Please, make update to a video. I regularly doing silicone moldings and i must say, my silicone parts that i made flammable. Not just charring or something, it burns in flames, bright and hot. So please, don't do this silicone hotend sock, unless you know what exactly your silicone is.
You are a very talented and intelligent young man, Stephan; I'm sure glad you didn't quit after your second video bombed! It would have been a great loss to the 3D printing community!
This makes so many cool things possible. You don't need to print with flexible material to get flexible parts, you can print a mold using normal material and use this trick to make heat resistant flexible parts. I think this video just pushed me over the edge into actually ordering a 3D printer.
@@KieranShort Not just solid or flexible parts. I've printed a mold and used it to form an air mold. (kidding aside, I really liked this video and thought your comment about making something out of concrete was cool...what was it? I just wanted to add a tongue in cheek take of molding something unusual along with the more serious question about what you made out of concrete.)
If your medium is temperature-resistant (and you only need one or two) you don't even have to build multipart molds. Just print in PLA, fill the mold, and melt it away with a heat gun.
No kidding! At first I was thinking that he should use a vacuum chamber to degas the silicone, but the syringe makes a perfectly capable vacuum itself.
Yes but it needs a very little amount so it doesn't spill into the mold cavity. I use botox syringes to apply it. You can dilute the vaseline with mineral spirits to get a better paste to work with.
Using 91/99% IPA: Put any amount, say 6-12 OZ. in a capable bottle (CLEAN soda bottle works well), put in about 1 Once or more of vaseline, shake well let rest 5 minutes and shake WELL again (maybe use a 100*F water bath) let cool to room temp. Excess will fall out of solution and collect at bottom. Pour this mold release (not the stuff that fell out of solution) into a fine mist sprayer (with new label of course) and spray away, coat all surfaces well, you can't really overspray this unless you really try... Let air dry till the IPA has evaporated completely. In 5 years making vacuum molds for signs I've never had a failure and it also takes away any moisture the mold may have absorbed and is almost completely invisible in the finished product. Hint: Don't use it thinking you can fill voids with it - just the thinest of compleat films is what you are after.
I've actually had far more success using the "pro" version of e3d's sock with the tiny hole for the end of the nozzle as compared to the second, more open design. For whatever reason I ended up having material stick to the exposed nozzle and glob up pretty frequently. The more covered design completely eliminated that problem for me. Your custom sock design looks really good though. I really like the tighter fitment as compared to e3d's version. I'll be giving this a try as soon as I get the parts in :)
I actually bought the thin hole version first and it didn't work well for me - the sock just didn't seem to fit well. The one with the larger hole fits better and lasted a lot longer...
I did something similar with a 2 part PLA mold but I used an acrylic glue called Genii Quartz to smooth out the 3d print layer striations before casting.
Thanks very much for making your hard work available as Fusion files. I used it to make a modified version that wraps around the high flow nozzle extender I am using.
I would not cut slots for the heater element or temp resistor. Yes, this means you would have to remove the heater element and thermistor before installing the sock and re-install them after, but this way the silicon sock remains in place with less chance of slipping in use. If you design your silicon mold with a small lip or flange around the perimeter at the top of the hot end block, it will grab it more securely.To prevent flashing you can use modeling clay to seal the edges of the 3d Printed mold clean. Option for silicon sock material, I believe you can simply bypass the 2 part silicon mixing and use a professional construction true silicon tube (no latex mix) or a hot temp automotive silicon, a lot cheaper, make multiple molds and you can pour and cure all of them at basically the same time and not waste any silicon, plus you can use them after 1 day curing. I have done a lot of silicon molds in my time, using 2 part silicons to duplicate parts in various types of mold making media. This is many times a messy process, why I think using a tube of ready to use high temp silicon will work for something like a small sleeve, like these hot end socks. You don't need to degass , special equipment, just a couple holes on the mold, one to pour (in case of a construction silicon tube to force the material thru) and another to vent excess.
I actually dip my hot and in one layer of candle wax and then dip it in high temperature silicone until I get my preferred thickness and it makes a nice tight fitting sock for my hot end
This mold is freaking fantastic. I am using Permatex Hi Temp 81160. This is such a better sock than the commercially available ones that a comparison isn't even really fair.
This is great! My wife and I make silicone moulds for casting things in epoxy resin. We use laser cut acrylic and/or 3D printed resin to create the masters that we form the moulds around. Turning that around and using the 3D printed material as the mould and the silicone as the casting is straightforward and allows for further flexibility in the kinds of things we can produce. I look forward to casting my own silicone sock using your ideas!
