rubber materal?

[danz409 0]

so i'm making a prototype for a product that will be exposed to weather. and i was wandering if there is a materal that is ruber-like to make gaskets?

i am aware i will have to treat the product itself and that normal objects 3d printed are NOT waterproof but this is just a concept model. is there such a material that anyone is aware of?

 

[zumfab 3]

Take a look at the flexible materials thread, a lot of those can be used for gaskets. Why would normal 3D printing not be waterproof? A print with good fill and 3-4 lines of thickness should be able to contain or block water pretty good, even less when everything is tuned right.

 

[danz409 0]

maybe. but nothing i would trust outdoors for years on end.

 

[Labern 775]

there is FilaFlex, flexible PLA, Ninja Flex and Form Futura Flex Pla and Probably others

they are difficult to print with. some near on impossible to get a really nice print every time on an UM2.

 

[zumfab 3]

maybe. but nothing i would trust outdoors for years on end.

 

Most plastics are rubbish for years on end outside without some special form of UV protection or other coatings, so I guess you are right there. If you want high quality and control over the end product, I would suggest you look at casting some (often polyurethane) gaskets. You can get a lot of different types and grades of that with probably more uniform and tweakable results when it comes to the material.

If it is just a concept model then it might not be too relevant yet to have an actual durability of multiple years. Something like the flexible filaments will do in that case - it would be interesting to see how long it actually takes them to fail.