Posts
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How Rubber Tooling Works: An Engineer’s Guide to Molds, Inserts, Cavities, and Parting Lines
When designing a new rubber part, one of the biggest sources of confusion for engineers is tooling—how molds are made, how cavities are shaped, and what limitations are imposed by rubber molding processes. Good tooling design impacts everything from part quality and flash control to cycle time and long-term mold durability.
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Compression Set in Rubber: What It Is and How to Reduce It in Long-Term Sealing Applications
Rubber seals are expected to maintain their shape, elasticity, and sealing force for years—sometimes decades. But over time, many elastomers permanently deform under constant compression or temperature, leading to leaks, pressure loss, or total seal failure.
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Understanding Rubber Hardness (Shore A): How to Select the Right Durometer for Your Application
Selecting the correct rubber hardness, or durometer, is one of the most important decisions in designing a rubber part. Whether you’re developing a seal, suspension bushing, vibration isolator, or molded gasket, the hardness of the elastomer affects how the part compresses, seals, flexes, absorbs vibration, and ultimately survives long-term use.
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How to Choose the Right Rubber Compound for Outdoor Applications: UV, Ozone, and Weathering Resistance Explained
Rubber components used outdoors face far harsher conditions than those in controlled indoor environments. Sunlight, ozone, moisture, temperature swings, and atmospheric pollutants can all break down elastomers—leading to cracking, hardening, and premature failure.
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Injection vs. Transfer Molding for Small Precision Rubber Seals in Medical Devices
When developing small, precision rubber seals for medical devices, the molding process is just as important as the compound. Choosing between injection molding and transfer molding affects part accuracy, flash levels, material waste, assembly fit, and long-term reliability.
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Designing Custom Rubber Bushings for Off-Road Suspension: Durometer, Void Patterns, and Torsional Behavior
Rubber bushings may look simple, but in off-road suspension systems they play a critical role in handling, ride quality, NVH reduction, and component longevity. Unlike on-road vehicles, off-road builds subject bushings to high angular displacement, grit abrasion, torsional loading, and extreme compression cycles.
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Designing Rubber Seals for Chemical Resistance in Hydraulic and Fuel Systems
In hydraulic, pneumatic, and fuel systems, rubber seals are critical to reliability. A single seal failure can lead to leaks, downtime, contamination, or even complete system failure.
One of the biggest challenges in these environments is chemical resistance — the ability of rubber materials to resist swelling, softening, or cracking when exposed to aggressive fluids. -
How to Reduce Flash and Improve Tolerances in Rubber Injection Molded Parts
When it comes to rubber injection molding, one of the most common challenges manufacturers face is flash — the thin excess layer of material that forms along parting lines or mold seams.
While it might seem minor, flash can lead to functional issues, interfere with assembly, or require costly secondary trimming operations. -
How Temperature Cycling Affects Rubber Part Lifespan
Rubber components used in industrial, automotive, and outdoor environments are constantly exposed to temperature swings — sometimes from sub-zero mornings to scorching operating temperatures within minutes. These repeated changes, known as temperature cycling, cause rubber to expand, contract, harden, soften, and eventually break down. If your rubber parts are failing earlier than expected, temperature cycling is often a major contributor.
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Why Your Rubber-to-Metal Bond Keeps Failing (and How to Fix It)
Rubber-to-metal bonding is one of the toughest challenges in molding. When done right, the result is a single, unified component that can handle vibration, load, and stress for years. But when the bond fails, it’s almost always catastrophic — parts separate, mounts crack, and equipment breaks down.
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How to Design Rubber Vibration Mounts That Last in Harsh Industrial Environments
When industrial equipment runs day after day under heavy loads, vibration is inevitable. But when vibration mounts fail — cracking, delaminating, or hardening — they can cause serious damage to machinery, reduce product lifespan, and increase downtime.
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Custom EPDM Gaskets for Outdoor Electrical Enclosures: What to Know Before You Order
If you design or maintain outdoor electrical enclosures, you already know how critical the gasket is.
It’s the unsung hero that keeps out water, dust, UV radiation, and temperature extremes — ensuring reliability year after year. -
Rubber vs. Plastic: When to Choose Rubber for Your Parts
When designing a new product, one of the first decisions engineers face is choosing between rubber and plastic. Both materials can be molded into complex shapes, both are cost-effective, and both can be tailored to a wide range of applications.
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Understanding Durometer — How Rubber Hardness Affects Performance
When designing custom rubber parts, durometer is one of the most important — and often overlooked — properties to get right. The durometer of a rubber compound determines how soft or hard it feels, how it compresses, and how it performs under load.
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How Rubber Is Bonded to Metal
Rubber-to-metal bonding is a critical process in manufacturing durable components used in everything from automotive mounts to industrial vibration isolators. It combines the flexibility and sealing power of rubber with the strength and stability of metal — creating parts that can handle stress, temperature changes, and harsh environments.
