Turning Rubber on a Lathe?

[YYCHM]

Yup I've turned the boat rubber bumpers successfully a few times...really sharp hss tooling makes a mess, and don't get too aggressive. I can't say exactly what "too aggresive" means but I know I've taken too big of a cut many times because it was pealling off nicely so I gave it more and then it grabs and rips it out the chuck and scares the hell out of a fellow.

Ha.... I knew someone had posted about doing that. Just couldn't remember who and in what context.

 

[PeterT]

Re Sugru - I’ve used that stuff. It’s quite useful & resilient. You can mold & conform it to custom shapes. The cured result has kind of a silicone feel to it. But its brutal price/vol. Once you open the little foil packet you pretty much have to use it, it won't even last a couple days regardless of how well you seal.

Some of the urethanes I referenced range from pour-in to brush on thick paste. Not quite as play-dough-ey as Sugru but I'm pretty sure those are out there too. PM hobbies used to carry some of the brands but I haven't been there in a while

 

[Chicken lights]

What’s the size of the hole? And what’s the measurement needed for the inner groove on an o-ring?

 

[CalgaryPT]

Well it worked. I just went really slow on some old plugs I had laying around. HSS was way better than carbide. I only needed minimal cleanup with a Dremel. Trying to take too much off at once is the deadly sin here. You get lulled into complacence, advance the tool too much and it distorts the rubber, ripping it out.

I got so excited I forgot to take pics on the lathe, but the final result says it all:

 

[CalgaryPT]

What’s the size of the hole? And what’s the measurement needed for the inner groove on an o-ring?

It was a 1" hole and the inner hole was 3/4". But the reason I couldn't find a commercial one was that the height of the inner hole needed to be 1/2", so it was more like a firewall plug (if that makes sense).

 

[YotaBota]

Hands clapping,,,,,,

 

[Tom O]

I think I’d 3d print the profile I wanted then fill it with silicone and let harden. (It would need a release agent though. Pam maybe)
Oh you can mix in corn starch to make it putty like too!

 

[CalgaryPT]

I think I’d 3d print the profile I wanted then fill it with silicone and let harden. (It would need a release agent though. Pam maybe)

When I was a kid we used to spray Pam on the bottom of our toboggans and plastic sliding sheets in the winter to fly down the hills faster. My mom could never figure out why she was always losing the can, and we could never figure out why the coat racks at school smelt like butter all the time.

 

[Chicken lights]

I forgot I had these, part of the random stuff I inherited. Pretty sure those are Spaenour part numbers. I’m guessing these are a type of firewall plug. They push in with little springy tabs to lock them in place