I suspect some simple finishing process either sanding down the mold or applying something that could act like bondo putty for plastics might allow someone to make a 3d printed mold smoother if they desired. I started down the path of making my own silicone mold but got distracted by something else. I'm glad you persevered where I didn't. It's really neat to see someone do this. I have a different heat block, so I'm more likely to pick it back up and utilize things I learned from your design in the strength and separation aspects of your mold. That helps a lot!
GEEZ. wow. You make some of the best videos. THIS was perfect for something I'm looking into doing. Now, I just need to learn F360 more, and try this!! THANK YOU ! ! !
If you mix in a small, wide mouthed mason jar and attach a fermentation lid with a hand pump vacuum, you could probably remove the bubbles before you get to the syringe.
I've considered doing something like this for a while. It's a great idea for anything you need to make multiple copies of. It's faster than printing each and in this case any rubber you can print won't stand up to the heat.
The E3D sock is probably designed as it is since industrial moulds are expensive, and it needs gaps on both sides for the cables for all the various printer configurations. A more enclosing design like this would still be fine for mass production actually, since you can manually cut the slots in afterwards. You even have the option of not cutting the sock at all and building the hotend around it. I guess they were going for ease of use and universal compatibility rather than rigidity, that said I've never had mine come off yet.
Awesome project. Cool to see everything that came up - mold halves not fitting, bubbles in the silicone. Not one of these youtube projects where everything is easy and goes smoothly.
All the problems about silicone bubbles pop away at 13:18 without spending $100+ for vacuum chamber and pump, and this might just works for the very important first layer that hits the most detail of any of one's moldmaking project, to be bubble-free. wow, much thanks!
Hey Stefan, Great tutorial. I too have been using silicone socks ever since E3D first released them, as you said, they are great for keeping temps stable and the nozzles clean.
That is awesome, I have to add this to my toolbox of techniques. One of the most useful materials I have for functional parts is TPU / TPE, but it can be a pain to print with on a stock MK3. This approach should be much faster (one of my recent projects was rubber feet for garden furniture to stop them damaging a wooden deck - 20 parts took a few days to print because TPE has to be printed so slowly). I especially like the trick of using the syringe to create a vacuum to degas the silicone, very elegent :)
Wow, this is an awesome idea! I have started using a tusk design on a print cooler. You gave me an idea to incorporate the tusk (tubes) partly in the sock. Either just to give the tusks more room or even help holding them in place. I could even make a silicon fan "shroud" to connect the tusks to the fan.
This could be a perfect solution for me, it's been impossible to find new replacement rubber parts for the weird trucks on my 15yr old longboard for at least a decade, custom molded parts were too expensive for me but this could be ideal...
Great tutorial! I've solved all of my problems with the (pro) silicone sock falling off with a bent paperclip that goes around the sock. The springiness of the clip keep it squeezing the sock in place and I can simply pinch the ends of the clip to release it from the block. Super easy and effectively $0
Excellent video! Would like to see more of this in the future. In Fusion, you can use the boundary fill to figure out the volume of something which would give you an idea of how much silicone you would need to use.
for my hot end I just painted a thick layer with that rtv silicone. Works great. Plus I also found out that making a separating layer with kapton tape(keeping the hot side separate from the cold side) makes a HUGE difference. Actually the separating layer made the most difference. I was fighting the temperature emergency timeout. Soo>> when one needs to print PC its more like 280-300C.. basically above 250c the temperature would sag below its target range for longer than bla bla seconds when the layer cooling fans would run. well making a flat horizontal layer of tape created a situation where the heat from the bottom doesn't go up NOR do the cool layer fans get cool air anywhere near the whole everything. it basically stop the air currents.. convection.. or directed air.. So that stabilized the temperature dramatically. Which lowered my power consumption etc etc ... Paradigm = prevent the air from the hot end area from reaching the hot end cooling fan. It might not be apparent that air flows like that, but the heat does. its just lost. like an open refrigerator or an open window.
Great video! One thing that I've found that has helped out with the E3D socks is to tightly wrap a piece of Kapton tape around the sock to make sure it stays in place. The tape doesn't stick to the silicone, but if you do a couple of wraps it'll stick to itself. Since I started doing this, I've not had a single issue with even the Pro E3D socks!
Thanks for this, I printed in ABS and put this together on an e3d titan aero with a 0.25mm nozzle and it came out amazing! Did acetone smoothing wherever I could. will be posting my make on thingiverse. Fits great and retuned the PID's on the hotend and I've never seen such a smooth line in my octoprint temperature history vs the stock e3d sock! It also inspired me to design my own molds to make spring replacements for my taz 5's heated bed
Did you think of using the real aluminium block in the center for the mold? This way you can do a cast in place and you wouldn't even have to put it on because it is on. Tighter fit!
