is welcome, thanks in advance.
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You can have the vulcanizer from the silicone manufacturer you purchased the batch, there's no use to have the A part and no curing agent (if it's not premixed).Also why in the first place you would use HTV instead of RTV? You will certanly need an oven to cure the mold, not to mention thay you need specialized equipment to use that.
From a performance point of view, the same results can be obtained with RTV. HTV is used when you need to inject-print your pattern, and since the mold is hot it cures soon after it is injected into the mold. You probably just picked up the wrong RTV! Get some shore grades below the previous product, and you will obtain a better product! If you are referring that it makes bubbles and it won't cure in some points, it's because you didn't mixed it in a vacuum, and you didn't mixed it in some points. If the silicone cures, but it's sticky, it's because you have a moist envoirment (That's why you want to cure it in a vacuum!)
Also, moisture plays an important role: you should always have a dehumidifier to have the humidity regulated in your working place BEFORE making the mix!
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Smooth-on Inc. (https://www.smooth-on.com) has a great website for stuff about making molds and offers materials.
It's mostly Hollywood masks and props. Cool read.