Rubber Compression Molding

[newguy81]

Hello,

I have a some basic questions relating to rubber compression molding.

1) Milling rubber prior to pre-form, why is this done?

2) What is the most forgiving temperature range for curing BN-70?

3) Pressure, is there a formula for calculating ideal pressure based on part size/weight?

4) Time, is there a formula for calculating cure time at temp based on size/weight/compound?

Sorry if these sound like silly questions but a long time friend/supplier of mine passed away from cancer and asked me to takeover his company on his death bed. I have no prior knowledge of the elastomer business other than watching him from time to time. I feel an obligation to his employees to ease their concerns over job security as some have been there over 20 years. They have provided a little info but are severely lacking in real technical information which I feel is a must to do a good job and to expand this business. Any publications that would help me would be appreciated. Thanks in advance.

Joe

 

[ornerynorsk]

I can't speak directly to any of your 4 specific points, I've done more with tooling than processing.

The employees should know their processes. Get them written down and documented as completely as possible, you don't necessarily need to know the "why's" right now, but it's critical to obtain what you can asap! If your employees are understandably concerned for their job futures, explain to them the documenting and clarifying of information is for job preservation in the event that a key person suddenly is out of the picture, as just happened. Also, your suppliers should be a treasure trove of information. If they have a sales engineer that can visit onsite, you can learn a great deal in an hour.

It is better to have enough ideas for some of them to be wrong, than to be always right by having no ideas at all.