Silicone rubber does not stick to anything but itself. So even if you cast it in place it will come loose. Making the mold fit the block precisely might be a difficult chore..
@@jimbit22 Of course it doesn't stick. The main reason is so that you don't have to stretch the silicon mold and you don't have to make it so that you can replace it. It will be a much tighter fit and will allow for more coverage since you don't have to plan gaps in order to take it off. This can be designed in such a way that you can even switch nozzles without having to remove the silicone sock :)
@@MarinusMakesStuff from experience, because there's no tolerance between the parts it will be a pain to re install the sock if it's 100% fit. Sometimes the master slips on me when making 2+ part silicone molds and it never goes into place again without distorting the mold. Having said that i can't be 100% sure that it won't work..
3years back i didnt think id ever come back to this video because i already had a really well working silicone sock that came with the ender3. Now im experimenting with cht volcano nozzle, copper nuts and a more powerfull heater, all on the stock hotend, so i also need a new silicone sock to insulate the nozzle that sticks out soo far from all the extra part cooling air. Very helpful video! Also.. i think i saw every single of your videos but i dont remember if u ever made a fusion360 tutorial? After using f360 for 4 years on and off, i still have no consistent workflow of using components like u did in the video. I would love to see a basic workflow video and how to split up multi part projects into components :)
Meist nehme ich nur Abgüsse von gedruckten Teilen um sie dann in Kunstharz zu gießen, aber auch eine gedruckte Form für Silikon habe ich schon probiert. Für mein neuestes Projekt, Sofortbildrückteil für Instaxfilm für meine Analogkamera, könnte ich auch einige Lichtdichtungen an das Druckteil angießen mit einer aufgesetzten Gussform statt diese zu drucken. Danke für die Anregung dazu 👍
I've been using high temp silicone adhesive from the hardware store for wood stoves, ovens and stuff to create my sock. Has been working fine for over a year with temps up to 240 C. Way easier to get rid of the bubbles though with liquid two component silicone, that's for sure.
Yeah silicone mold making is a joy! It almost gives you as much new possibilities for making things as a 3D printer does. However, doing a vacuum degassing using the syringe was pure genius! I'll have to try that. One thing you can try to reduce flashing is to apply petroleum jelly or similar on the faces that mate. Not the sides the touch silicone but just to close the gaps.
Little tip: If you want to get rid of the layer lines, melt some beeswax and quickly dip the mold in it before injecting the silicone. If you do it quickly enough, the wax will fill the tiny gaps without disturbing the dimensional accuracy of the mold.
Great work. You can also further improve the quality of your silicone casting by putting the charged mold into your vacuum chamber and evacuating air, which in tun will pull any bubbles out of the silicone.
Coat the mold with acrylic floor polish to make it a bit smoother and seal any porous spots. To fill gaps where you have flash, after coating the mold with floor polish and letting it dry, put a mold release (like car wax) on *one side* of mating surfaces. Then brush a coat of the floor polish onto the other face and assemble the parts. Let the floor polish dry and the mold parts should come apart, with one mating face coated to match the bumps and dips of the other. Or you could coat both mating faces and set them down onto a waxed smooth surface to dry.
This is giving me the idea to create small blocks of silicon to cover the top where a large part of the heating block is exposed and cooled, then weld them in place with a little bit of more silicon. This will make sure the sock doesn't move around and help insolate.
I would like to defend the original socks' "small hole" design for a moment. I have found that when printing PETg, with the "large hole" sock, I was plagued with blobs and burned bits of filament accumulating on the model. PETg tends to produce strings of fine hair sized threads during retractions followed by a move. These hairs get picked up by the passing nozzle and build up into a blob on the exposed outer surface of the nozzle. Eventually dropping off onto the thing you are printing. I messed around with all of the various mitigating settings but you I couldn't stop the stringing completely stop the stringing. "PETg stringing is what I do" :-) The "small hole" sock solves the problem for me completely. FWIW Mike
1:42 - I had an attack of the blob, but worse I think. A decent sized print broke free from the bed and almost got into the hot end fan. Took a while to clean up because the thermal runaway shut things down a couple times before I cleared enough the get at the real problem areas... at least I know thermal runaway works!
I have used both silicone socks for my E3D-V6 hot end, and I prefer the sock with the smaller hole in it. I found the sock with the larger hole collected more plastic on it than the smaller hole.