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How Tooling Design Affects the Quality of Rubber Molded Parts
When it comes to rubber injection molding, the quality of the final part is determined long before the first shot is made — it starts with the tooling design. A well-designed mold ensures consistent dimensions, smooth surface finishes, and efficient production. Poor tooling design, on the other hand, can lead to flash, voids, uneven curing, or premature wear. Understanding how tooling affects part quality is key to achieving reliable, high-performance results.
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Oil-Resistant Rubber Materials: What to Use for Automotive or Industrial Seals
When designing seals, gaskets, or hoses that come in contact with fuels, lubricants, or hydraulic fluids, oil resistance becomes one of the most important material properties. Not all rubber compounds are created equal — exposure to oils and hydrocarbons can cause swelling, softening, or complete material failure if the wrong compound is used.
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How to Improve Durability in Industrial Rubber Seals and Gaskets
Rubber seals and gaskets are the unsung heroes of industrial systems — keeping fluids contained, machinery protected, and equipment running smoothly. When these components fail, the result can be costly downtime, safety hazards, and even product recalls. That’s why improving the durability of industrial rubber seals and gaskets is one of the smartest investments any manufacturer can make.
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EPDM vs Nitrile vs Silicone: Which Rubber Material Should You Use?
Choosing the right rubber compound is one of the most important steps in creating a reliable, high-performing molded part. Each material has its strengths and weaknesses depending on the environment, temperature, and chemical exposure. Among the most common options are EPDM, Nitrile (Buna-N), and Silicone. Here’s how they compare — and how to choose the right one for your application.
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How Temperature, Chemicals, and UV Exposure Affect Rubber Longevity
Rubber parts are often chosen for their flexibility and resilience, but even the toughest compounds degrade over time when exposed to extreme environments. Understanding how temperature, chemical exposure, and UV radiation affect rubber longevity can help you design parts that perform reliably for years instead of months.
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Designing Rubber Components for the Automotive Industry
The automotive industry relies heavily on rubber components to ensure vehicles perform reliably and safely. From engine mounts to door seals, custom-molded rubber parts are essential to comfort, safety, and performance. But designing these components for modern vehicles requires more than just choosing a flexible material — it demands attention to temperature, chemical exposure, noise reduction, and manufacturability.
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Custom Rubber Parts for Agriculture Equipment — What to Know Before Ordering
Agricultural equipment operates in some of the harshest environments imaginable — extreme temperatures, constant vibration, exposure to sunlight, chemicals, and moisture. That’s why the rubber components used in tractors, sprayers, harvesters, and other machinery need to be built to last.
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How Rubber Parts Are Made: From DIY to Industrial Scale
Rubber parts are everywhere in modern life — from the simple gaskets in your plumbing to highly engineered seals in aerospace, automotive, and industrial equipment. How these parts are made varies greatly depending on the volume, complexity, material, and performance requirements. In this post, we’ll explore the full spectrum of rubber manufacturing methods, from home-scale DIY techniques to high-volume industrial production, and explain why choosing the right process is critical for quality and durability.
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Common Rubber Part Defects and How to Avoid Them
Even with the most advanced injection molding equipment, rubber parts can experience defects if design, material, or process considerations aren’t addressed. Understanding these common issues can help you create parts that are durable, precise, and reliable.
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Why Partnering with a U.S.-Based Manufacturer Matters
When it comes to manufacturing custom rubber parts, location matters. Partnering with a U.S.-based manufacturer like Primo Rubber Co. offers several advantages that can make a big difference in quality, delivery, and overall project success.
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How to Design Rubber Parts for Injection Molding
Designing rubber parts for injection molding requires a careful balance of function, manufacturability, and material performance. Unlike rigid plastics, rubber behaves differently under heat and pressure, so understanding the key design principles can save time, reduce scrap, and result in higher-quality parts.
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Common Materials Used in Rubber Molding
Choosing the right material is one of the most important steps in creating a successful molded rubber part. Each rubber compound has its own strengths, weaknesses, and ideal applications. The right choice can mean the difference between a part that lasts for years and one that fails under stress.
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Rubber Injection Molding Process
Rubber injection molding is one of the most efficient and reliable ways to produce high-quality rubber components for modern applications. The process combines precision, speed, and consistency—making it ideal for parts that need tight tolerances, repeatability, and strong, durable performance in demanding environments.
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Introducing the Primo Rubber Co Blog
At Primo Rubber Co., we believe that great manufacturing is built on three things: experience, precision, and trust. With years of hands-on expertise in rubber injection molding, our team understands what it takes to deliver parts that not only meet specifications—but perform under real-world conditions.