[GreenKeys] Making missing rubber parts

[Jones, Douglas W]

From: COURYHOUSE at aol.com [COURYHOUSE at aol.com] Tuesday, October 27, 2015 5:12 PM

> Doug -  can  you 3d print rubbery stuff!?!? another  3d project is  3 d printing the   feet  to go on model 15 tables!

I know that you can definitely 3d print rubbery stuff using high-end 3d printers (the ones that use stereolithography instead of melted filament).  I don't know about the low-end 3d printers.

But if you have an original (I have 2 good feet), taking a plaster or clay cast of the foot and then moulding it from pourable or clay-like material that then sets into solid rubber sounds easier.  You bypass 3d modeling and the joys of taking precise measurements (I own the necessary tools), and you get a part that ought to be close to indistinguishable from the originals.  I've done lost-wax casting, I figure I ought to be able to do rubber, if the kinds of products I found in my search are any good.

               Doug Jones
               jones at cs.uiowa.edu