Great project! I've been thinking about making custom socks for my printer because the E3D socks don't fit mine. I had a hard time finding the right silicone. Thank you for the inspiration! I will def. do a version too!
I came up with something similar when my sock was getting a bit worn out. i used a top and bottom half with one die in the centre. i printed the bottom half with m5 threads and the top had some indents for the m5 screws to sit flush in. mine largely worked but i wasn't using the right silicone. i was using an old tube of tiling silicone that was just going bad in the cupboard. it worked but it was much too soft. i just squeezed the silicone into the two halves. stuck the die in and tightened the halves down. the excess squeezed out through the weep holes i had in the sides. mine worked but the choice of silicone was wrong. at 3 for $10 though i gave up and just bought the premade socks. my design was free and quicker than the post. but i'm not buying half a kilo of silicone to make 2-3 socks if i needed a new one every print it might be worthwhile. but these things already last forever usually only degrading if you end up with eruptions like the start of the video
Great project. But what makes me think like on other of my projects: what to to with the expensive material where you only use a few grams? Maybe print some molds for toys in the bedside table ;)
Great video first of all! Have you also thought about printing a positive model of the sock, of which you cast a negative silicone mould? This enables the option of surface treating the positive print, which you can see lately in your finished part. Had some great result with this method, and I think this would simplify the demoulding of the sock even further.
You could smooth out the mold with some polyurethane before casting, but honestly for this I like the layer lines, makes people question if you printed with silicone :D LOVIT
I made volcano molds before e3d ones came out. I don't feel the need to make my own now as the e3d volcano socks stay on with no issue, and the new version of the standard block don't have a problem of staying put either. I find the castable silicone disintegrates much quicker than the stuff e3d uses. I was only able to get about 2-3 weeks out of the homemade socks before the silicone started to crumble and disintegrate -- and yes I used the high heat stuff -- rated for 370c for prolonged exposure and over 450c for short exposure
E3Ds volcano socks are great and I never had a problem with those. Just cast one for for increasing my sample size. I've been using mine for quite a while even with PC that is printed at 270°C and they are still as flexible as on their first day.
A question: 15:09 when you cut the place where the cables are passing: wouldn't be enough just to cut open with one cut the material over that hole? The whole thing is very flexible so I suppose one could still be able to pass it beyond that wires. But maybe that missing little part that you cut away is not important, I don't know.
I've only used the e3d pro socks, never had problems with the sock moving. Your problem might be the nozzle not reaching far enough from the heat block, you can try to screw the connection screw between the cold side and the heat block more into the heat block. Nice video though, I will definitely try to make a custom heat sock!
Love the idea thx for fusion design..there is some trick to get no bubble with silicone ,fill the syringe from high distance to create a very fine thread then buble will die before fill up
And I was just thinking last week that I needed a signature stamp for work, but didn't want to spend a bunch of money. If I'm making socks anyways, I might as well do a stamp too
Awesome. Saw the model a day or two ago and was waiting for the video. I've not had any issue with the "new" sock, though this video prompted me to double check it and I see a few tabs starting to come loose, so I pushed them back in place. On the video itself, everything was top quality as usual... except the Fusion 360 section. You came across as nervous to me. Just pointing that out. Otherwise, looking forward to what you put out next!
Wow, all that work. I have had alot of luck just wrapping some aluminum foil around my hot end. Works great, when it gets dirty I replace it in a matter of seconds.
For the sock moving, make the sock physically a little thicker, and possibly get a thicker silicone or add a thickening agent or fibers. If it is more rigid and less likely to come off or shift around on the block, you should be able to do the small hole version without problems..
Like most of E3D products, looks good but well from being a decent design let alone a decent finish. The silicon socks from E3D sux big time, they simply come off the whole time making them useless. This design looks like you have fixed most of the problems, well done
Very cool project, and nicely explained! At the point where I began to wonder why the mold looks the way it does, you began to describe the design iteration process. I too, think this is a better, tighter design. Separately, I find my silicon socks from E3D don’t last near as long when printing PETG at 250C compared to PLA at 210C.
Off topic, the CNC logo on the sock looks like WH Smith's 80s logo. Nice to be reminded off the place, the staff were so cool. I'd spend a good hour reading computer magazines, they never even looked at me! Of course soon as I could afford it I bought the mags from them. Here it is! en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/WHSmith#/media/File%3AWHSmith1.png
This is a great idea for more than just heat socks. Also, don't forget to check out the experimental HDPE filament, it would make a great video and you would be the first.
