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Natural Rubber Tubing, Bands and Sheet: Sulfur-Cured with Heat
Raw rubber goes soft and sticky when warm; mixed with sulfur and heated it cures firm and elastic (Goodyear, 1839; Hancock's patent, 1843). Mill smoked sheet with sulfur, then either press it flat and cure it as sheet, or extrude it as a tube, cure the tube on a mandrel, and slice it across into rubber bands.
The picture: our diagram of the three products.
Advanced
A day
Instructions
1
1
Mill in the sulfur
Mill in the sulfur
Pass the smoked rubber sheet through the two-roll mill until it is soft and even, then mill in the sulfur a little at a time.
Materials for this step:
Smoked Rubber Sheet1 kg
Sulfur Powder30 gTools needed:
Two-Roll Rubber Mill
Digital Kitchen Scale
Welding Gloves2
2
Sheet: press and cure
Sheet: press and cure
For sheet, lay the compound in the mould and cure it in the heated press until a test piece springs back firm, not sticky.
Tools needed:
Heated Compression Moulding Press
Compression MouldWelding Gloves3
3
Tube: extrude
Tube: extrude
For tubing, feed the compound through the extruder with a tube die to make a long tube.
Tools needed:
Plastic Extruder
Extrusion Die
Digital Caliper 6-Inch4
4
Cure on mandrels
Cure on mandrels
Slide lengths of tube onto rods and cure them in the oven with heat until firm and elastic.
Tools needed:
Iron Rod
Annealing OvenWelding Gloves5
5
Slice bands
Slice bands
Keep some tube as tubing. For rubber bands, slice cured tube across into narrow rings.
Tools needed:
Craft KnifeDigital Caliper 6-InchMaterials
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- 30 gPlaceholder
Tools Required
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