Mould for making silicone sock

Intro:

This is my latest contribution to the wonderful open-source community. It is a mould for making a silicone sock for a standard heater block (20mm x 16mm x 12mm), which is used in many of the hot ends.

Instructions:

1. Print out all the 4 parts that are included.
2. Use CA glue (ala superglue) to stick the handle into the inner mould.
3. Rinse and coat the inside of the outer mould with soapy water. Fill up the outer mould with silicone to about half full. More is better than less since the excess will simply be squeezed out later.
4. Insert the inner mould into the outer mould, with the handle portion on the "knob" side of the outer mould (see the main picture). Squeeze it in fully until it cannot go down further anymore. The inner mould should be somewhat snug against the outer mould.
5. Reshape the excess silicone above the inner mould.
6. Use the top cover and squeeze it completely down until the top cover is flushed with the outer mould. All the excess silicone should ooze out of the gap between the handle and the square hole.
7. Leave it to fully cure (mine took 4 days).
8. Remove the silicone from the mould, cut a hole sufficiently large enough for the sock to fit over the heater block, and remove excess silicone (see the 4th picture as a guide).

Your sock is ready for use!

Update: 10 Feb 18

Added a version 2 where the sock is shortened by 1mm in height. This should allow the sock to fit more snugly on the heater block especially when heated (where it will expand slightly). Try v2 if you find the original to be too loose.

Print Settings

Rafts:

No

Supports:

No

Resolution:

0.2mm

Infill:

Any

Notes:

I used PLA but any material should work just fine. Silicone when fully cured should peel off cleanly from the mould.