Resin printer.... options.

[Dev]

Forget about casting silicone with resin moulds. The sulphur in the resin inhibits the curing of two part silicone and you end up with a mess. You can bung the negatives under a UV lamp or in the sun for ages which helps but you still end up with a tacky surface of the part. Darker resins work best for this. You can also get release sprays which help but you lose a bit of definition.

FDM moulds kind of work but the finish of the part is limited by the resolution of your printer. Even using a tiny nozzle with miniscule layers I ended up with a rough finish. Again, there was some tackiness on the surface of the silicone using PLA filament. Other filament materials may be better...

You can get two part PU at shore 30A which I'm going to try but I'm not holding out a lot of hope.

Ultimately I ended up outsourcing to a local company to make the parts for me. Apparently they use resin moulds but they're cagey about revealing their process!

Good info. resin moulds with a suitable low viscosity PU barrier layer would probably work but I would use the original as a master and cast it in a 45 shore PU resin 2 part shell with a core for the foam bit as a first attempt

 

[carbon]

Take a look at Robert Tolone on YouTube, silicone molds and resin casting. Not the way you need but it may be possible to make a two piece resin mold and cast the silicone

 

[ukracer]

Take a look at Robert Tolone on YouTube, silicone molds and resin casting. Not the way you need but it may be possible to make a two piece resin mold and cast the silicone

I watched it. Very interesting but as you say not the way I need.
I think hot pony has hit the nail on the head.
3D print a two piece mold.
God know how to achieve that though.
@Onoff and his genius lad might have an idea.
But I can imagine a tube of ral silicone would produce a lot of parts.
I would like to use my CNC router to produce an aluminium mold but I need to get it running and here I am wasting time sitting in a caravan
Ironic really as if I am near my tools I am close enough to baby sit....lol
Many would give their high teeth to be in my shoes, so I am not complaining (I am really) but it's frustrating at times...

 

[m_c]

Well I have not fished with zigs before so I am not sure if that would be N advantage.
I was just shocked at the price of 8 bits of rubber.

The rubber might be cheap, but the quality (and complexity) of the mold they look like they've been created using, wouldn't be cheap.

 

[James1979]

Speak with Bentley materials.

They are really helpful and there’s no such thing as just silicone. There’s a whole array. I got some for making a soldering jig and they asked loads of questions then sent what I needed.

They’re based near-ish to you I think

 

[Dev]

I use Bentley and MBFG - it’s useful to contact mbfg and ask what have you got that the equivalent of (insert smooth-on product)

 

[daedalusminos]

I generally advise people if they want functional parts look at FDM, if they want decorative then resin - doesn't always work out that way but mostly it does.

Then I tell them if the part they want to make is commercially available then 3D printing it is unlikely to be cheaper and it's definitely going to be more time consuming.

I'm assuming your 5 for £10 included the foam and the hook - a quick search returned 18 for £9 on amazon (less the hooks) so I'm not sure this particular case alone is a good reason to get a resin printer.